Realization
Ashtavakra Gita
Some people think this ancient conversation between two enlightened guys is the greatest scripture of all time.
Translated by John Henry Richards
This is the second edition of Mr. Richards’s translation.
Translator’s Introduction
The
Ashtavakra Gita,
or the
Ashtavakra Samhita
as it is sometimes called, is a very ancient Sanskrit
text. Nothing seems to be known about the author, though
tradition ascribes it to the sage Ashtavakra; hence
the name.
There is
little doubt though that it is very old, probably dating
back to the days of the classic Vedanta period. The
Sanskrit style and the doctrine expressed would seem
to warrant this assessment.
The work
was known, appreciated, and quoted by Ramakrishna and
his disciple Vivekananda, as well as by Ramana Maharshi,
while Radhakrishnan always refers to it with great respect.
Apart from that the work speaks for itself.
It presents
the traditional teachings of Advaita Vedanta with a
clarity and power very rarely matched.
For more info see
Our main page on the
Ashtavakra Gita.
The translation
here is by John Richards, and is presented to the public
domain with his affection. The work has been a constant
inspiration in his life for many years. May it be so
for many others.
John Richards
Stackpole Elidor, UK
Ashtavakra Gita
Janaka said:
How is one
to acquire knowledge? How is one to attain liberation?
And how is one to reach dispassion? Tell me this, sir.
1.1
Ashtavakra said:
If you are
seeking liberation, my son, avoid the objects of the
senses like poison and cultivate tolerance, sincerity,
compassion, contentment, and truthfulness as the antidote.
1.2
You do not
consist of any of the elements — earth, water, fire,
air, or even ether. To be liberated, know yourself as
consisting of consciousness, the witness of these. 1.3
If only
you will remain resting in consciousness, seeing yourself
as distinct from the body, then even now you will become
happy, peaceful and free from bonds. 1.4
You do not
belong to the brahmin or any other caste, you are not
at any stage, nor are you anything that the eye can
see. You are unattached and formless, the witness of
everything — so be happy. 1.5
Righteousness
and unrighteousness, pleasure and pain are purely of
the mind and are no concern of yours. You are neither
the doer nor the reaper of the consequences, so you
are always free. 1.6
You are
the one witness of everything and are always completely
free. The cause of your bondage is that you see the
witness as something other than this. 1.7
Since you
have been bitten by the black snake, the opinion about
yourself that “I am the doer,” drink the antidote of
faith in the fact that “I am not the doer,” and be happy.
1.8
Burn down
the forest of ignorance with the fire of the understanding
that “I am the one pure awareness,” and be happy and
free from distress. 1.9
That in
which all this — imagined like the snake in
a rope — appears: that joy, supreme joy, and awareness is what
you are, so be happy. 1.10
If one thinks
of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of
oneself as bound, one is bound. Here this saying is
true, “Thinking makes it so.” 1.11
Your real
nature is as the one perfect, free, and actionless consciousness,
the all-pervading witness — unattached to anything,
desireless and at peace. It is from illusion that you
seem to be involved in samsara. 1.12
Meditate
on yourself as motionless awareness, free from any dualism,
giving up the mistaken idea that you are just a derivative
consciousness or anything external or internal. 1.13
You have
long been trapped in the snare of identification with
the body. Sever it with the knife of knowledge that
“I am awareness,” and be happy, my son. 1.14
You are
really unbound and actionless, self-illuminating and
spotless already. The cause of your bondage is that
you are still resorting to stilling the mind. 1.15
All of this
is really filled by you and strung out in you, for what
you consist of is pure awareness — so don’t be small-minded.
1.16
You are
unconditioned and changeless, formless and immovable,
unfathomable awareness, unperturbable: so hold to nothing
but consciousness. 1.17
Recognise
that the apparent is unreal, while the unmanifest is
abiding. Through this initiation into truth you will
escape falling into unreality again. 1.18
Just as
a mirror exists everywhere both within and apart from
its reflected images, so the Supreme Lord exists everywhere
within and apart from this body. 1.19
Just as
one and the same all-pervading space exists within and
without a jar, so the eternal, everlasting God exists
in the totality of things. 1.20
Janaka said:
Truly I
am spotless and at peace, the awareness beyond natural
causality. All this time I have been afflicted by delusion.
2.1
As I alone
give light to this body, so I do to the world. As a
result the whole world is mine, or alternatively nothing
is. 2.2
So now that
I have abandoned the body and everything else, by good
fortune my true self becomes apparent. 2.3
Waves, foam,
and bubbles do not differ from water. In the same way,
all this which has emanated from oneself is no other
than oneself. 2.4
When you
analyse it, cloth is found to be just thread. In the
same way, when all this is analysed it is found to be
no other than oneself. 2.5
The sugar
produced from the juice of the sugarcane is permeated
throughout with the same taste. In the same way, all
this, produced out of me, is completely permeated with
myself. 2.6
From ignorance
of oneself, the world appears, and by knowledge of oneself
it appears no longer. From ignorance of the rope it
appears to be a snake, and by knowledge of it it does
so no longer. 2.7
Shining
is my essential nature, and I am nothing other than
that. When the world shines forth, it is only me that
is shining forth. 2.8
All this
appears in me imagined due to ignorance, just as a snake
appears in the rope, the mirage of water in the sunlight,
and silver in mother of pearl. 2.9
All this,
which has originated out of me, is resolved back into
me too, like a jug back into clay, a wave into water,
and a bracelet into gold. 2.10
How wonderful
I am! Glory to me, for whom there is no destruction,
remaining even beyond the destruction of the world from
Brahma down to the last clump of grass. 2.11
How wonderful
I am! Glory to me, solitary even though with a body,
neither going or coming anywhere, I who abide forever,
filling all that is. 2.12
How wonderful
I am! Glory to me! There is no one so clever as me!
