Ashtavakra Gita: The Song of Ashtavakra

Tranlated by John Ri hards. All of this is really lled by you and strung out in you, for
Janaka said: what you onsist of is pure awareness - so don't be small
How is knowledge to be a quired? How is liberation to be minded. 1.16
attained? And how is dispassion to be rea hed? Tell me You are un onditioned and hangeless, formless and
this, sir. 1.1 immovable, unfathomable awareness and unperturbable, so
Ashtavakra said: hold to nothing but ons iousness. 1.17
If you are seeking liberation, my son, shun the obje ts of Re ognise that the apparent is unreal, while the unmanifest
the senses like poison. Pra tise toleran e, sin erity, is abiding. Through this initiation into truth you will
ompassion, ontentment and truthfulness like ne tar. 1.2 es ape falling into unreality again. 1.18
You are neither earth, water, re, air or even ether. For Just as a mirror exists everywhere both within and apart
liberation know yourself as onsisting of ons iousness, the from its re e ted images, so the Supreme Lord exists
witness of these . 1.3 everywhere within and apart from this body. 1.19
If only you will remain resting in ons iousness, seeing Just as one and the same all-pervading spa e exists within
yourself as distin t from the body, then even now you will and without a jar, so the eternal, everlasting God exists in
be ome happy, pea eful and free from bonds. 1.4 the totality of things. 1.20
You do not belong to the brahmin or any other aste, you
are not at any stage, nor are you anything that the eye an Janaka said:
see. You are unatta hed and formless, the witness of Truly I am spotless and at pea e, the awareness beyond
everything - so be happy. 1.5 natural ausality. All this time I have been ai ted by
Righteousness and unrighteousness, pleasure and pain are delusion. 2.1
purely of the mind and are no on ern of yours. You are As I alone give light to this body, so I do to the world, As a
neither the doer nor the reaper of the onsequen es, so you result the whole world is mine, or alternatively nothing is.
are always free. 1.6 2.2
You are the one witness of everything, and are always So now abandoning the body and everything else, by some
totally free. The ause of your bondage is that you see the good fortune or other my true self be omes apparent. 2.3
witness as something other than this. 1.7 Just as waves, foam and bubbles are not dierent from
Sin e you have been bitten by the bla k snake of the water, so all this whi h has emanated from oneself, is no
self-opinion that I am the doer , drink the ne tar of faith other than oneself. 2.4
in the fa t that I am not the doer , and be happy. 1.8 In the same way that loth is found to be just thread when
Burn down the forest of ignoran e with the re of the analysed, so when all this is analysed it is found to be no
understanding that I am the one pure awareness , and be other than oneself. 2.5
happy and free from distress. 1.9 Just as the sugar produ ed from the jui e of the sugar ane
That in whi h all this appears - imagined like the snake in is permeated with the same taste, so all this, produ ed out
a rope, that joy, supreme joy and awareness is what you of me, is ompletely permeated with me. 2.6
are, so be happy. 1.10 >From ignoran e of oneself, the world appears, and by
If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks knowledge of oneself it appears no longer. >From ignoran e
of oneself as bound, one is bound. Here this saying is true, of the rope a snake appears, and by knowledge of it, it
"Thinking makes it so". 1.11 appears no longer. 2.7
Your real nature is as the one perfe t, free, and a tionless Shining is my essential nature, and I am nothing over and
ons iousness, the all-pervading witness - unatta hed to beyond that. When the world shines forth, it is simply me
anything, desireless and at pea e. It is from illusion that that is shining forth. 2.8
you seem to be involved in samsara. 1.12 All this appears in me imagined due to ignoran e, just as a
Meditate on yourself as motionless awareness, free from any snake appears in the rope, the mirage of water in the
dualism, giving up the mistaken idea that you are just a sunlight, and silver in mother of pearl. 2.9
derivative ons iousness, or anything external or internal. All this, whi h has originated out of me, is resolved ba k
1.13 into me too, like a jug ba k into lay, a wave into water,
You have long been trapped in the snare of identi ation and a bra elet into gold. 2.10
with the body. Sever it with the knife of knowledge that I How wonderful I am! Glory be to me, for whom there is no
am awareness , and be happy, my son. 1.14 destru tion, remaining even beyond the destru tion of the
You are really unbound and a tionless, self-illuminating world from Brahma down to the last lump of grass. 2.11
and spotless already. The ause of your bondage is that How wonderful I am! Glory be to me, solitary even though
you are still resorting to stilling the mind. 1.15 with a body, neither going or oming anywhere, I who

1
abide forever, lling all that is. 2.12 After hearing of oneself as pure ons iousness and the
How wonderful I am! Glory be to me! There is no one so supremely beautiful, is one to go on lusting after sordid
lever as me! I who have borne all that is forever, without sexual obje ts? 3.4
even tou hing it with my body! 2.13 When the sage has realised that he himself is in all beings,
How wonderful I am! Glory be to me! I who possess and all beings are in him, it is astonishing that the sense of
nothing at all, or alternatively possess everything that individuality should be able to ontinue. 3.5
