Ashtavakra Gita

Instruction on Self-Realization

2010-04-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

Janaka said:

1.1

Master, how is knowledge to be achieved,

detachment acquired, liberation attained?

Ashtavakra said:

1.2

To be free,

shun the experiences of the senses like poison.

Turn your attention to

forgiveness, sincerity, kindness, simplicity, truth.

1.3

You are not earth, water, fire or air.

Nor are you empty space.

Liberation is to know yourself

as awareness alone — the Witness of these.

1.4

Abide in awareness

with no illusion of person.

You will be instantly free and at peace.

1.5

You have no caste or duties.

You are invisible, unattached, formless.

You are the Witness of all things.

Be happy.

1.6

Right and wrong, pleasure and pain,

exist in mind only.

They are not your concern.

You neither do nor enjoy.

You are free.

1.7

You are the solitary Witness of All that is,

forever free.

Your only bondage is not seeing This.

1.8

The thought, “I am the doer,”

is the bite of a poisonous snake.

To know, “I do nothing,” is the wisdom of faith.

Be happy.

1.9

A single understanding, "I am the One Awareness,"

consumes all suffering in the fire of an instant.

Be happy.

1.10

You are unbounded awareness — bliss, supreme bliss —

in which the universe appears

like the mirage of a snake in a rope.

Be happy.

1.11

It is true what they say, “You are what you think.”

If you think you are bound you are bound.

If you think you are free you are free.

1.12

You are Self — the solitary Witness.

You are perfect, all-pervading, One.

You are free, desireless, forever still.

The universe is but a seeming in You.

1.13

Meditate on this: “I am Awareness alone — Unity itself.”

Give up the idea that you are separate, a person,

that there is within and without.

1.14

You have long been bound, thinking, “I am a person.”

Let the knowledge, “I am Awareness alone,”

be the sword that frees you.

1.15

You are now and forever

free, luminous, transparent, still.

The practice of meditation keeps one in bondage.

1.16

You are pure consciousness — the substance of the universe.

The universe exists within you.

Don’t be small-minded.

1.17

You are unconditioned, changeless, formless.

You are solid, unfathomable, cool.

Desire nothing.

You are consciousness.

1.18

That which has form is not real.

Only the formless is permanent.

Once this is known, you will not return to illusion.

1.19

Just as a mirror exists both within and without

the image reflected,

so the supreme Self exists

both within and without the body.

1.20

Just as the same space exists

both within and without a jar,

the timeless, all-pervasive One

exists as Totality.

Joy of Self-Realization

2010-04-04T11:48:00.001-07:00

Janaka said:

2.1

I am now spotless and at peace —

awareness beyond consciousness.

All this time I have been duped by illusion.

2.2

By this light alone

the body and the universe appear.

I am everything or nothing.

2.3

Seeing there is no universe or body,

by grace the Self is revealed.

2.4

As waves, foam, and bubbles

are not different from water,

so the universe emanating from Self

is not different from Self.

2.5

Look closely at cloth,

you see only threads.

Look closely at creation,

you see only Self.

2.6

As sweetness pervades sugarcane juice,

I am the essence of creation.

2.7

Not seeing Self, the world is materialized.

Seeing Self, the world is vanished.

A rope is not a snake, but can appear to be.

2.8

I am not other than light.

The universe manifests at my glance.

2.9

The mirage of universe appears in me

as silver appears in mother-of-pearl,

as a snake appears in a rope,

as water appears on a desert horizon.

2.10

As a pot returns to clay,

a wave to water, a bracelet to gold,

so will the universe return to Me.

2.11

I am wonderful indeed — beyond adoration.

I cannot decay nor ever die,

though God and all the universes

should perish to the last blade of grass.

2.12

I am wonderful indeed — beyond adoration.

Even with a body I am One.

I neither come nor go.

I am everywhere at once.

2.13

I am wonderful indeed — beyond adoration.

I am astounded at my powers.

The universe appears within me

but I do not touch it.

2.14

I am wonderful indeed — beyond adoration.

I am everything thought or spoken,

and have nothing.

2.15

In Reality, knowledge, the knower

and the knowable do not exist.

I am the transparent Self

in which through ignorance they appear.

2.16

Looking at One and seeing many

is the cause of all misery.

The only cure is to realize that

what is seen is not there.

I am One — aware, blissful, immaculate.

2.17

I am unbounded awareness.

Only in imagination do I have limits.

Reflecting on this, I abide in the Absolute.

2.18

I am neither free nor bound.

The illusion of such things has fallen into disbelief.