I who have borne all that is forever, without even touching
it with my body! 2.13
How wonderful
I am! Glory to me! I who possess nothing at all, or
alternatively possess everything that speech and mind
can refer to. 2.14
Knowledge,
what is to be known, and the knower — these three do
not exist in reality. I am the spotless reality in which
they appear because of ignorance. 2.15
Truly dualism
is the root of suffering. There is no other remedy for
it than the realisation that all this that we see is
unreal, and that I am the one stainless reality, consisting
of consciousness. 2.16
I am pure
awareness though through ignorance I have imagined myself
to have additional attributes. By continually reflecting
like this, my dwelling place is in the Unimagined. 2.17
For me here
is neither bondage nor liberation. The illusion has
lost its basis and ceased. Truly all this exists in
me, though ultimately it does not even exist in me.
2.18
Recognising
that all this and my body too are nothing, while my
true self is nothing but pure consciousness, what is
there left for the imagination to work on now? 2.19
The body,
heaven and hell, bondage and liberation, and fear too,
all this is pure imagination. What is there left to
do for me whose very nature is consciousness? 2.20
I do not
even see dualism in a crowd of people, so what do I
gain if it is replaced by a desert? 2.21
I am not
the body, nor is the body mine. I am not a living being.
I am consciousness. It was my thirst for living that
was my bondage. 2.22
Truly it
is in the infinite ocean of myself, that, stimulated
by the colourful waves of the world, everything suddenly
arises in the wind of consciousness. 2.23
In the infinite
ocean of myself, the wind of thought subsides, and the
world boat of the living-being traders is wrecked by
lack of goods. 2.24
How wonderful
it is that in the infinite ocean of myself the waves
of living beings arise, collide, play, and disappear,
in accordance with their nature. 2.25
Ashtavakra said:
Knowing
yourself as truly one and indestructible, how could
a wise man possessing self-knowledge like you feel any
pleasure in acquiring wealth? 3.1
Truly, when
one does not know oneself, one takes pleasure in the
objects of mistaken perception, just as greed arises
for the mistaken silver in one who does not know mother
of pearl for what it is. 3.2
All this
wells up like waves in the sea. Recognising, “I am That,”
why run around like someone in need? 3.3
After hearing
of oneself as pure consciousness and the supremely beautiful,
is one to go on lusting after sordid sexual objects?
3.4
When the
sage has realised that he himself is in all beings,
and all beings are in him, it is astonishing that the
sense of individuality should be able to continue. 3.5
It is astonishing
that a man who has reached the supreme nondual state
and is intent on the benefits of liberation should still
be subject to lust and in bondage to sexual activity.
3.6
It is astonishing
that one already very debilitated, and knowing very
well that its arousal is the enemy of knowledge, should
still hanker after sensuality, even when approaching
his last days. 3.7
It is astonishing
that one who is unattached to the things of this world
or the next, who discriminates between the permanent
and the impermanent, and who longs for liberation, should
still be afraid of liberation. 3.8
Whether
feted or tormented, the wise man is always aware of
his supreme self-nature and is neither pleased nor disappointed.
3.9
The great-souled
person sees even his own body in action as if it were
someone else’s, so how should he be disturbed by praise
or blame? 3.10
Seeing this
world as pure illusion, and devoid of any interest in
it, how should the strong-minded person feel fear,
even at the approach of death? 3.11
Who can
be compared to the great-souled person whose mind is
free from desire even in disappointment, and who has
found satisfaction in self-knowledge? 3.12
How should
a strong-minded person who knows that what he sees is
by its very nature nothing, consider one thing to be
grasped and another to be rejected? 3.13
An object
of enjoyment that comes of itself is neither painful
nor pleasurable for someone who has eliminated attachment,
and who is free from dualism and from desire. 3.14
Ashtavakra said:
The wise
person of self-knowledge, playing the game of worldly
enjoyment, bears no resemblance whatever to samsara’s
bewildered beasts of burden. 4.1
Truly the
yogi feels no excitement even at being established in
that state which all the Devas from Indra down yearn
for disconsolately. 4.2
He who has
known That is untouched within by good deeds or bad,
just as space is not touched by smoke, however much
it may appear to be. 4.3
Who can
prevent the great-souled person who has known this whole
world as himself from living as he pleases? 4.4
Of all four
categories of beings, from Brahma down to the last clump
of grass, only the man of knowledge is capable of eliminating
desire and aversion. 4.5
Rare is
the man who knows himself as the nondual Lord of the
world, and he who knows this is not afraid of anything.
4.6
Ashtavakra said:
You are
not bound by anything. What does a pure person like
you need to renounce? Putting the complex organism to
rest, you can find peace. 5.1
All this
arises out of you, like a bubble out of the sea. Knowing
yourself like this to be but one, you can find peace.