spee h and mind an refer to. 2.14 It is astonishing that a man who has rea hed the supreme
Knowledge, what is to be known, and the knower - these non-dual state and is intent on the benets of liberation
three do not exist in reality. I am the spotless reality in should still be subje t to lust and held ba k by sexual
whi h they appear be ause of ignoran e. 2.15 a tivity. 3.6
Truly dualism is the root of suering. There is no other It is astonishing that one already very debilitated, and
remedy for it than the realisation that all this that we see knowing very well that its arousal is the enemy of
is unreal, and that I am the one stainless reality, onsisting knowledge should still hanker after sensuality, even when
of ons iousness. 2.16 approa hing his last days. 3.7
I am pure awareness though through ignoran e I have It is astonishing that one who is unatta hed to the things
imagined myself to have additional attributes. By of this world or the next, who dis riminates between the
ontinually re e ting like this, my dwelling pla e is in the permanent and the impermanent, and who longs for
Unimagined. 2.17 liberation, should still feel fear for liberation. 3.8
For me there is neither bondage nor liberation. The illusion Whether feted or tormented, the wise man is always aware
has lost its basis and eased. Truly all this exists in me, of his supreme self-nature and is neither pleased nor
though ultimately it does not even exist in me. 2.18 disappointed. 3.9
I have re ognised that all this and my body are nothing, The great souled person sees even his own body in a tion
While my true self is nothing but pure ons iousness, so as if it were some-one else's, so how should he be disturbed
what an the imagination work on now? 2.19 by praise or blame? 3.10
The body, heaven and hell, bondage and liberation, and Seeing this world as pure illusion, and devoid of any
fear too, All this is pure imagination. What is there left to interest in it, how should the strong-minded person, feel
do for me whose very nature is ons iousness? 2.20 fear, even at the approa h of death? 3.11
Truly I do not see dualism even in a rowd of people. What Who is to be ompared to the great souled person whose
pleasure should I have when it has turned into a mind is free of desire even in disappointment, and who has
wilderness? 2.21 found satisfa tion in self-knowledge? 3.12
I am not the body, nor is the body mine. I am not a living How should a strong-minded person, who knows that what
being. I am ons iousness. It was my thirst for living that he sees is by its very nature nothing, onsider one thing to
was my bondage. 2.22 be grasped and another to be reje ted? 3.13
Truly it is in the limitless o ean of myself, that stimulated For someone who has eliminated atta hment, and who is
by the olourful waves of the worlds everything suddenly free from dualism and from desire, an obje t of enjoyment
arises in the wind of ons iousness. 2.23 that omes of itself is neither painful nor pleasurable. 3.14
It is in the limitless o ean of myself, that the wind of
thought subsides, and the trader-like living beings' world Janaka said:
bark is wre ked by la k of goods. 2.24 Certainly the wise person of self-knowledge, playing the
How wonderful it is that in the limitless o ean of myself the game of worldly enjoyment, bears no resemblan e whatever
waves of living beings arise, ollide, play and disappear, to the world's bewildered beasts of burden. 4.1
a ording to their natures. 2.25 Truly the yogi feels no ex itement even at being established
in that state whi h all the Devas from Indra down yearn for
Ashtavakra said: dis onsolately. 4.2
Knowing yourself as truly one and indestru tible, how He who has known That is untou hed within by good deeds
ould a wise man possessing self-knowledge like you feel or bad, just as the sky is not tou hed by smoke, however
any pleasure in a quiring wealth? 3.1 mu h it may appear to be. 4.3
Truly, when one does not know oneself, one takes pleasure Who an prevent the great-souled person who has known
in the obje ts of mistaken per eption, just as greed arises this whole world as himself from living as he pleases? 4.4
for the mistaken silver in one who does not know mother of Of all four ategories of beings, from Brahma down to the
pearl for what it is. 3.2 last lump of grass, only the man of knowledge is apable
All this wells up like waves in the sea. Re ognising, I am of eliminating desire and aversion. 4.5
That , why run around like someone in need? 3.3 Rare is the man who knows himself as the undivided Lord
of the world, and no fear o urs to him who knows this

2
from anything. 4.6 Liberation is when the mind does not long for anything,
grieve about anything, reje t anything, or hold on to
Ashtavakra said: anything, and is not pleased about anything or displeased
You are not bound by anything. What does a pure person about anything. 8.2
like you need to renoun e? Putting the omplex organism Bondage is when the mind is tangled in one of the senses,
to rest, you an go to your rest. 5.1 and liberation is when the mind is not tangled in any of the
All this arises out of you, like a bubble out of the sea. senses. 8.3
Knowing yourself like this to be but one, you an go to When there is no me that is liberation, and when there is
your rest. 5.2 me there is bondage. Considering this earnestly, do not
In spite of being in front of your eyes, all this, being hold on and do not reje t. 8.4
insubstantial, does not exist in you, spotless as you are. It
is an appearan e like the snake in a rope, so you an go to Ashtavakra said:
your rest. 5.3 Knowing when the dualism of things done and undone has
