Ashtavakra: Praise be to
that by the awareness of which delusion itself becomes dream-like, to that
which is pure happiness, peace and light. 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. 2
How can there be happiness,
for one who is burnt inside by the blistering sun of the pain of things that
need doing, without the rain of the nectar of peace? 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. 4
The realm of one's own self
is not far away, and nor can it be achieved by the addition of limitations to
its nature. It is unimaginable, effortless, unchanging and spotless. 5
By the simple elimination of
delusion and the recognition of one's true nature, those whose vision is
unclouded live free from sorrow. 6
Knowing everything as just
imagination, and himself as eternally free, how should the wise man behave like
a fool? 7
Knowing himself to be God
and being and non-being just imagination, what should the man free from desire
learn, say or do? 8
Considerations like 'I am
this' or 'I am not this' are finished for the yogi who has gone silent
realising 'Everything is myself'. 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. 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. 11
There is no religion,
wealth, sensuality or discrimination for a yogi free from the pairs of
opposites such as 'I have done this' and 'I have not done that'. 12
There is nothing needing to
be done, or any attachment in his heart for the yogi liberated while still
alive. Things are just for a life-time. 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. 14
He by whom all this is seen
may well make out he doesn't exist, but what is the desireless one to do? Even
in seeing he does not see. 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. 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? 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
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. 19
The wise man who just goes
on doing what presents itself for him to do, encounters no difficulty in either
activity or inactivity. 20
He who is desireless,
self-reliant, independent and free of bonds functions like a dead leaf blown
about by the wind of causality. 21
There is neither joy nor
sorrow for one who has transcended samsara. He lives always with a peaceful
mind and as if without a body. 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. 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. 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. 25
He who acts without being
able to say why, but not because he is a fool, he is one liberated while still
alive, happy and blessed. He thrives even in samsara. 26
He who has had enough of
endless considerations and has attained to peace, does not think, know, hear or
see. 27
He who is beyond mental
stillness and distraction, does not desire either liberation or anything else.
Recognising that things are just constructions of the imagination, that great
soul lives as God here and now. 28
He who feels responsibility
within, acts even when not acting, but there is no sense of done or undone for
the wise man who is free from the sense of responsibility. 29
The mind of the liberated
man is not upset or pleased. It shines unmoving, desireless, and free from
doubt. 30
He whose mind does not set
out to meditate or act, meditates and acts without an object. 31
A stupid man is bewildered
when he hears the real truth, while even a clever man is humbled by it just
like the fool. 32
The ignorant make a great
effort to practice one-pointedness and the stopping of thought, while the wise
see nothing to be done and remain in themselves like those asleep. 33
The stupid does not attain
cessation whether he acts or abandons action, while the wise man find peace
within simply by knowing the truth. 34
People cannot come to know
themselves by practices - pure awareness, clear, complete, beyond multiplicity
and faultless though they are. 35
The stupid does not achieve
liberation even through regular practice, but the fortunate remains free and
action-less simply by discrimination. 36
The stupid does not attain
Godhead because he wants to become it, while the wise man enjoys the Supreme
Godhead without even wanting it. 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. 38
The stupid does not find
peace because he is wanting it, while the wise discriminating the truth is
always peaceful minded. 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 unending. 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 delighted in himself. 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. 42
Those of weak intelligence
think of themselves as pure nonduality, but because of their delusion do not
know this, and remain unfulfilled all their lives. 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. 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. 45
Seeing the desireless lion
the elephants of the senses silently run away, or, if they cannot, serve him
like courtiers. 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. 47
He whose mind is pure and
undistracted from the simple hearing of the Truth sees neither something to do
nor something to avoid nor a cause for indifference. 48
The straightforward person
does whatever arrives to be done, good or bad, for his actions are like those
of a child. 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. 50
When one sees oneself as
neither the doer nor the reaper of the consequences, then all mind waves come
to an end. 51
The spontaneous unassumed
behaviour of the wise is noteworthy, but not the deliberate, intentional
stillness of the fool. 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. 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. 54
A yogi is not in the least
put out even when humiliated by the ridicule of servants, sons, wives,
grandchildren or other relatives. 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. 56
It is the sense of
responsibility which is samsara. The wise who are of the form of emptiness,
formless, unchanging and spotless see no such thing. 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. 58
Happy he stands, happy he
sits, happy sleeps and happy he comes and goes. Happy he speaks, and happy he
eats. Such is the life of a man at peace. 59
He who of his very nature
feels no unhappiness in his daily life like worldly people, remains undisturbed
like a great lake, all sorrow gone. 60
Even abstention from action
leads to action in a fool, while even the action of the wise man brings the
fruits of inaction. 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. 62
The mind of the fool is
always caught in an opinion about becoming or avoiding something, but the wise
man's nature is to have no opinions about becoming and avoiding. 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. 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. 65
There is no man subject to
samsara, sense of individuality, goal or means to the goal for the wise man who
is always free from imaginations, and unchanging as space. 66
Glorious is he who has
abandoned all goals and is the incarnation of satisfaction, his very nature,
and whose inner focus on the Unconditioned is quite spontaneous. 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. 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? 69
The pure man who has
experienced the Indescribable attains peace by his own nature, realising that
all this is nothing but illusion, and that nothing is. 70
There are no rules,
dispassion, renunciation or meditation for one who is pure receptivity by
nature, and admits no knowable form of being? 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. 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. 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. 74
No sooner does a man of low
intelligence give up activities like the elimination of thought than he falls
into mental chariot racing and babble. 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 hankering after the senses still. 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. 77
For the wise man who is
always unchanging and fearless there is neither darkness nor light nor
destruction, nor anything. 78
There is neither fortitude,
prudence nor courage for the yogi whose nature is beyond description and free
of individuality. 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. 80
He neither longs for
possessions nor grieves at their absence. The calm mind of the sage is full of
the nectar of immortality. 81
The dispassionate does not
praise the good or blame the wicked. Content and equal in pain and pleasure, he
sees nothing that needs doing. 82
The wise man does not
dislike samsara or seek to know himself. Free from pleasure and impatience, he
is not dead and he is not alive. 83
The wise man stands out 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. 84
Peace is everywhere for the
wise man who lives on whatever happens to come to him, going to wherever he
feels like, and sleeping wherever the sun happens to set. 85
Let his body rise or fall.
The great souled one gives it no thought, having forgotten all about samsara in
coming to rest on the ground of his true nature. 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. 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. 88
Who can compare with that
contented, liberated soul who pays no regard to anything and has no desire left
in his heart? 89
Who but the upright man
without desire knows without knowing, sees without seeing and speaks without
speaking? 90
Beggar or king, he excels
who is without desire, and whose opinion of things is rid of 'good' and 'bad'. 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. 92
How can one describe what is
experienced within by one desireless and free from pain, and content to rest in
himself - and of whom? 93
The wise man who is
contented in all circumstances is not asleep even in deep sleep, not sleeping
in a dream, nor waking when he is awake. 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. 95
Neither happy nor unhappy,
neither detached nor attached, neither seeking liberation nor liberated, he is
neither something nor nothing. 96
Not distracted in
distraction, in mental stillness not poised, in stupidity not stupid, that
blessed one is not even wise in his wisdom. 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. 98
He is not pleased when
praised nor upset when blamed. He is not afraid of death nor attached to life. 99
A man at peace does not run
off to popular resorts or to the forest. Whatever and wherever, he remains the
same. 100