5.2
In spite
of being in front of your eyes, all this, being insubstantial,
does not exist in you, spotless as you are. It is an
appearance like the snake in a rope, so you can find
peace. 5.3
Equal in
pain and in pleasure, equal in hope and in disappointment,
equal in life and in death, and complete as you are,
you can find peace. 5.4
Ashtavakra said:
I am infinite
like space, and the natural world is like a jar. To
know this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation,
acceptance, or cessation of it. 6.1
I am like
the ocean, and the multiplicity of objects is comparable
to a wave. To know this is knowledge, and then there
is neither renunciation, acceptance or cessation of
it. 6.2
I am like
the mother of pearl, and the imagined world is like
the silver. To know this is knowledge, and then there
is neither renunciation, acceptance, or cessation of
it. 6.3
Alternatively,
I am in all beings, and all beings are in me. To know
this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation,
acceptance, or cessation of it. 6.4
Janaka said:
In the infinite
ocean of myself the world boat drifts here and there,
moved by its own inner wind. I am not put out by that.
7.1
Whether
the world wave of its own nature rises or disappears
in the infinite ocean of myself, I neither gain nor
lose anything by that. 7.2
It is in
the infinite ocean of myself that the mind-creation
called the world takes place. I am supremely peaceful
and formless, and I remain as such. 7.3
My true
nature is not contained in objects, nor does any object
exist in it, for it is infinite and spotless. So it
is unattached, desireless and at peace, and I remain
as such. 7.4
I am pure
consciousness, and the world is like a magician’s show.
How could I imagine there is anything there to take
up or reject? 7.5
Ashtavakra said:
Bondage
is when the mind longs for something, grieves about
something, rejects something, holds on to something,
is pleased about something or displeased about something.
8.1
Liberation
is when the mind does not long for anything, grieve
about anything, reject anything, or hold on to anything,
and is not pleased about anything or displeased about
anything. 8.2
Bondage
is when the mind is tangled in one of the senses, and
liberation is when the mind is not tangled in any of
the senses. 8.3
When there
is no “me,” that is liberation, and when there is “me”
there is bondage. Consider this carefully, and neither
hold on to anything nor reject anything. 8.4
Ashtavakra said:
Knowing
when the dualism of things done and undone has been
put to rest, or the person for whom they occur has,
then you can here and now go beyond renunciation and
obligations by indifference to such things. 9.1
Rare indeed,
my son, is the lucky man whose observation of the world’s
behaviour has led to the extinction of his thirst for
living, thirst for pleasure, and thirst for knowledge.
9.2
All this
is transient and spoiled by the three sorts of pain.
Knowing it to be insubstantial, ignoble, and fit only
for rejection, one attains peace. 9.3
When was
that age or time of life when the dualism of extremes
did not exist for men? Abandoning them, a person who
is happy to take whatever comes attains perfection.
9.4
Who does
not end up with indifference to such things and attain
peace when he has seen the differences of opinions among
the great sages, saints, and yogis? 9.5
Is he not
a guru who, endowed with dispassion and equanimity,
achieves full knowledge of the nature of consciousness,
and leads others out of samsara? 9.6
If you would
just see the transformations of the elements as nothing
more than the elements, then you would immediately be
freed from all bonds and established in your own nature.
9.7
One’s desires
are samsara. Knowing this, abandon them. The renunciation
of them is the renunciation of it. Now you can remain
as you are. 9.8
Ashtavakra said:
Abandon
desire, the enemy, along with gain, itself so full of
loss, and the good deeds which are the cause of the
other two — practice indifference to everything. 10.1
Look on
such things as land, friends, money, property, wife,
and bequests as nothing but a dream or a magician’s
show lasting three or five days. 10.2
Wherever
a desire occurs, see samsara in it. Establishing yourself
in firm dispassion, be free of passion and happy. 10.3
The essential
nature of bondage is nothing other than desire, and
its elimination is known as liberation. It is simply
by not being attached to changing things that the everlasting
joy of attainment is reached. 10.4
You are
one, conscious and pure, while all this is inert non-being.
Ignorance itself is nothing, so what is the point of
wanting to understand? 10.5
Kingdoms,
children, wives, bodies, pleasures — these have all
been lost to you life after life, attached to them though
you were. 10.6
Enough of
wealth, sensuality, and good deeds. In the forest of
samsara the mind has never found satisfaction in these.
10.7
How many
births have you not done hard and painful labour with
body, mind, and speech. Now at last, stop! 10.8
Ashtavakra said:
Unmoved
and undistressed, realising that being, non-being and
change are of the very nature of things, one easily
finds peace. 11.1
At peace,
having shed all desires within, and realising that nothing
exists here but the Lord, the Creator of all things,
one is no longer attached to anything. 11.2
Realising
that misfortune and fortune come in their own time from
fortune, one is contented, one’s senses under control,
and does not like or dislike. 11.3
Realising
that pleasure and pain, birth and death are from destiny,
and that one’s desires cannot be achieved, one remains
inactive, and even when acting does not get attached.
