In plain words
Na means without. Va: to conduct oneself. It is there in the word itself; no one else need tell you. One who conducts himself without Ajñāna is a man. What is Ajñāna? Ajñāna is taking what one is not to be oneself. One is not the body. He takes the body, which he is not, to be himself. He is not the mind. He takes the mind, which is not his, to be his own. Such a one is Dhṛtarāṣṭra. To take what is not one's own as one's own: that is the mark of Ajñāna. Yet so long as one has it, the body must be looked after. The mind must be held in check. One's duty must be carried out. The boat of life must be steered. But the sense of “mine” must be reduced, at least to some extent. So long as this sense of “mine” is there, unrest keeps following him. There was a village man who, having given his daughter in marriage in a town some distance away, was on his way to see her. He was a poor man. His wife said, “Listen, there are pieces of sugar cane in our cane field, aren't there? Cut a few stalks, take them, and give some to our daughter.” He tied them into a bundle. He went to the railway station. He bought a ticket. He got onto the train with the bundle of cane. As there was no room, he put it down in some corner. He himself sat down in another place. The ticket collector came. He had to get money somehow, hadn't he? So he looked this way and that and asked, “Whose is this bundle of cane?” He did not stop at that. “Luggage charge must be paid on this,” he said. At the words “luggage charge” the man did not open his mouth; he kept quiet. The man beside him was a little shrewd. Thinking, “Nobody has spoken up,” he said, “That bundle is mine.” “Then you must pay a charge of five rupees on it,” he said. He paid the five rupees. The second man kept the bundle beside him. Well, when it was time to get off, the owner took the bundle and got down. The one who had paid the charge on it said, “This is my bundle,” and the two of them quarrelled. “The bundle of cane is mine.” The one who paid the charge was the other man. As the two were fighting, the police came. They told them to say fairly whose bundle of cane it was. “It is mine,” said the owner. “Who paid the tax on it?” “I paid it,” said the second man. “Who told you to pay it?” “Nobody said anything. I paid it meaning to take the bundle of cane myself,” he said. This attachment and this sense of “mine” are the cause of all your loss and trouble.