Equal in pain and in pleasure, equal in hope and in been put to rest, or the person for whom they o ur has,
disappointment, equal in life and in death, and omplete as then you an here and now go beyond renun iation and
you are, you an go to your rest. 5.4 obligations by indieren e to su h things. 9.1
Rare indeed, my son, is the lu ky man whose observation of
Janaka said: the world's behaviour has led to the extin tion of his thirst
I am innite like spa e, and the natural world is like a jar. for living, thirst for pleasure and thirst for knowledge. 9.2
To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither All this is impermanent and spoilt by the three sorts of
renun iation, a eptan e or essation of it. 6.1 pain. Re ognising it to be insubstantial, ontemptible and
I am like the o ean, and the multipli ity of obje ts is only t for reje tion, one attains pea e. 9.3
omparable to a wave. To know this is knowledge, and then When was that age or time of life when the dualism of
there is neither renun iation, a eptan e or essation of it. extremes did not exist for men? Abandoning them, a
6.2 person who is happy to take whatever omes attains
I am like the mother of pearl, and the imagined world is perfe tion. 9.4
like the silver. To know this is knowledge, and then there is Who does not end up with indieren e to su h things and
neither renun iation, a eptan e or essation of it. 6.3 attain pea e when he has seen the dieren es of opinions
Alternatively, I am in all beings, and all beings are in me. among the great sages, saints and yogis? 9.5
To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither Is he not a guru who, endowed with dispassion and
renun iation, a eptan e or essation of it. 6.4 equanimity, a hieves full knowledge of the nature of
ons iousness, and leads others out of samsara? 9.6
Janaka said: If you would just see the transformations of the elements as
It is in the innite o ean of myself that the world bark nothing more than the elements, then you would
wanders here and there, driven by its own inner wind. I am immediately be freed from all bonds and established in
not upset by that. 7.1 your own nature. 9.7
Let the world wave rise or vanish of its own nature in the One's in linations are samsara. Knowing this, abandon
innite o ean of myself. There is no in rease or diminution them. The renun iation of them is the renun iation of it.
to me from it. 7.2 Now you an remain as you are. 9.8
It is in the innite o ean of myself that the imagination
alled the world takes pla e. I am supremely pea eful and Ashtavakra said:
formless, and as su h I remain. 7.3 Abandoning desire, the enemy, along with gain, itself so full
My true nature is not ontained in obje ts, nor does any of loss, and the good deeds whi h are the ause of the other
obje t exist in it, for it is innite and spotless. So it is two - pra ti e indieren e to everything. 10.1
unatta hed, desireless and at pea e, and as su h I remain. Look on su h things as friends, land, money, property, wife,
7.4 and bequests as nothing but a a dream or a three or
Truly I am but pure ons iousness, and the world is like a ve-day onjuror's show. 10.2
onjuror's show, so how ould I imagine there is anything Wherever a desire o urs, see samsara in it. Establishing
there to take up or reje t ? 7.5 yourself in rm dispassion, be free of passion and happy.
10.3
Ashtavakra said: The essential nature of bondage is nothing other than
Bondage is when the mind longs for something, grieves desire, and its elimination is known as liberation. It is
about something, reje ts something, holds on to something, simply by not being atta hed to hanging things that the
is pleased about something or displeased about something. everlasting joy of attainment is rea hed. 10.4
8.1

3
You are one, ons ious and pure, while all this is just inert means of these I have seen my error, and I am now
non-being. Ignoran e itself is nothing, so what need have established. 12.5
you of desire to understand? 10.5 Just as the performan e of a tions is due to ignoran e, so
Kingdoms, hildren, wives, bodies, pleasures - these have their abandonment is too. By fully re ognising this truth, I
all been lost to you life after life, atta hed to them though am now established. 12.6
you were. 10.6 Trying to think the unthinkable, is doing something
Enough of wealth, sensuality and good deeds. In the forest unnatural to thought. Abandoning su h a pra ti e
of samsara the mind has never found satisfa tion in these. therefore, I am now established. 12.7
10.7 He who has a hieved this has a hieved the goal of life. He
How many births have you not done hard and painful who is of su h a nature has done what has to be done. 12.8
labour with body, mind and spee h. Now at last stop! 10.8
Janaka said:
Ashtavakra said: The inner freedom of having nothing is hard to a hieve,
Unmoved and undistressed, realising that being, non-being even with just a loin- loth, but I live as I please
and transformation are of the very nature of things, one abandoning both renun iation and a quisition. 13.1
easily nds pea e. 11.1 Sometimes one experien es distress be ause of one's body,
At pea e, having shed all desires within, and realising that sometimes be ause of one's tongue, and sometimes be ause
nothing exists here but the Lord, the Creator of all things, of one's mind. Abandoning all of these, I live as I please in
one is no longer atta hed to anything. 11.2 the goal of human existen e. 13.2
Realising that misfortune and fortune ome in their turn Re ognising that in reality no a tion is ever ommitted, I
from fate, one is ontented, one's senses under ontrol, and live as I please, just doing what presents itself to be done.