11.4
Realising
that suffering arises from nothing other than thought,
dropping all desires one rids oneself of it, and is
happy and at peace everywhere. 11.5
Realising,
“I am not the body, nor is the body mine. I am awareness,”
one attains the supreme state and no longer remembers
things done or undone. 11.6
Realising,
“I alone exist, from Brahma down to the last clump of
grass,” one becomes free from uncertainty, pure, at
peace, and unconcerned about what has been attained
or not. 11.7
Realising
that all this varied and wonderful world is nothing,
one becomes pure receptivity, free from inclinations,
and as if nothing existed, one finds peace. 11.8
Janaka said:
First of
all I was averse to physical activity, then to lengthy
speech, and finally to thought itself, which is why
I am now established. 12.1
In the absence
of delight in sound and the other senses, and by the
fact that I am myself not an object of the senses, my
mind is focused and free from distraction — which is
why I am now established. 12.2
Owing to
the distraction of such things as wrong identification,
one is driven to strive for mental stillness. Recognising
this pattern I am now established. 12.3
By relinquishing
the sense of rejection and acceptance, and with pleasure
and disappointment ceasing today, brahmin — I am now
established. 12.4
Life in
a community, then going beyond such a state, meditation
and the elimination of mind-made objects — by means
of these I have seen my error, and I am now established.
12.5
Just as
the performance of actions is due to ignorance, so their
abandonment is too. By fully recognising this truth,
I am now established. 12.6
Trying to
think the unthinkable, is doing something unnatural
to thought. Abandoning such a practice therefore, I
am now established. 12.7
He who has
achieved this has achieved the goal of life. He who
is of such a nature has done what has to be done. 12.8
Janaka said:
The inner
freedom of having nothing is hard to achieve, even with
just a loin-cloth, but I live as I please, abandoning
both renunciation and acquisition. 13.1
Sometimes
one experiences distress because of one’s body, sometimes
because of one’s speech, and sometimes because of one’s
mind. Abandoning all of these, I live as I please in
the goal of human life. 13.2
Recognising
that in reality no action is ever committed, I live
as I please, just doing what presents itself to be done.
13.3
Yogis who
identify themselves with their bodies are insistent
on fulfilling and avoiding certain actions, but I live
as I please abandoning attachment and rejection. 13.4
No benefit
or loss comes to me by standing, walking or lying down,
so consequently I live as I please whether standing,
walking or sleeping.13.5
I lose nothing
by sleeping and gain nothing by effort, so consequently
I live as I please, abandoning success and failure.
13.6
Continually
observing the drawbacks of such things as pleasant objects,
I live as I please, abandoning the pleasant and unpleasant.
13.7
Janaka said:
He who by
nature is empty-minded, and who thinks of things only
unintentionally, is freed from deliberate remembering
like one awakened from a dream. 14.1
When my
desire has been eliminated, I have no wealth, friends,
robbers, senses, scriptures or knowledge. 14.2
Realising
my supreme self-nature in the Person of the Witness,
the Lord, and the state of desirelessness in bondage
or liberation, I feel no inclination for liberation.
14.3
The various
states of one who is free of uncertainty within, and
who outwardly wanders about as he pleases like an idiot,
can only be known by someone in the same condition.
14.4
Ashtavakra said:
While a
man of pure intelligence may achieve the goal by the
most casual of instruction, another may seek knowledge
all his life and still remain bewildered. 15.1
Liberation
is distaste for the objects of the senses. Bondage is
love of the senses. This is knowledge. Now do as you
wish. 15.2
This awareness
of the truth makes an eloquent, clever and energetic
man dumb, stupid and lazy, so it is avoided by those
whose aim is enjoyment. 15.3
You are
not the body, nor is the body yours, nor are you the
doer of actions or the reaper of their consequences.
You are eternally pure consciousness, the witness, in
need of nothing — so live happily. 15.4
Desire and
anger are objects of the mind, but the mind is not yours,
nor ever has been. You are choiceless awareness itself
and unchanging — so live happily. 15.5
Recognising
oneself in all beings, and all beings in oneself, be
happy, free from the sense of responsibility and free
from preoccupation with “me.” 15.6
Your nature
is the consciousness, in which the whole world wells
up, like waves in the sea. That is what you are, without
any doubt, so be free of disturbance. 15.7
Have faith,
my son, have faith. Don’t let yourself be deluded in
this. You are yourself the Lord, whose very nature is
knowledge, and you are beyond natural causation. 15.8
The body
invested with the senses stands still, and comes and
goes. You yourself neither come nor go, so why bother
about them? 15.9
Let the
body last to the end of the Age, or let it come to an
end right now. What have you gained or lost, who consist
of pure consciousness? 15.10
Let the
world wave rise or subside according to its own nature
in you, the great ocean. It is no gain or loss to you.