Though I contain creation, it has no substance.

2.19

Having seen for certain that this universe and body

is without form or substance,

I am revealed as Awareness alone.

Imagination has no place here.

2.20

The body exists only in imagination,

as do heaven and hell, bondage, freedom, fear.

Are these my concern?

I who am pure awareness?

2.21

I see no differences or separation.

Even the multitudes appear as a single formless desert.

To what should I cling?

2.22

I am not the body.

I do not have a body.

I am Awareness, not a person.

My thirst for life bound me

to a seeming of life.

2.23

In the limitless ocean of Self

the winds of the mind

roil the myriad waves of the world.

2.24

But when the wind subsides in the limitless ocean

the ark of personhood is swallowed up,

along with the universe it carries.

2.25

And how wonderful it is!

In the limitless ocean of Self,

waves of beings arise, collide,

play for a time, then disappear —

as is their nature.

Test of Self-Realization

2010-04-04T11:47:00.003-07:00

Ashtavakra said:

3.1

Having realized yourself as One,

being serene and indestructible,

why do you desire wealth?

3.2

Just as imagining silver in mother-of-pearl

causes greed to arise,

so does ignorance of Self

cause desire for illusion.

3.3

Having realized yourself as That

in which the waves of the world rise and fall,

why do you run around in turmoil?

3.4

Having realized yourself as pure awareness,

as beautiful beyond description,

how can you remain a slave to lust?

3.5

It is strange that in a sage who has realized

Self in All, and All in Self,

this sense of ownership should continue.

3.6

Strange that one abiding in the Absolute,

intent on freedom,

should be vulnerable to lust

and weakened by amorous pastimes.

3.7

Strange that knowing lust

as an enemy of knowledge,

one so weak and nearing death

should still crave sensual pleasure.

3.8

Strange that one who is unattached

to the things of this world and the next,

who can discriminate between the transient and the timeless,

who yearns for freedom,

should yet fear the dissolution of the body.

3.9

Whether acclaimed or tormented

the serene sage abides in Self.

He is neither gratified nor angered.

3.10

A great soul witnesses his body’s actions

as if they were another’s.

How can praise or blame disturb him?

3.11

Realizing the universe is illusion,

having lost all curiosity,

how can one of steady mind fear death?

3.12

With whom can we compare the great soul

who, content knowing Self,

remains desireless in disappointment?

3.13

Why should a person of steady mind,

who sees the nothingness of objects,

prefer one thing to another?

3.14

He who is unattached,

untouched by opposites, free of desire,

experiences neither pleasure nor pain as events pass through.

Glorification of Self-Realization

2010-04-04T11:47:00.001-07:00

Janaka said:

4.1

Surely one who knows Self,

though he plays the game of life,

differs greatly from the world’s

bewildered burdened beasts.

4.2

Truly, the yogi feels no elation,

though he abides in the exalted state

yearned for by Indra and all the discontented gods.

4.3

Surely one who knows That,

is not touched by virtue or vice,

just as space is not touched by smoke,

though it appears to be.

4.4

Who can prevent the great soul,

who knows the universe as Self,

from living life as it comes?

4.5

Of the four kinds of beings,

from Brahma to a blade of grass,

only the sage can renounce aversion and desire.

4.6

Rare is he who knows himself

as One with no other — the Lord of the Universe.

He acts as he knows and is never afraid.

Four Ways to Dissolution

2010-04-04T11:46:00.004-07:00

Ashtavakra said:

5.1

You are immaculate, touched by nothing.

What is there to renounce?

The mind is complex — let it go.

Know the peace of dissolution.

5.2

The universe arises from you

like foam from the sea.

Know yourself as One.

Enter the peace of dissolution.

5.3

Like an imagined snake in a rope

the universe appears to exist

in the immaculate Self, but does not.

Seeing this you know, “There is nothing to dissolve.”

5.4

You are perfect, changeless,

through misery and happiness,

hope and despair, life and death.

This is the state of dissolution.

The Higher Knowledge

2010-04-04T11:46:00.002-07:00

Janaka said:

6.1

I am infinite space.

The universe is a jar.

This I know.

No need to renounce, accept, or destroy.

6.2

I am a shoreless ocean.

The universe makes waves.

This I know.

No need to renounce, accept, or destroy.

6.3

I am mother-of–pearl.

The universe is the illusion of silver.

This I know.

No need to renounce, accept, or destroy.

6.4

I am in all beings.

All beings are in me.

This I know.

No need to renounce, accept, or destroy.