does not like or dislike. 11.3 13.3
Realising that pleasure and pain, birth and death are from Yogis who identify themselves with their bodies are
fate, and that one's desires annot be a hieved, one remains insistent on fullling and avoiding ertain a tions, but I live
ina tive, and even when a ting does not get atta hed. 11.4 as I please abandoning atta hment and reje tion. 13.4
Realising that suering arises from nothing other than No benet or loss omes to me by standing, walking or
thinking, dropping all desires one rids oneself of it, and is lying down, so onsequently I live as I please whether
happy and at pea e everywhere. 11.5 standing, walking or sleeping. 13.5
Realising, I am not the body, nor is the body mine. I am I lose nothing by sleeping and gain nothing by eort, so
awareness , one attains the supreme state and no longer onsequently I live as I please, abandoning loss and su ess.
remembers things done or undone. 11.6 13.6
Realising, It is just me, from Brahma down to the last Frequently observing the drawba ks of su h things as
lump of grass , one be omes free from un ertainty, pure, pleasant obje ts, I live as I please, abandoning the pleasant
at pea e and un on erned about what has been attained or and unpleasant. 13.7
not. 11.7
Realising that all this varied and wonderful world is Janaka said:
nothing, one be omes pure re eptivity, free from He who by nature is empty minded, and who thinks of
in linations, and as if nothing existed, one nds pea e. 11.8 things only unintentionally, is freed from deliberate
remembering like one awakened from a dream. 14.1
Janaka said: When my desire has been eliminated, I have no wealth,
First of all I was averse to physi al a tivity, then to lengthy friends, robber senses, s riptures or knowledge? 14.2
spee h, and nally to thinking itself, whi h is why I am Realising my supreme self-nature in the Person of the
now established. 12.1 Witness, the Lord, and the state of desirelessness in
In the absen e of delight in sound and the other senses, and bondage or liberation, I feel no in lination for liberation.
by the fa t that I am myself not an obje t of the senses, my 14.3
mind is fo used and free from distra tion - whi h is why I The various states of one who is empty of un ertainty
am now established. 12.2 within, and who outwardly wanders about as he pleases
Owing to the distra tion of su h things as wrong like a madman, an only be known by someone in the same
identi ation, one is driven to strive for mental stillness. ondition. 14.4
Re ognising this pattern I am now established. 12.3
By relinquishing the sense of reje tion and a eptan e, and Ashtavakra said:
with pleasure and disappointment easing today, brahmin, While a man of pure intelligen e may a hieve the goal by
I am now established. 12.4 the most asual of instru tion, another may seek knowledge
Life in a ommunity, then going beyond su h a state, all his life and still remain bewildered. 15.1
meditation and the elimination of mind-made obje ts - by

4
Liberation is distaste for the obje ts of the senses. Bondage Being pure ons iousness, do not disturb your mind with
is love of the senses. This is knowledge. Now do as you thoughts of for and against. Be at pea e and remain
please. 15.2 happily in yourself, the essen e of joy. 15.19
This awareness of the truth makes an eloquent, lever and Give up the pra ti e of on entration ompletely and hold
energeti man dumb, stupid and lazy, so it is avoided by nothing in your mind. You are free in your very nature, so
those whose aim is enjoyment. 15.3 what will you a hieve by working your brain? 15.20
You are not the body, nor is the body yours, nor are you
the doer of a tions or the reaper of their onsequen es. You Ashtavakra said:
are eternally pure ons iousness the witness, in need of My son, you may re ite or listen to ountless s riptures,
nothing - so live happily. 15.4 but you will not be established within until you an forget
Desire and anger are obje ts of the mind, but the mind is everything. 16.1
not yours, nor ever has been. You are hoi eless, awareness You may, as a learned man, indulge in wealth, a tivity and
itself and un hanging - so live happily. 15.5 meditation, but your mind will still long for that whi h is
Re ognising oneself in all beings, and all beings in oneself, the essation of desire, and beyond all goals. 16.2
be happy, free from the sense of responsibility and free It is be ause of eort that everyone is in pain, but no-one
from preo upation with me . 15.6 realises it. By just this simple instru tion, the lu ky one
Your nature is the ons iousness, in whi h the whole world attains tranquillity. 16.3
wells up, like waves in the sea. That is what you are, Happiness belongs to no-one but that supremely lazy man
without any doubt, so be free of disturban e. 15.7 for whom even opening and losing his eyes is a bother.
