Chapter
15
Ashtavakra
While
a man of pure intelligence may achieve the
goal by the most casual of instruction,
another may seek knowledge all his life
and still remain bewildered. 15.1
Liberation
is distaste for the objects of the senses.
Bondage is love of the senses. This is
knowledge. Now do as you please. 15.2
This
awareness of the truth makes an eloquent,
clever and energetic man dumb, stupid and
lazy, so it is avoided by those whose aim
is enjoyment. 15.3
You
are not the body, nor is the body yours,
nor are you the doer of actions or the
reaper of their consequences. You are
eternally pure consciousness the witness,
in need of nothing - so live happily. 15.4
Desire
and anger are objects of the mind, but the
mind is not yours, nor ever has been. You
are choiceless, awareness itself and
unchanging - so live happily. 15.5
Recognising
oneself in all beings, and all beings in
oneself, be happy, free from the sense of
responsibility and free from preoccupation
with şmeş. 15.6
Your
nature is the consciousness, in which the
whole world wells up, like waves in the
sea. That is what you are, without any
doubt, so be free of disturbance. 15.7
Have
faith, my son, have faith. Don't let
yourself be deluded in this, sir. You are
yourself the Lord, whose property is
knowledge, and are beyond natural
causation. 15.8
The
body invested with the senses stands
still, and comes and goes. You yourself
neither come nor go, so why bother about
them? 15.9
Let
the body last to the end of the Age, or
let it come to an end right now. What have
you gained or lost, who consist of pure
consciousness? 15.10
Let
the world wave rise or subside according
to its own nature in you, the great ocean.
It is no gain or loss to you. 15.11
My
son, you consist of pure consciousness,
and the world is not separate from you. So
who is to accept or reject it, and how,
and why? 15.12
How
can there be either birth, karma or
responsibility in that one unchanging,
peaceful, unblemished and infinite
consciousness which is you? 15.13
Whatever
you see, it is you alone manifest in it.
How could bracelets, armlets and anklets
be different from the gold? 15.14
Giving
up such distinctions as 'This is what I
am', and 'I am not that', recognise that
'Everything is myself', and be without
distinction and happy. 15.15
It
is through your ignorance that all this
exists. In reality you alone exist. Apart
from you there is no one within or beyond
samsara. 15.16
Knowing
that all this is an illusion, one becomes
free from desire, pure receptivity and at
peace, as if nothing existed. 15.17
Only
one thing has existed, exists and will
exist in the ocean of being. You have no
bondage or liberation. Live happily and
fulfilled. 15.18
Being
pure consciousness, do not disturb your
mind with thoughts of for and against. Be
at peace and remain happily in yourself,
the essence of joy. 15.19
Give
up the practice of concentration
completely and hold nothing in your mind.
You are free in your very nature, so what
will you achieve by working your brain?
15.20
Swami Veet Chintan T'Zorba-Krsna
Jyotish
Shastracharya
& Vedic Astrologer of India
Main
Menu