Nature of Self-Realization

2010-04-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

Janaka said:

7.1

In me, the shoreless ocean,

the ark of universe drifts here and there

on the winds of its nature.

I am not impatient.

7.2

In me, the shoreless ocean,

let the waves of the universe

rise and fall as they will.

I am neither enhanced nor diminished.

7.3

In me, the shoreless ocean,

the universe is imagined.

I am still and formless.

In this alone I abide.

7.4

The Self is not in objects,

nor are objects in the pure and infinite Self.

The Self is tranquil, free of attachment and desire.

In this alone I abide.

7.5

I am Awareness alone.

The world is passing show.

How can thoughts arise of acceptance or rejection?

And where?

Bondage and Liberation

2010-04-04T11:45:00.002-07:00

Ashtavakra said:

8.1

When the mind desires or grieves things,

accepts or rejects things,

is pleased or displeased by things,

this is bondage.

8.2

When the mind does not desire or grieve,

accept or reject, become pleased or displeased,

liberation is at hand.

8.3

If the mind is attached to any experience,

this is bondage.

When the mind is detached from all experience,

this is liberation.

8.4

When there is no “I”

there is only liberation.

When “I” appears, bondage appears with it.

Knowing this, it is effortless to refrain

from accepting and rejecting.

Detachment

2010-04-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

Ashtavakra said:

9.1

Opposing forces, duties done and left undone —

when does it end and for whom?

Considering this, be ever desireless, let go of all things,

and to the world turn an indifferent eye.

9.2

Rare and blessed is one whose desire to live,

to enjoy and to know,

has been extinguished by observing the ways of men.

9.3

Seeing all things as threefold suffering,

the sage becomes still.

Insubstantial, transient, contemptible —

the world is fit only for rejection.

9.4

Was there an age or time men existed without opposites?

Leave the opposites behind.

Be content with what is.

Perfection.

9.5

The greatest seers, saints, and yogis agree on little.

Seeing this, who could not be indifferent to knowledge

and become still?

9.6

One who, through worldly indifference,

through serenity and reason,

sees his true nature and escapes illusion —

is he not a true teacher?

9.7

In the myriad forms of the universe

see the primal element alone.

You will be instantly free, and abide in Self.

9.8

Desire creates the world — renounce it.

Renounce desires and you renounce the world.

Now you may live as you are.

Quietude

2010-04-04T11:44:00.003-07:00

Ashtavakra said:

10.1

Give up desire, which is the enemy.

Give up prosperity,

which is born of mischief and good works.

Be indifferent.

10.2

Look upon friends, lands, wealth, houses, wives, gifts —

and all apparent good fortune —

as a passing show,

as a dream lasting three to five days.

10.3

Where there is desire, there is the world.

Be firm in non-attachment.

Be free of desire.

Be happy.

10.4

Bondage and desire are the same.

Destroy desire and be free.

Only by detaching from the world

does one joyfully realize Self.

10.5

You are One — Awareness itself.

The universe is neither aware nor does it exist.

Even ignorance is unreal.

What is left to know?

10.6

Attached as you have been to

kingdoms, sons, wives, bodies, pleasures —

life after life —

still they are now lost forever.

10.7

Prosperity, pleasure, pious deeds …

Enough!

In the dreary forest of the world

the mind finds no rest.

10.8

For how many lifetimes

have you done hard and painful labor

with body, mind, and speech?

It is time to stop.

Wisdom

2010-04-04T11:44:00.001-07:00

Ashtavakra said:

11.1

Existence, non-existence, change —

this is the nature of things.

Realizing this,

stillness, serenity, and bliss naturally follow.

11.2

One who knows for certain that

“Self creates All and is alone”

becomes still, desireless, unattached.

11.3

One who knows for certain that adversity and success

come and go in obedience to destiny,

becomes content.

He neither desires nor grieves.

11.4

One who knows for certain

that birth and death, happiness and misery,

come and go in obedience to destiny,

sees nothing to accomplish.

He engages in non-action,

and in action remains unattached.

11.5

One who has realized

that only by caring is misery caused in the world,

becomes free, happy, serene, desireless.

11.6

“I am not the body, nor is the body my possession —

I am Awareness itself.”

One who realizes this for certain

has no memory of things done or left undone.

There is only the Absolute.

11.7

“From Brahma to the last blade of grass, I alone exist.”

One who knows this for certain

becomes immaculate, serene, unconflicted.

Attainment has no meaning.

11.8

One who knows for certain

that this manifold and wonderful universe is nothing,

becomes desireless awareness,

and abides in the stillness of no-thing.