Have faith, my son, have faith. Don't let yourself be 16.4
deluded in this, sir. You are yourself the Lord, whose When the mind is freed from su h pairs of opposites as, I
property is knowledge, and are beyond natural ausation. have done this , and I have not done that , it be omes
15.8 indierent to merit, wealth, sensuality and liberation. 16.5
The body invested with the senses stands still, and omes One man is abstemious and averse to the senses, another is
and goes. You yourself neither ome nor go, so why bother greedy and atta hed to them, but he who is free from both
about them? 15.9 taking and reje ting is neither abstemious nor greedy. 16.6
Let the body last to the end of the Age, or let it ome to So long as desire, whi h is the state of la k of
an end right now. What have you gained or lost, who dis rimination, remains, the sense of revulsion and
onsist of pure ons iousness? 15.10 attra tion will remain, whi h is the root and bran h of
Let the world wave rise or subside a ording to its own samsara. 16.7
nature in you, the great o ean. It is no gain or loss to you. Desire springs from usage, and aversion from abstension,
15.11 but the wise man is free from the pairs of opposites like a
My son, you onsist of pure ons iousness, and the world is hild, and be omes established. 16.8
not separate from you. So who is to a ept or reje t it, and The passionate man wants to be rid of samsara so as to
how, and why? 15.12 avoid pain, but the dispassionate man is without pain and
How an there be either birth, karma or responsibility in feels no distress even in it. 16.9
that one un hanging, pea eful, unblemished and innite He who is proud about even liberation or his own body,
ons iousness whi h is you? 15.13 and feels them his own, is neither a seer or a yogi. He is
Whatever you see, it is you alone manifest in it. How ould still just a suerer. 16.10
bra elets, armlets and anklets be dierent from the gold? If even Shiva, Vishnu or the lotus-born Brahma were your
15.14 instru tor, until you have forgotten everything you annot
Giving up su h distin tions as This is what I am , and I be established within. 16.11
am not that , re ognise that Everything is myself , and be Ashtavakta said
without distin tion and happy. 15.15 He who is ontent, with puried senses, and always enjoys
It is through your ignoran e that all this exists. In reality solitude, has gained the fruit of knowledge and the fruit of
you alone exist. Apart from you there is no one within or the pra ti e of yoga too. 17.1
beyond samsara. 15.16 The knower of truth is never distressed in this world, for
Knowing that all this is an illusion, one be omes free from the whole round world is full of himself alone. 17.2
desire, pure re eptivity and at pea e, as if nothing existed. None of these senses please a man who has found
15.17 satisfa tion within, just as Nimba leaves do not please the
Only one thing has existed, exists and will exist in the elephant that has a taste for Sallaki leaves. 17.3
o ean of being. You have no bondage or liberation. Live Not atta hed to the things he has enjoyed, and not
happily and fullled. 15.18 hankering after the things he has not enjoyed, su h a man
is hard to nd. 17.4

5
Those who desire pleasure and those who desire liberation One may get all sorts of pleasure by the a quisition of
are both found in samsara, but the great souled man who various obje ts of enjoyment, but one annot be happy
desires neither pleasure nor liberation is rare indeed. 17.5 ex ept by the renun iation of everything. 18.2
It is only the noble minded who is free from attra tion or How an there be happiness, for one who is burnt inside by
repulsion to religion, wealth, sensuality, and life and death the blistering sun of the pain of things that need doing,
too. 17.6 without the rain of the ne tar of pea e? 18.3
He feels no desire for the elimination of all this, nor anger This existen e is just imagination. It is nothing in reality,
at its ontinuing, so the lu ky man lives happily with but there is no non-being for natures that know how to
whatever means of substinen e presents itself. 17.7 distinguish being from non being. 18.4
Thus fullled through this knowledge, ontented and with The realm of one's own self is not far away, and nor an it
the thinking mind emptied, he lives happily just seeing, be a hieved by the addition of limitations to its nature. It
hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting. 17.8 is unimaginable, eortless, un hanging and spotless. 18.5
In him for whom the o ean of samsara has dried up, there By the simple elimination of delusion and the re ognition
is neither atta hment or aversion. His gaze is va ant, his of one's true nature, those whose vision is un louded live
behaviour purposeless, and his senses ina tive. 17.9 free from sorrow. 18.6
Surely the supreme state is everywhere for the liberated Knowing everything as just imagination, and himself as
mind. He is neither awake or asleep, and neither opens or eternally free, how should the wise man behave like a fool?
