Ashtavakra spoke with clarity and compassion, revealing the nature of bondage and liberation. He explained that bondage arises when the mind clings to any perception, while liberation is attained when the mind remains unattached to all perceptions. True freedom is found when the sense of ‘I’ dissolves; bondage persists when the ego is present. Understanding this, he advised not to grasp or reject anything—even casually. He went on to say that the pairs of opposites—action and inaction—are never truly at peace, nor are they so for anyone. Recognizing this, one should become indifferent in this world, devoted to renunciation, and free from all vows. For a rare and blessed soul, simply observing the ways of the world can cause the desire for life, food, and knowledge, along with all agitation, to vanish. Ashtavakra pointed out that everything is impermanent, marked by suffering, unsubstantial, blameworthy, and worthy of abandonment. Realizing this, one naturally becomes calm. No matter the time, age, or circumstance, the pairs of opposites always exist for people. By ignoring them and acting appropriately, perfection is attained. He emphasized that peace does not come from the doctrines of sages, saints, or yogis. Seeing this, anyone who becomes dispassionate naturally finds calm. Once the true nature of consciousness is realized, everyone becomes a teacher; through dispassion and equanimity, one leads others beyond the cycle of birth and death. Ashtavakra advised to see the transformations of the elements simply as the elements themselves. In that very instant, freed from bondage, one abides in one’s own nature. He declared that desires alone constitute the world; therefore, they should be abandoned. By renouncing desires, one remains established in the present moment, whatever it may be. He urged to renounce desire, the enemy, and wealth, which brings misfortune. Even righteousness, which arises from these two, should be regarded with detachment everywhere. The days—whether three or five—are like a dream or illusion, along with friends, lands, wealth, houses, wives, heirs, and possessions. Wherever there is craving, there is worldly existence. By relying on mature dispassion, one becomes happy and free from craving. Bondage consists only of craving; its destruction is called liberation. By mere non-attachment to existence, satisfaction is attained again and again. He reminded that one alone is conscious and pure; the world is inert and unreal. Even ignorance is nothing—so why indulge in curiosity? Kingdoms, sons, wives, bodies, and pleasures are lost in every birth, even for those who are attached. Enough of wealth, desire, and even virtuous deeds; among these, in the desert of worldly existence, the mind has never found rest. How many births have passed, with body, mind, and speech performing actions that bring suffering and toil? Let that cease today. Ashtavakra continued, saying that knowing arising, non-arising, and change are all natural, the one who is changeless and free from distress attains peace effortlessly. Knowing that the Lord is the creator of all and there is no other, one whose hopes have dissolved within is peaceful and unattached. Knowing that misfortune and fortune come in time and by fate, one who is content and whose senses are steady never desires nor grieves. Knowing that happiness and sorrow, birth and death, are by fate, one who sees what is to be done, without effort, is not tainted even while acting. Knowing that suffering arises from thought and not otherwise, one who is free from it is happy, peaceful, and devoid of longing everywhere. Knowing “I am not the body, nor is the body mine; I am consciousness,” one attains isolation as if liberated, and does not remember what was done or not done. Knowing “I alone am,” from Brahma down to a blade of grass, one who is undivided, pure, peaceful, and free from concern for attainment or non-attainment. Knowing “This world is not wondrous, nor is anything,” one who is free from desires and consists only of awareness becomes peaceful as if nothing exists. Then Janaka spoke, sharing his own experience. At first, he was unable to perform actions with his body; then, unable to elaborate in speech; then, unable to think—thus, he had settled in this way. He found that by absence of delight in words and similar things, and by the self’s invisibility, his heart became undisturbed and concentrated. He observed that even the practice of samadhi is itself a distraction from samadhi, and thus he had settled in this way. Recognizing that joy and sorrow do not arise due to the absence of anything to accept or reject, he had settled in this way. Seeing that ashramas, non-ashramas, meditation, and even the acceptance of thoughts by the mind are all mere concepts, he had settled in this way. Just as action ceases through ignorance, so too, by rightly understanding this truth, he had settled in this way. Even when one tries to think of the unthinkable, it takes the form of thought; therefore, abandoning such contemplation, he had settled in this way. Janaka declared that whoever acts in this way becomes fulfilled; whoever possesses this very nature becomes fulfilled. He observed that the state of having nothing and being established in oneself is rare, even for one with only a loincloth. Having abandoned both acceptance and renunciation, he sat at ease. He noted that fatigue comes to the body somewhere, the tongue is tired somewhere, the mind elsewhere; having abandoned these, he remained happily established in the Self. Reflecting truly that nothing whatsoever is ever done, whenever something comes to be done, he did it and sat at ease. For the yogi abiding in the body, the insistence on action or inaction is absent; due to the absence of union or separation, Janaka sat at ease. Gain and loss are not his, whether standing, going, or lying down; whatever his posture, he sat at ease. There is no loss for him when asleep, nor accomplishment when striving; having abandoned both decline and elation, he sat at ease, established in himself.