Abiding in the Self

2010-04-04T11:43:00.003-07:00

Janaka said:

12.1

Becoming first intolerant of action,

then of excessive speech,

then of thought itself,

I come to be here.

12.2

Neither sounds nor other sense perceptions

attract my attention.

Even the Self is unperceived.

The mind is free, undistracted, one-pointed.

And here I am.

12.3

Effort is required

to concentrate a distracted mind

superimposed with illusion.

Knowing this, I remain here.

12.4

Nothing to reject, nothing to accept.

No joy, no sorrow.

Lord God I am here.

12.5

The four stages of life, life without stages,

meditation, renunciation, objects of mind —

nothing but distractions.

I am forever here.

12.6

Doing and not-doing

both arise from ignorance.

I know this.

And I am here.

12.7

Thinking of the unthinkable One

unavoidably conjures thought.

I choose no-thought

and remain here.

12.8

Blessed is he who attains this by effort.

Blessed is he who is such by nature.

Happiness

2010-04-04T11:43:00.001-07:00

Janaka said:

13.1

The tranquil state

of knowing Self alone is rare —

even among those who own but a loincloth.

I therefore neither renounce nor accept

and am happy.

13.2

The body is strained by practices.

The tongue tires of scripture.

The mind numbs with meditation.

Detached from all this,

I live as I am.

13.3

Realizing that nothing is done,

I do what comes

and am happy.

13.4

Yogis who preach either effort or non-effort

are still attached to the body.

I neither dissociate nor associate with any of that

and am happy.

13.5

I have nothing to gain or lose

by standing, walking, or sitting down.

So whether I stand, walk, or sit,

I am happy.

13.6

I do not lose by sleeping nor attain by effort.

Not thinking in terms of loss or gain,

I am happy.

13.7

Pleasure and pain fluctuate

and are inconsistent.

Without good or bad,

I live happily.

Tranquility

2010-04-04T11:42:00.003-07:00

Janaka said:

14.1

Though appearing asleep like other men,

one whose interest in the world is exhausted,

whose mind has been emptied,

who thinks only by inadvertence,

is in Reality awake.

14.2

When desire has melted,

how can there be wealth, or friends,

or the seduction of senses?

Of what use is scripture and knowledge?

14.3

I have realized the supreme Self, the Witness, the One.

I am indifferent to bondage and freedom.

I have no need for liberation.

14.4

The inner condition of one who is devoid of doubt,

yet moves among creatures of illusion,

can only be known by those like him.

Knowledge of the Self

2010-04-04T11:42:00.001-07:00

Ashtavakra said:

15.1

A man of open intuition may realize Self

upon hearing a casual instruction,

while a man of cluttered intellect

inquires bewildered for a lifetime.

15.2

Aversion to the world’s offerings is liberation.

Attraction to the world’s offerings

is the suffering of bondage.

This is the truth.

Now do as you please.

15.3

This knowledge of Truth

turns an eloquent, wise, and active man,

mute, empty, and inert.

Lovers of the world therefore shun it.

15.4

You are not the body.

You do not have a body.

You neither do nor enjoy.

You are Awareness alone — the timeless Witness.

You are free.

Go in happiness.

15.5

Attachment and aversion are attributes of the mind.

You are not the mind.

You are consciousness itself — changeless, undivided, free.

Go in happiness.

15.6

Realize Self in All and All in Self.

Be free of personal identity

and the sense of “mine.”

Be happy.

15.7

You are That in which the universe appears

like waves appearing in the ocean.

You are consciousness itself.

No need to worry.

15.8

Have faith, my son, have faith.

You are Awareness alone, the Self, the One.

You are the Lord of Nature.

15.9

The body is made of worldly stuff.

It comes, it lingers, it goes.

The Self neither comes nor goes, yet remains.

Why mourn the body?

15.10

If the body lasts until the end of time

or perishes today,

is there gain or loss for you?

You who are pure Awareness?

15.11

Let the waves of the universe

rise and fall as they will.

You have nothing to gain or lose.

You are the ocean.

15.12

You are the substance of consciousness.

The world is You.

Who is it that thinks he can accept or reject it?

And where does he stand?

15.13

In you who are One —

immaculate, still Awareness —

from where can birth, action,

or a separate person arise?

15.14

Whatever you perceive is You and You alone.

How can bracelets, armlets, and anklets

be other than the gold they are made of?

15.15

Leave behind such distinctions as,

“I am he,” and, “I am not this.”

Consider everything Self.

Be desireless and be happy.

15.16

Your ignorance alone creates the universe.

In reality One alone exists.

There is no person or god other than You.