loses his eyes. 17.10 18.7
The liberated man is resplendent everywhere, free from all Knowing himself to be God and being and non-being just
desires. Everywhere he appears self- possessed and pure of imagination, what should the man free from desire learn,
heart. 17.11 say or do? 18.8
Seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, tasting, speaking and Considerations like I am this or I am not this are
walking about, the great souled man who is freed from nished for the yogi who has gone silent realising
trying to a hieve or avoid anything is free indeed. 17.12 Everything is myself . 18.9
The liberated man is free from desires everywhere. He does For the yogi who has found pea e, there is no distra tion or
not blame, does not praise, does not rejoi e, is not one-pointedness, no higher knowledge or ignoran e, no
disappointed, and neither gives nor takes. 17.13 pleasure and no pain. 18.10
When a great souled one is equally unperturbed in mind The dominion of heaven or beggary, gain or loss, life among
and self-possessed at the sight of a woman full of desire and men or in the forest, these make no dieren e to a yogi
at approa hing death, he is truly liberated. 17.14 whose nature it is to be free from distin tions. 18.11
There is no distin tion between pleasure and pain, man There is no religion, wealth, sensuality or dis rimination for
and woman, su ess and failure for the wise man who looks a yogi free from the pairs of opposites su h as I have done
on everything as equal. 17.15 this and I have not done that . 18.12
There is no aggression or ompassion, no pride or humility, There is nothing needing to be done, or any atta hment in
no wonder or onfusion for the man whose days of running his heart for the yogi liberated while still alive. Things are
about are over. 17.16 just for a life-time. 18.13
The liberated man is not averse to the senses and nor is he There is no delusion, world, meditation on That, or
atta hed to them. He enjoys himself ontinually with an liberation for the pa ied great soul. All these things are
unatta hed mind in both a hievement and just the realm of imagination. 18.14
non-a hievement. 17.17 He by whom all this is seen may well make out he doesn't
One established in the Absolute state with an empty mind exist, but what is the desireless one to do? Even in seeing
does not know the alternatives of inner stillness and la k of he does not see. 18.15
stillness, and of good and evil. 17.18 He by whom the Supreme Brahma is seen may think I am
Free of me and mine and of a sense of responsibility, Brahma , but what is he to think who is without thought,
aware that Nothing exists , with all desires extinguished and who sees no duality. 18.16
within, a man does not a t even in a ting. 17.19 He by whom inner distra tion is seen may put an end to it,
He whose thinking mind is dissolved a hieves the but the noble one is not distra ted. When there is nothing
indes ribable state and is free from the mental display of to a hieve, what is he to do? 18.17
delusion, dream and ignoran e. 17.20 The wise man, unlike the worldly man, does not see inner
stillness, distra tion or fault in himself, even when living
Ashtavakra said: like a worldly man. 18.18
Praise be to that by the awareness of whi h delusion itself Nothing is done by him who is free from being and
be omes dream-like, to that whi h is pure happiness, pea e non-being, who is ontented, desireless and wise, even if in
and light. 18.1 the world's eyes he does a t . 18.19

6
The wise man who just goes on doing what presents itself Even when living without any support and eager for
for him to do, en ounters no diÆ ulty in either a tivity or a hievement, the stupid are still nourishing samsara, while
ina tivity. 18.20 the wise have ut at the very root of its unhappiness. 18.38
He who is desireless, self-reliant, independent and free of The stupid does not nd pea e be ause he is wanting it,
bonds fun tions like a dead leaf blown about by the wind of while the wise dis riminating the truth is always pea eful
ausality . 18.21 minded. 18.39
There is neither joy nor sorrow for one who has How an there be self knowledge for him whose knowledge
trans ended samsara. He lives always with a pea eful mind depends on what he sees. The wise do not see this and
and as if without a body. 18.22 that, but see themselves as unending. 18.40
He whose joy is in himself, and who is pea eful and pure How an there be essation of thought for the misguided
within has no desire for renun iation or sense of loss in who is striving for it. Yet it is there always naturally for
anything. 18.23 the wise man delighted in himself. 18.41
For the man with a naturally empty mind, doing just as he Some think that something exists, and others that nothing
pleases, there is no su h thing as pride or false humility, as does. Rare is the man who does not think either, and is
there is for the natural man. 18.24 thereby free from distra tion. 18.42
This a tion was done by the body but not by me. The Those of weak intelligen e think of themselves as pure
pure-natured person thinking like this, is not a ting even nonduality, but be ause of their delusion do not know this,
when a ting . 18.25 and remain unfullled all their lives. 18.43
He who a ts without being able to say why, but not The mind of the man seeking liberation an nd no resting
be ause he is a fool, he is one liberated while still alive, pla e within, but the mind of the liberated man is always
happy and blessed. He thrives even in samsara. 18.26 free from desire by the very fa t of being without a resting
He who has had enough of endless onsiderations and has pla e. 18.44
attained to pea e, does not think, know, hear or see. 18.27 Seeing the tigers of the senses, the frightened refuge-seekers
He who is beyond mental stillness and distra tion, does not at on e enter the ave in sear h of essation of thought and
desire either liberation or anything else. Re ognising that one-pointedness. 18.45
things are just onstru tions of the imagination, that great Seeing the desireless lion the elephants of the senses silently
soul lives as God here and now. 18.28 run away, or, if they annot, serve him like ourtiers. 18.46
He who feels responsibility within, a ts even when not The man who is free from doubts and whose mind is free
a ting, but there is no sense of done or undone for the wise does not bother about means of liberation. Whether seeing,
man who is free from the sense of responsibility. 18.29 hearing, feeling smelling or tasting, he lives at ease. 18.47
The mind of the liberated man is not upset or pleased. It He whose mind is pure and undistra ted from the simple
shines unmoving, desireless, and free from doubt. 18.30 hearing of the Truth sees neither something to do nor
He whose mind does not set out to meditate or a t, something to avoid nor a ause for indieren e. 18.48
meditates and a ts without an obje t. 18.31 The straightforward person does whatever arrives to be
A stupid man is bewildered when he hears the real truth, done, good or bad, for his a tions are like those of a hild.
