Ashtavakra Gita

अष्टावक्र उवाच॥ मुक्तिं इच्छसि चेत्तात विषयान् विषवत्त्यज। क्षमार्जवदयातोषसत्यं पीयूषवद् भज

Ashtavakra said: If you desire liberation, my child, abandon sense-objects as you would poison; cultivate forgiveness, simplicity, compassion, contentment, and truth as you would nectar.

न पृथ्वी न जलं नाग्निर्न वायुर्द्यौर्न वा भवान्। एषां साक्षिणमात्मानं चिद्रूपं विद्धि मुक्तये

You are not earth, nor water, nor fire, nor air, nor space; know yourself as the witness of these, the consciousness itself, for the sake of liberation.

यदि देहं पृथक् कृत्य चिति विश्राम्य तिष्ठसि। अधुनैव सुखी शान्तो बन्धमुक्तो भविष्यसि

If, separating yourself from the body, you rest in consciousness, then even now you will become happy, peaceful, and free from bondage.

न त्वं विप्रादिको वर्णो नाश्रमी नाक्षगोचरः। असङ्गोऽसि निराकारो विश्वसाक्षी सुखी भव

You are not of any caste or stage of life, nor are you an object of the senses; you are unattached, formless, the witness of the universe—be happy.

धर्माधर्मौ सुखं दुःखं मानसानि न ते विभो। न कर्तासि न भोक्तासि मुक्त एवासि सर्वदा

Virtue and vice, pleasure and pain, are creations of the mind and not yours, O mighty one; you are neither the doer nor the enjoyer—always you are free.

एको द्रष्टासि सर्वस्य मुक्तप्रायोऽसि सर्वदा। अयमेव हि ते बन्धो द्रष्टारं पश्यसीतरम्

You are the one seer of all, always nearly liberated; this alone is your bondage, that you see the seer as something else.

अहं कर्तेत्यहंमानमहाकृष्णाहिदंशितः। नाहं कर्तेति विश्वासामृतं पीत्वा सुखी भव

Bitten by the great black serpent of the ego, 'I am the doer,' be happy by drinking the nectar of the faith, 'I am not the doer.'

एको विशुद्धबोधोऽहं इति निश्चयवह्निना। प्रज्वाल्याज्ञानगहनं वीतशोकः सुखी भव

With the fire of the conviction, 'I am the one pure consciousness,' burn the dense forest of ignorance; free from sorrow, be happy.

यत्र विश्वमिदं भाति कल्पितं रज्जुसर्पवत्। आनन्दपरमानन्दः स बोधस्त्वं सुखं भव

Where this entire world appears imagined, like a snake on a rope, there supreme bliss and joy arise; you are that awareness—be happy.

मुक्ताभिमानी मुक्तो हि बद्धो बद्धाभिमान्यपि। किंवदन्तीह सत्येयं या मतिः सा गतिर्भवेत्

He who thinks himself liberated is indeed liberated; he who thinks himself bound is bound. This saying is true: as is one's thought, so is one's outcome.

आत्मा साक्षी विभुः पूर्ण एको मुक्तश्चिदक्रियः। असंगो निःस्पृहः शान्तो भ्रमात्संसारवानिव

The Self is the witness, all-pervading, complete, one, free, consciousness, inactive, unattached, desireless, and peaceful—only seeming to be in worldly existence due to delusion.

कूटस्थं बोधमद्वैतमात्मानं परिभावय। आभासोऽहं भ्रमं मुक्त्वा भावं बाह्यमथान्तरम्

Contemplate yourself as the changeless, nondual awareness; having abandoned the illusion 'I am the appearance,' let go of both external and internal identifications.

देहाभिमानपाशेन चिरं बद्धोऽसि पुत्रक। बोधोऽहं ज्ञानखड्गेन तःनिकृत्य सुखी भव

Long have you been bound, my child, by the snare of body-identification; 'I am awareness'—cut that with the sword of knowledge and be happy.

निःसंगो निष्क्रियोऽसि त्वं स्वप्रकाशो निरंजनः। अयमेव हि ते बन्धः समाधिमनुतिष्ठति

You are unattached, inactive, self-luminous, and pure; this alone is your bondage, that you practice concentration.