15.11
My son,
you consist of pure consciousness, and the world is
not separate from you. So who is to accept or reject
it, and how, and why? 15.12
How can
there be either birth, karma, or responsibility in that
one unchanging, peaceful, unblemished, and infinite
consciousness which is you? 15.13
Whatever
you see, it is you alone manifest in it. How can bracelets,
armlets and anklets be different from the gold they
are made of? 15.14
Giving up
such distinctions as “He is what I am,” and “I am not
that,” recognise that “Everything is myself,” and be
without distinction and happy. 15.15
It is through
your ignorance that all this exists. In reality you
alone exist. Apart from you there is no one within or
beyond samsara. 15.16
Knowing
that all this is just an illusion, one becomes free
of desire, pure receptivity, and at peace, as if nothing
existed. 15.17
Only one
thing has existed, exists and will exist in the ocean
of being. You have no bondage or liberation. Live happily
and fulfilled. 15.18
Being pure
consciousness, do not disturb your mind with thoughts
of for and against. Be at peace and remain happily in
yourself, the essence of joy. 15.19
Give up
meditation completely but don’t let the mind hold on
to anything. You are free by nature, so what will you
achieve by forcing the mind? 15.20
Ashtavakra said:
My son,
you may recite or listen to countless scriptures, but
you will not be established within until you can forget
everything. 16.1
You may,
as a learned man, indulge in wealth, activity, and meditation,
but your mind will still long for that which is the
cessation of desire, and beyond all goals. 16.2
Everyone
is in pain because of their striving to achieve something,
but no one realises it. By no more than this instruction,
the fortunate one attains tranquillity. 16.3
Happiness
belongs to no one but that supremely lazy man for whom
even opening and closing his eyes is a bother. 16.4
When the
mind is freed from such pairs of opposites as, “I have
done this,” and “I have not done that,” it becomes indifferent
to merit, wealth, sensuality and liberation. 16.5
One man
is abstemious and averse to the senses, another is greedy
and attached to them, but he who is free from both taking
and rejecting is neither abstemious nor greedy. 16.6
So long
as desire, the state of lack of discrimination, remains,
the sense of revulsion and attraction will remain, which
is the root and branch of samsara. 16.7
Desire springs
from usage, and aversion from abstension, but the wise
man is free from the pairs of opposites like a child,
and becomes established. 16.8
The passionate
man wants to eliminate samsara so as to avoid pain,
but the dispassionate man is free from pain and feels
no distress even in it. 16.9
He who is
proud about even liberation or his own body, and feels
them his own, is neither a seer nor a yogi. He is still
just a sufferer. 16.10
If even
Shiva, Vishnu, or the lotus-born Brahma were your instructor,
until you have forgotten everything you cannot be established
within. 16.11
Ashtavakra said:
He who is
content, with purified senses, and always enjoys solitude,
has gained the fruit of knowledge and the fruit of the
practice of yoga too. 17.1
The knower
of truth is never distressed in this world, for the
whole round world is full of himself alone. 17.2
None of
these senses please a man who has found satisfaction
within, just as Nimba leaves do not please the elephant
that has acquired the taste for Sallaki leaves. 17.3
The man
is rare who is not attached to the things he has enjoyed,
and does not hanker after the things he has not enjoyed.
17.4
Those who
desire pleasure and those who desire liberation are
both found in samsara, but the great-souled man who
desires neither pleasure nor liberation is rare indeed.
17.5
It is only
the noble-minded who is free from attraction or repulsion
to religion, wealth, sensuality, and life and death
too. 17.6
He feels
no desire for the elimination of all this, nor anger
at its continuing, so the fortunate man lives happily
with whatever sustinence presents itself. 17.7
Thus fulfilled
through this knowledge, contented, and with the thinking
mind emptied, he lives happily just seeing, hearing,
feeling, smelling, and tasting. 17.8
In him for
whom the ocean of samsara has dried up, there is neither
attachment or aversion. His gaze is vacant, his behaviour
purposeless, and his senses inactive. 17.9
Surely the
supreme state is everywhere for the liberated mind.
He is neither awake nor asleep, and neither opens nor
closes his eyes. 17.10
The liberated
man is resplendent everywhere, free from all desires.
Everywhere he appears self-possessed and pure of heart.
17.11
Seeing,
hearing, feeling, smelling, tasting, speaking, and walking
about, the great-souled man who is freed from trying
to achieve or avoid anything is free indeed. 17.12
The liberated
man is free from desires everywhere. He neither blames,
praises, rejoices, is disappointed, gives, nor takes.
17.13
When a great-souled
one is unperturbed in mind, and equally self-possessed
at either the sight of a woman inflamed with desire
or at approaching death, he is truly liberated. 17.14
There is
no distinction between pleasure and pain, man and woman,
success and failure for the wise man who looks on everything
as equal. 17.15
There is
no aggression nor compassion, no pride nor humility,
no wonder nor confusion for the man whose days of samsara
are over. 17.16
The liberated
man is not averse to the senses nor is he attached to
them. He enjoys hinself continually with an unattached
mind in both success and failure. 17.17
One established
in the Absolute state with an empty mind does not know
the alternatives of inner stillness and lack of inner
stillness, and of good and evil. 17.18
A man free
of “me” and “mine” and of a sense of responsibility,
aware that “Nothing exists,” with all desires extinguished
within, does not act even in acting. 17.19
He whose
thinking mind is dissolved achieves the indescribable
state and is free from the mental display of delusion,
dream, and ignorance. 17.20
Ashtavakra said:
Praise be
to That by the awareness of which delusion itself becomes
dream-like, to that which is pure happiness, peace,
and light. 18.1
One may
get all sorts of pleasure by the acquisition of various
objects of enjoyment, but one cannot be happy except
by the renunciation of everything. 18.2
How can
there be happiness, for one who has been burnt inside
by the blistering sun of the pain of thinking that there
are things that still need doing, without the rain of
the nectar of peace? 18.3
This existence
is just imagination. It is nothing in reality, but there
is no non-being for natures that know how to distinguish
being from non-being. 18.4
The realm
of one’s self is not far away, nor can it be achieved
by the addition of limitations to its nature. It is
unimaginable, effortless, unchanging, and spotless.