15.17

One who knows for certain

that the universe is illusion, a no-thing,

becomes desireless, pure Awareness,

and finds peace in the existence of nothing.

15.18

In the ocean of existence

only One is, was, and ever will be.

You are neither bound nor free.

Live content and be happy.

15.19

Do not stir the mind with “yes” or “no.”

You are pure consciousness.

Be still, and abide in the bliss of Self.

15.20

Give up completely all contemplation.

Hold nothing in the mind or heart.

You are the Self, forever free.

Of what use is thinking to you?

Special Instruction

2010-04-04T11:41:00.002-07:00

Ashtavakra said:

16.1

You can recite and discuss scripture all you want,

but until you drop everything

you will never know Truth.

16.2

You can enjoy and work and meditate,

but you will still yearn for That

which is beyond all experience,

and in which all desires are extinguished.

16.3

Everyone is miserable because they exert constant effort.

But no one understands this.

A ripe mind can become unshackled

upon hearing this one instruction.

16.4

The master idler,

to whom even blinking is a bother,

is happy.

But he is the only one.

16.5

When the mind is free of opposites

like, “This is done,” and, “This is yet undone,”

one becomes indifferent to

merit, wealth, pleasure, and liberation.

16.6

One who abhors sense objects avoids them.

One who desires them becomes ensnared.

One who neither abhors nor desires

is neither detached nor attached.

16.7

As long as there is desire —

which is the absence of discrimination —

there will be attachment and non-attachment.

This is the cause of the world.

16.8

Indulgence creates attachment.

Aversion creates abstinence.

Like a child, the sage is free of both

and thus lives on as a child.

16.9

One who is attached to the world

thinks renouncing it will relieve his misery.

One who is attached to nothing is free,

and does not feel miserable

even in the world.

16.10

He who claims liberation as his own,

as an attainment of a person,

is neither enlightened nor a seeker.

He suffers his own misery.

16.11

Though Hara, Hari,

or the lotus-born Brahma himself instruct you,

until you know Nothing,

you will never know Self.

The True Knower

2010-04-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

Ashtavakra said:

17.1

One has attained knowledge

and reaped the fruits of yoga

who is content, purified of attachments,

and at home in solitude.

17.2

The knower of Truth

is never miserable in the world,

for the whole universe

is filled with Himself alone.

17.3

As the foliage of the neem tree

does not please an elephant who delights in sallaki leaves,

so do sense objects not please

he who delights in Self.

17.4

Rare in the world is one

who does not relish past enjoyments,

nor yearn for enjoyments to come.

17.5

Those who desire pleasure and those who desire liberation

are both common in the world.

Rare is the great soul who

desires neither enjoyment nor liberation.

17.6

Rare is the right-minded person

who neither covets nor shuns

religion, wealth, pleasure, life, or death.

17.7

The man of knowledge neither cares for the universe

nor desires its dissolution.

He lives happily on whatever comes his way.

He is blessed.

17.8

Knowing Self, mind empty and at peace,

the sage lives happily,

seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating.

17.9

There is no attachment or non-attachment for one

in whom the ocean of the world has dried up.

His look is vacant, senses still.

His actions have no purpose.

17.10

The sage is neither asleep nor awake.

He neither closes nor opens his eyes.

Thus, for the liberated soul,

everywhere there is only This.

17.11

The liberated soul abides in Self alone

and is pure of heart.

He lives always and everywhere,

free of desire.

17.12

Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling,

eating, taking, speaking, walking,

the great soul exerts neither effort nor non-effort.

He is truly free.

17.13

The liberated soul does not blame or praise,

give or take, rejoice or become angry.

He is everywhere unattached and free.

17.14

The great soul remains poised and undisturbed,

whether in the presence of a passionate woman,

or observing the approach of his death.

He is truly free.

17.15

The sage sees no difference

between happiness and misery,

man and woman, adversity and success.

Everything is seen to be the same.

17.16

In the sage there is neither violence nor mercy,

arrogance nor humility, anxiety nor wonder.

His worldly life is exhausted.

He has transcended his role as a person.

17.17

The liberated one neither avoids experience nor craves it.

He enjoys what comes,

and what does not.

17.18

The sage is not conflicted

by states of stillness and thought.

His mind is empty.

His home is the Absolute.

17.19

Though he may perform actions,

the man of knowledge does not act.

Desires extinguished, free of thoughts of “I” and “mine,”

he knows with absolute certainty

that nothing exists.

17.20

The sage is free.

His empty mind no longer projects

delusion, dreaming, dullness.

This state is indescribable.