त्वया व्याप्तमिदं विश्वं त्वयि प्रोतं यथार्थतः। शुद्धबुद्धस्वरूपस्त्वं मा गमः क्षुद्रचित्तताम्

This universe is pervaded by you; it is strung upon you as it truly is. Your nature is pure, awakened consciousness—do not fall into petty-mindedness.

निरपेक्षो निर्विकारो निर्भरः शीतलाशयः। अगाधबुद्धिरक्षुब्धो भव चिन्मात्रवासनः

Be indifferent, unchanging, full, with a cool mind, of unfathomable understanding, undisturbed, intent only on consciousness.

साकारमनृतं विद्धि निराकारं तु निश्चलं। एतत्तत्त्वोपदेशेन न पुनर्भवसंभवः

Know that which has form to be unreal, and the formless to be unchanging; by this teaching of truth, there is no return to rebirth.

यथैवादर्शमध्यस्थे रूपेऽन्तः परितस्तु सः। तथैवाऽस्मिन् शरीरेऽन्तः परितः परमेश्वरः

Just as the image within a mirror is present inside and all around, so too, within and throughout this body, the Supreme Lord abides.

एकं सर्वगतं व्योम बहिरन्तर्यथा घटे। नित्यं निरन्तरं ब्रह्म सर्वभूतगणे तथा

As the one all-pervading space exists inside and outside a pot, so too, the eternal, uninterrupted Brahman pervades all living beings.

जनक उवाच॥ अहो निरंजनः शान्तो बोधोऽहं प्रकृतेः परः। एतावन्तमहं कालं मोहेनैव विडंबितः

Janaka said: Ah! I am stainless, peaceful, awareness itself, beyond nature; for so long I have been deluded by ignorance.

यथा प्रकाशयाम्येको देहमेनं तथा जगत्। अतो मम जगत्सर्वमथवा न च किंचन

Just as I alone illuminate this body, so too do I illuminate the world; therefore, all this world is mine, or else, nothing at all is mine.

स शरीरमहो विश्वं परित्यज्य मयाधुना। कुतश्चित् कौशलाद् एव परमात्मा विलोक्यते

Having now abandoned the body and the universe, by some skill alone, I perceive the Supreme Self.

यथा न तोयतो भिन्नास्तरंगाः फेनबुद्बुदाः। आत्मनो न तथा भिन्नं विश्वमात्मविनिर्गतम्

Just as waves, foam, and bubbles are not separate from water, so too, the universe arising from the Self is not distinct from the Self.

तन्तुमात्रो भवेद् एव पटो यद्वद् विचारितः। आत्मतन्मात्रमेवेदं तद्वद् विश्वं विचारितम्

Just as, upon examination, a cloth is found to be nothing but threads, so too, upon inquiry, this universe is found to be nothing but the essence of the Self.

यथैवेक्षुरसे क्लृप्ता तेन व्याप्तैव शर्करा। तथा विश्वं मयि क्लृप्तं मया व्याप्तं निरन्तरम्

Just as sugar is made from cane juice and is pervaded by it, so too, the universe is made from me and is pervaded by me without interruption.

आत्मज्ञानाज्जगद् भाति आत्मज्ञानान्न भासते। रज्ज्वज्ञानादहिर्भाति तज्ज्ञानाद् भासते न हि

The world shines forth through self-knowledge; without self-knowledge, it does not shine. A rope appears as a snake through ignorance; with knowledge, it appears as itself.

प्रकाशो मे निजं रूपं नातिरिक्तोऽस्म्यहं ततः। यदा प्रकाशते विश्वं तदाहं भास एव हि

My own nature is illumination; I am not different from that. Whenever the universe shines, it is I alone who shine.

अहो विकल्पितं विश्वमज्ञानान्मयि भासते। रूप्यं शुक्तौ फणी रज्जौ वारि सूर्यकरे यथा

Ah! The imagined universe appears in me due to ignorance, just as silver appears in a shell, a snake in a rope, or water in a sunbeam.

मत्तो विनिर्गतं विश्वं मय्येव लयमेष्यति। मृदि कुंभो जले वीचिः कनके कटकं यथा

The universe, having arisen from me, will dissolve back into me, just as a pot returns to clay, a wave to water, or a bracelet to gold.