while even a lever man is humbled by it just like the fool. 18.49
18.32 By inner freedom one attains happiness, by inner freedom
The ignorant make a great eort to pra tise one rea hes the Supreme, by inner freedom one omes to
one-pointedness and the stopping of thought, while the absen e of thought, by inner freedom to the Ultimate
wise see nothing to be done and remain in themselves like State. 18.50
those asleep. 18.33 When one sees oneself as neither the doer nor the reaper of
The stupid does not attain essation whether he a ts or the onsequen es, then all mind waves ome to an end.
abandons a tion, while the wise man nd pea e within 18.51
simply by knowing the truth. 18.34 The spontaneous unassumed behaviour of the wise is
People annot ome to know themselves by pra ti es - pure noteworthy, but not the deliberate, intentional stillness of
awareness, lear, omplete, beyond multipli ity and the fool. 18.52
faultless though they are. 18.35 The wise who are rid of imagination, unbound and with
The stupid does not a hieve liberation even through unfettered awareness may enjoy themselves in the midst of
regular pra ti e, but the fortunate remains free and many goods, or alternatively go o to mountain aves.
a tionless simply by dis rimination. 18.36 18.53
The stupid does not attain Godhead be ause he wants to There is no atta hment in the heart of a wise man whether
be ome it, while the wise man enjoys the Supreme he sees or pays homage to a learned brahmin, a elestial
Godhead without even wanting it. 18.37 being, a holy pla e, a woman, a king or a friend. 18.54

7
A yogi is not in the least put out even when humiliated by Pure illusion reigns in samsara whi h will ontinue until
the ridi ule of servants, sons, wives, grand hildren or other self realisation, but the enlightened man lives in the beauty
relatives. 18.55 of freedom from me and mine, from the sense of
Even when pleased he is not pleased , not suering even responsibility and from any atta hment. 18.73
when in pain. Only those like him an know the wonderful For the seer who knows himself as imperishable and beyond
state of su h a man. 18.56 pain there is neither knowledge, a world nor the sense that
It is the sense of responsibility whi h is samsara. The wise I am the body or the body mine. 18.74
who are of the form of emptiness, formless, un hanging and No sooner does a man of low intelligen e give up a tivities
spotless see no su h thing. 18.57 like the elimination of thought than he falls into mental
Even when doing nothing the fool is agitated by hariot ra ing and babble. 18.75
restlessness, while a skilful man remains undisturbed even A fool does not get rid of his stupidity even on hearing the
when doing what there is to do. 18.58 truth. He may appear outwardly free from imaginations,
Happy he stands, happy he sits, happy sleeps and happy he but inside he is hankering after the senses still. 18.76
omes and goes. Happy he speaks, and happy he eats. Though in the eyes of the world he is a tive, the man who
Su h is the life of a man at pea e. 18.59 has shed a tion through knowledge nds no means of doing
He who of his very nature feels no unhappiness in his daily or speaking anything. 18.77
life like worldly people, remains undisturbed like a great For the wise man who is always un hanging and fearless
lake, all sorrow gone. 18.60 there is neither darkness nor light nor destru tion, nor
Even abstention from a tion leads to a tion in a fool, while anything. 18.78
even the a tion of the wise man brings the fruits of There is neither fortitude, pruden e nor ourage for the
ina tion. 18.61 yogi whose nature is beyond des ription and free of
A fool often shows aversion towards his belongings, but for individuality. 18.79
him whose atta hment to the body has dropped away, There is neither heaven nor hell nor even liberation during
there is neither atta hment nor aversion. 18.62 life. In a nutshell, in the sight of the seer nothing exists at
The mind of the fool is always aught in an opinion about all. 18.80
be oming or avoiding something, but the wise man's nature He neither longs for possessions nor grieves at their
is to have no opinions about be oming and avoiding. 18.63 absen e. The alm mind of the sage is full of the ne tar of
For the seer who behaves like a hild, without desire in all immortality. 18.81
a tions, there is no atta hment for su h a pure one even in The dispassionate does not praise the good or blame the
the work he he does. 18.64 wi ked. Content and equal in pain and pleasure, he sees
Blessed is he who knows himself and is the same in all nothing that needs doing. 18.82
states, with a mind free from raving whether he is seeing, The wise man does not dislike samsara or seek to know
hearing, feeling, smelling or tasting. 18.65 himself. Free from pleasure and impatien e, he is not dead
There is no man subje t to samsara, sense of individuality, and he is not alive. 18.83
goal or means to the goal for the wise man who is always The wise man stands out by being free from anti ipation,
free from imaginations, and un hanging as spa e. 18.66 without atta hment to su h things as hildren or wives,
Glorious is he who has abandoned all goals and is the free from desire for the senses, and not even on erned
in arnation of satisfa tion, his very nature, and whose inner about his own body. 18.84
fo us on the Un onditioned is quite spontaneous. 18.67 Pea e is everywhere for the wise man who lives on whatever
In brief, the great-souled man who has ome to know the happens to ome to him, going to wherever he feels like,
Truth is without desire for either pleasure or liberation, and sleeping wherever the sun happens to set. 18.85
and is always and everywhere free from atta hment. 18.68 Let his body rise or fall. The great souled one gives it no
What remains to be done by the man who is pure awareness thought, having forgotten all about samsara in oming to
and has abandoned everything that an be expressed in rest on the ground of his true nature. 18.86
words from the highest heaven to the earth itself? 18.69 The wise man has the joy of being omplete in himself and
The pure man who has experien ed the Indes ribable without possessions, a ting as he pleases, free from duality
attains pea e by his own nature, realising that all this is and rid of doubts, and without atta hment to any reature.