18.5
By the simple
elimination of delusion and the recognition of one’s
true nature, those whose vision is unclouded live free
from sorrow. 18.6
Knowing
everything as just imagination, and himself as eternally
free, how should the wise man behave like a fool? 18.7
Knowing
himself to be God, and being and non-being just imagination,
what should the man free from desire learn, say, or
do? 18.8
Considerations
like “I am this” or “I am not this” are finished for
the yogi who has gone silent realising “Everything is
myself.” 18.9
For the
yogi who has found peace, there is no distraction or
one-pointedness, no higher knowledge or ignorance, no
pleasure and no pain. 18.10
The dominion
of heaven or beggary, gain or loss, life among men or
in the forest, these make no difference to a yogi whose
nature it is to be free from distinctions. 18.11
There are
no religious obligations, wealth, sensuality, or discrimination
for a yogi free from such opposites as “I have done
this,” and “I have not done that.” 18.12
There is
nothing needing to be done or any attachment in his
heart for the yogi liberated while still alive. Things
will last just to the end of life. 18.13
There is
no delusion, world, meditation on That, or liberation
for the pacified great soul. All these things are just
the realm of imagination.18.14
He by whom
all this is seen may well make out it doesn’t exist,
but what is the desireless one to do? Even in seeing
it he does not see it. 18.15
He by whom
the Supreme Brahma is seen may think “I am Brahma,”
but what is he to think who is without thought, and
who sees no duality? 18.16
He by whom
inner distraction is seen may put an end to it, but
the noble one is not distracted. When there is nothing
to achieve what is he to do? 18.17
The wise
man, unlike the worldly man, does not see inner stillness,
distraction, or fault in himself, even when living like
a worldly man. 18.18
Nothing
is done by him who is free from being and non-being,
who is contented, desireless, and wise, even if in the
world’s eyes he does act. 18.19
The wise
man who just goes on doing what presents itself for
him to do, encounters no difficulty in either activity
or inactivity. 18.20
He who is
desireless, self-reliant, independent, and free of bonds
functions like a dead leaf blown about by the wind of
causality. 18.21
There is
neither joy nor sorrow for one who has transcended samsara.
With a peaceful mind he lives as if without a body.
18.22
He whose
joy is in himself, and who is peaceful and pure within
has no desire for renunciation or sense of loss in anything.
18.23
For the
man with a naturally empty mind, doing just as he pleases,
there is no such thing as pride or false humility, as
there is for the natural man. 18.24
“This action
was done by the body but not by me.” The pure-natured
person thinking like this is not acting even when acting.
18.25
He who acts
without being able to say why, but is not thereby a
fool, he is one liberated while still alive, happy and
blessed. He is happy even in samsara. 18.26
He who has
had enough of endless considerations and has attained
peace, does not think, know, hear, or see. 18.27
He who is
beyond mental stillness and distraction does not desire
either liberation or its opposite. Recognising that
things are just constructions of the imagination, that
great soul lives as God here and now. 18.28
He who feels
responsibility within, acts even when doing nothing,
but there is no sense of done or undone for the wise
man who is free from the sense of responsibility. 18.29
The mind
of the liberated man is not upset or pleased. It shines
unmoving, desireless, and free from doubt. 18.30
He whose
mind does not set out to meditate or act, still meditates
and acts but without an object. 18.31
A stupid
man is bewildered when he hears the ultimate truth,
while even a clever man is humbled by it just like the
fool. 18.32
The ignorant
make a great effort to practise one-pointedness and
the stopping of thought, while the wise see nothing
to be done and remain in themselves like those asleep.
18.33
The stupid
man does not attain cessation whether he acts or abandons
action, while the wise man finds peace within simply
by knowing the truth. 18.34
People cannot
come to know themselves by practices — pure awareness,
clear, complete, beyond multiplicity, and faultless
though they are. 18.35
The stupid
man does not achieve liberation even through regular
practice, but the fortunate remains free and actionless
simply by understanding. 18.36
The stupid
does not attain Godhead because he wants it, while the
wise man enjoys the Supreme Godhead without even wanting
it. 18.37
Even when
living without any support and eager for achievement,
the stupid are still nourishing samsara, while the wise
have cut at the very root of its unhappiness. 18.38
The stupid
man does not find peace because he desires it, while
the wise man discriminating the truth is always peaceful
minded. 18.39
How can
there be self-knowledge for him whose knowledge depends
on what he sees? The wise do not see this and that,
but see themselves as infinite. 18.40
How can
there be cessation of thought for the misguided who
is striving for it? Yet it is there always naturally
for the wise man delighting in himself. 18.41
Some think
that something exists, and others that nothing does.
Rare is the man who does not think either, and is thereby
free from distraction. 18.42
Those of
weak intelligence think of themselves as pure nonduality,
but because of their delusion do not really know this,
and so remain unfulfilled all their lives. 18.43
The mind
of the man seeking liberation can find no resting place
within, but the mind of the liberated man is always
free from desire by the very fact of being without a
resting place. 18.44
Seeing the
tigers of the senses, the frightened refuge-seekers
at once enter the cave in search of cessation of thought
and one-pointedness. 18.45
Seeing the
desireless lion, the elephants of the senses silently
run away, or, if that is impossible, serve him like
courtiers. 18.46
The man
who is free from doubts and whose mind is free does
not bother about means of liberation. Whether seeing,
hearing, feeling, smelling, or tasting, he lives at
ease. 18.47
He whose
mind is pure and undistracted from just hearing of the
Truth does not see anything to do or anything to avoid
or even a cause for indifference. 18.48
The upright
person does whatever presents itself to be done, good
or bad, for his actions are like those of a child. 18.49
By inner
freedom one attains happiness, by inner freedom one
reaches the Supreme, by inner freedom one comes to absence
of thought, by inner freedom to the Ultimate State.
18.50
When one
sees oneself as neither the doer nor the reaper of the
consequences, then all mind waves come to an end. 18.51
The spontaneous
unassuming behaviour of the wise is noteworthy, but
not the deliberate purposeful stillness of the fool.
18.52
The wise
who are rid of imagination, unbound and with unfettered
awareness, may enjoy themselves in the midst of many
goods, or alternatively go off to mountain caves. 18.53
There is
no attachment in the heart of a wise man whether he
sees or pays homage to a learned brahmin, a celestial
being, a holy place, a woman, a king or a friend. 18.54
A yogi is
not in the least put out even when humiliated by the
ridicule of servants, sons, wives, grandchildren, or
other relatives. 18.55
Even when
pleased he is not pleased, not suffering even when in
pain. Only those like him can know the wonderful state
of such a man. 18.56
It is the
feeling that there is something that needs to be achieved
which is samsara. The wise who are of the form of emptiness,
formless, unchanging, and spotless see nothing of the
sort. 18.57
Even when
doing nothing the fool is agitated by restlessness,
while a skillful man remains undisturbed even when doing
what there is to do. 18.58
Happy he
stands, happy he sits, happy sleeps, and happy he comes
and goes. Happy he speaks and happy he eats. This is
the life of a man at peace. 18.59
He who of
his very nature feels no unhappiness in his daily life
like worldly people, remains undisturbed like a great
lake, cleared of defilement. 18.60
Even abstention
from action has the effect of action in a fool, while
even the action of the wise man brings the fruits of
inaction. 18.61
A fool often
shows aversion towards his belongings, but for him whose
attachment to the body has dropped away, there is neither
attachment nor aversion. 18.62
The mind
of the fool is always caught in thinking or not thinking,
but the wise man’s is of the nature of no thought because
he thinks what is appropriate. 18.63
For the
seer who behaves like a child, without desire in all
actions, there is no attachment for such a pure one even
in the work he does. 18.64
Blessed
is he who knows himself and is the same in all states,
with a mind free from craving whether he is seeing,
hearing, feeling, smelling, or tasting. 18.65
There is
no one subject to samsara, no sense of individuality,
no goal or means to the goal in the eyes of the wise
man who is always free from imagination and unchanging
like space. 18.66
Glorious
is he who has abandoned all goals and is the incarnation
of the satisfaction, which is his very nature, and whose
inner focus on the Unconditioned is quite spontaneous.
18.67
In brief,
the great-souled man who has come to know the Truth
is without desire for either pleasure or liberation,
and is always and everywhere free from attachment. 18.68
What remains
to be done by the man who is pure awareness and has
abandoned everything that can be expressed in words
from the highest heaven to the earth itself? 18.69
The pure
man who has experienced the Indescribable attains peace
by virtue of his very nature, realising that all this
is nothing but illusion, and that nothing is. 18.70
There are
no rules, dispassion, renunciation, or meditation for
one who is pure receptivity by nature, and admits no
knowable form of being. 18.71
For him
who shines with the radiance of Infinity and is not
subject to natural causality there is neither bondage,
liberation, pleasure, nor pain. 18.72
Pure illusion
reigns in samsara which will continue until self-realisation,
but the enlightened man lives in the beauty of freedom
from me and mine, from the sense of responsibility and
from any attachment. 18.73
For the
seer who knows himself as imperishable and beyond pain
there is neither knowledge, a world, nor the sense that
I am the body or the body mine. 18.74
No sooner
does a man of low intelligence give up activities like
the elimination of thought than he falls into mind racing
and chatter. 18.75
A fool does
not get rid of his stupidity even on hearing the truth.
He may appear outwardly free from imaginations, but
inside he is still hankering after the senses. 18.76
Though in
the eyes of the world he is active, the man who has
shed action through knowledge finds no means of doing
or speaking anything. 18.77
For the
wise man who is always unchanging and fearless there
is neither darkness nor light nor destruction nor anything.
18.78
There is
neither fortitude, prudence, nor courage for the yogi
whose nature is beyond description and free of individuality.
18.79
There is
neither heaven nor hell nor even liberation during life.
In a nutshell, in the sight of the seer nothing exists
at all. 18.80
He neither
longs for possessions nor grieves at their absence.
The calm mind of the sage is full of the nectar of immortality.
18.81
The dispassionate
man does not praise the good or blame the wicked. Content
and equal in pain and pleasure, he sees nothing that
needs doing. 18.82
The wise
man is not averse to samsara, nor does he seek to know
himself. Free from pleasure and impatience, he is not
dead and he is not alive. 18.83
The wise
man excels by being free from anticipation, without
attachment to such things as children or wives, free
from desire for the senses, and not even concerned about
his own body. 18.84
The wise
man, who lives on whatever happens to come to him, roams
wherever he pleases, and sleeps wherever the sun happens
to set, is at peace everywhere. 18.85
Whether
his body rises or falls, the great-souled one gives
it no thought, having forgotten all about samsara in
coming to rest on the ground of his true nature. 18.86
The wise
man has the joy of being complete in himself and without
possessions, acting as he pleases, free from duality
and rid of doubts, and without attachment to any creature.