nothing but illusion, and that nothing is. 18.70 18.87
There are no rules, dispassion, renun iation or meditation The wise man ex els in being without the sense of me .
for one who is pure re eptivity by nature, and admits no Earth, a stone or gold are the same to him. The knots of
knowable form of being? 18.71 his heart have been rent asunder, and he is freed from
For him who shines with the radian e of Innity and is not greed and blindness. 18.88
subje t to natural ausality there is neither bondage, Who an ompare with that ontented, liberated soul who
liberation, pleasure nor pain. 18.72 pays no regard to anything and has no desire left in his

8
heart? 18.89 For me established in my own glory, there is no life or
Who but the upright man without desire knows without death, no worlds or things of the world, no distra tion and
knowing, sees without seeing and speaks without speaking? no stillness of mind. 19.7
18.90 For me remaining in myself, there is no need for talk of the
Beggar or king, he ex els who is without desire, and whose three goals of life, of yoga or of knowledge. 19.8
opinion of things is rid of good and bad . 18.91
There is neither dissolute behaviour nor virtue, nor even Janaka said:
dis rimination of the truth for the sage who has rea hed the In my unblemished nature there are no elements, no body,
goal and is the very embodiment of guileless sin erity. 18.92 no fa ulties no mind. There is no void and no anguish. 20.1
How an one des ribe what is experien ed within by one For me, free from the sense of dualism, there are no
desireless and free from pain, and ontent to rest in himself s riptures, no self-knowledge, no mind free from an obje t,
- and of whom? 18.93 no satisfa tion and no freedom from desire. 20.2
The wise man who is ontented in all ir umstan es is not There is no knowledge or ignoran e, no me , this or
asleep even in deep sleep, not sleeping in a dream, nor mine , no bondage, no liberation, and no property of
waking when he is awake. 18.94 self-nature. 20.3
The seer is without thoughts even when thinking, without For him who is always free from individual hara teristi s
senses among the senses, without understanding even in there is no ante edent ausal a tion, no liberation during
understanding and without a sense of responsibility even in life, and no fullment at death. 20.4
the ego. 18.95 For me, free from individuality, there is no doer and no
Neither happy nor unhappy, neither deta hed nor atta hed, reaper of the onsequen es, no essation of a tion, no
neither seeking liberation nor liberated, he is neither arising of thought, no immediate obje t, and no idea of
something nor nothing. 18.96 results. 20.5
Not distra ted in distra tion, in mental stillness not poised, There is no world, no seeker for liberation, no yogi, no seer,
in stupidity not stupid, that blessed one is not even wise in no-one bound and no-one liberated. I remain in my own
his wisdom. 18.97 non-dual nature. 20.6
The liberated man is self-possessed in all ir umstan es and There is no emanation or return, no goal, means, seeker or
free from the idea of done and still to do . He is the same a hievement. I remain in my own non-dual nature. 20.7
wherever he is and without greed. He does not dwell on For me who am forever unblemished, there is no judge, no
what he has done or not done. 18.98 standard, nothing to judge, and no judgement. 20.8
He is not pleased when praised nor upset when blamed. He For me who am forever a tionless, there is no distra tion or
is not afraid of death nor atta hed to life. 18.99 one-pointedness of mind, no la k of understanding, no
A man at pea e does not run o to popular resorts or to stupidity, no joy and no sorrow. 20.9
the forest. Whatever and wherever, he remains the same. For me who am always free from deliberations there is
18.100 neither onventional truth nor absolute truth, no happiness
and no suering. 20.10
Janaka said: For me who am forever pure there is no illusion, no
Using the tweezers of the knowledge of the truth I have samsara, no atta hment or deta hment, no living being and
managed to extra t the painful thorn of endless opinions no God. 20.11
from the re esses of my heart. 19.1 For me who am forever unmovable and indivisible,
For me, established in my own glory, there is no religion, established in myself, there is no a tivity or ina tivity, no
sensuality, possessions, philosophy, duality or even liberation and no bondage. 20.12
non-duality. 19.2 For me who am bless tea her, and no goal of human
For me established in my own glory, there is no past, future existen e. 20.13
or present. There is no spa e or even eternity. 19.3 There is no being or non-being, no unity or dualism. What
For me established in my own glory, there is no self or more is there to say? Nothing arises out of me. 20.14
non-self, no good or evil, no thought or even absen e of
thought. 19.4 Om Tat Sat
For me established in my own glory, there is no dreaming
or deep sleep, no waking nor fourth state beyond them, and
ertainly no fear. 19.5 Send orre tions to sanskrit heerful. om
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
ITRANS Song Book: ashteng.tex