18.87
The wise
man excels in being without the sense of “me”. Earth,
a stone, or gold are the same to him. The knots of his
heart have been rent asunder, and he is freed from greed
and blindness. 18.88
Who can
compare with that contented, liberated soul who pays
no regard to anything and has no desire left in his
heart? 18.89
Who but
the upright man without desire knows without knowing,
sees without seeing, and speaks without speaking? 18.90
Beggar or
king, he excels who is without desire, and whose opinion
of things is rid of “good” and “bad.” 18.91
There is
neither dissolute behaviour nor virtue, nor even discrimination
of the truth for the sage who has reached the goal and
is the very embodiment of guileless sincerity. 18.92
That which
is experienced within by one who is desireless and free
from pain, and content to rest in himself — how could
it be described, and of whom? 18.93
The wise
man who is contented in all circumstances is not asleep
even in deep sleep, nor sleeping in a dream, nor waking
when he is awake. 18.94
The seer
is without thoughts even when thinking, without senses
among the senses, without understanding even in understanding,
and without a sense of responsibility even in the ego.
18.95
Neither
happy nor unhappy, neither detached nor attached, neither
seeking liberation nor liberated, he is neither something
nor nothing. 18.96
Not distracted
in distraction, in mental stillness not poised, in stupidity
not stupid, that blessed one is not even wise in his
wisdom. 18.97
The liberated
man is self-possessed in all circumstances and free
from the idea of “done” and “still to do.” He is the
same wherever he is and without greed. He does not dwell
on what he has done or not done. 18.98
He is not
pleased when praised nor upset when blamed. He is not
afraid of death nor attached to life. 18.99
A man at
peace does not run off to popular resorts or to the
forest. Whatever and wherever, he remains the same.
18.100
Janaka said:
Using the
tweezers of the knowledge of the truth I have managed
to extract the painful thorn of endless opinions from
the recesses of my heart. 19.1
For me,
established in my own glory, there are no religious
obligations, sensuality, possessions, philosophy, duality,
or even nonduality. 19.2
For me established
in my own glory, there is no past, future, or present.
There is no space or even eternity. 19.3
For me established
in my own glory, there is no self or non-self, no good
or evil, no thought or even absence of thought. 19.4
For me established
in my own glory, there is no dreaming or deep sleep,
no waking nor fourth state beyond them, and certainly
no fear. 19.5
For me established
in my own glory, there is nothing far away and nothing
near, nothing within or without, nothing large and nothing
small. 19.6
For me established
in my own glory, there is no life or death, no worlds
or things of this world, no distraction and no stillness
of mind. 19.7
For me remaining
in myself, there is no need for talk of the three goals
of life, of yoga or of knowledge. 19.8
Janaka said:
In my unblemished
nature there are no elements, no body, no faculties,
no mind. There is no void and no despair. 20.1
For me,
free from the sense of dualism, there are no scriptures,
no self-knowledge, no mind free from an object, no satisfaction
and no freedom from desire. 20.2
There is
no knowledge or ignorance, no “me,” “this,” or “mine,”
no bondage, no liberation, and no property of self-nature.
20.3
For him
who is always free from individual characteristics there
is no antecedent causal action, no liberation during
life, and no fulfilment at death. 20.4
For me,
free from individuality, there is no doer and no reaper
of the consequences, no cessation of action, no arising
of thought, no immediate object, and no idea of results.
20.5
There is
no world, no seeker for liberation, no yogi, no seer,
no one bound and no one liberated. I remain in my own
nondual nature. 20.6
There is
no emanation or return, no goal, means, seeker or achievement.
I remain in my own nondual nature. 20.7
For me who
am forever unblemished, there is no assessor, no standard,
nothing to assess, and no assessment. 20.8
For me who
am forever actionless, there is no distraction or one-pointedness
of mind, no lack of understanding, no stupidity, no
joy and no sorrow. 20.9
For me who
am always free from deliberations there is neither conventional
truth nor absolute truth, no happiness and no suffering.
20.10
For me who
am forever pure there is no illusion, no samsara, no
attachment or detachment, no living organism, and no
God. 20.11
For me who
am forever unmovable and indivisible, established in
myself, there is no activity or inactivity, no liberation
and no bondage. 20.12
For me who
am blessed and without limitation, there is no initiation
or scripture, no disciple or teacher, and no goal of
human life. 20.13
There is
no being or non-being, no unity or dualism. What more
is there to say? There is nothing outside of me. 20.14
Text copyright 1997 John Henry Richards.
Image generated by Midjourney (AI); not subject to copyright.
Related pages on this site
Our reference page on John Henry Richards
Our reference page on the Ashtavakra Gita
This page was first published on
December 10, 1999 and
last revised on August 24, 2023.
Comments
Comments
Please enable JavaScript to view the
comments powered by Disqus.
comments powered by
Disqus
This website
contains
used to contain hundreds of pages of information for people who want to become enlightened.
Reading can be a hindrance.
Email
[email protected]
Donate
We do not accept paid editorial content.
Privacy policy
Copyright © 1999 ‒ 2024 Realization.org