Chapter
18
Ashtavakra
Praise
be to that by the awareness of which
delusion itself becomes dream-like, to
that which is pure happiness, peace and
light. 18.1
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. 18.2
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?
18.3
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. 18.4
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. 18.5
By
the simple elimination of delusion and
the recognition of one's true nature,
those whose vision is unclouded live
free from sorrow. 18.6
Knowing
everything as just imagination, and
himself as eternally free, how should
the wise man behave like a fool? 18.7
Knowing
himself to be God and being and
non-being just imagination, what should
the man free from desire learn, say or
do? 18.8
Considerations
like I am this or I am not this
are finished for the yogi who has gone
silent realizing Everything is
myself. 18.9
For
the yogi who has found peace, there is
no distraction or one-pointed ness, no
higher knowledge or ignorance, no
pleasure and no pain. 18.10
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. 18.11
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'. 18.12
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. 18.13
There
is no delusion, world, meditation on
That, or liberation for the pacified
great soul. All these things are just
the realm of imagination. 18.14
He
by whom all this is seen may well make
out he doesn't exist, but what is the
desire less one to do? Even in seeing he
does not see. 18.15
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. 18.16
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? 18.17
The
wise man, unlike the worldly man, does
not see inner stillness, distraction or
fault in himself, even when living like
a worldly man. 18.18
Nothing
is done by him who is free from being
and non-being, who is contented,
desire less and wise, even if in the
world's eyes he does act. 18.19
The
wise man who just goes on doing what
presents itself for him to do,
encounters no difficulty in either
activity or inactivity. 18.20
He
who is desire less, self-reliant,
independent and free of bonds functions
like a dead leaf blown about by the wind
of causality. 18.21
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. 18.22
He
whose joy is in himself, and who is
peaceful and pure within has no desire
for renunciation or sense of loss in
anything. 18.23
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. 18.24
'This
action was done by the body but not by
me'. The pure-natured person thinking
like this, is not acting even when
acting. 18.25
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.
18.26
He
who has had enough of endless
considerations and has attained to
peace, does not think, know, hear or
see. 18.27
He
who is beyond mental stillness and
distraction, does not desire either
liberation or anything else. Recognizing
that things are just constructions of
the imagination, that great soul lives
as God here and now. 18.28
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. 18.29
The
mind of the liberated man is not upset
or pleased. It shines unmoving,
desire less, and free from doubt. 18.30
He
whose mind does not set out to meditate
or act, meditates and acts without an
object. 18.31
A
stupid man is bewildered when he hears
the real truth, while even a clever man
is humbled by it just like the fool.
18.32
The
ignorant make a great effort to practice
one-pointed ness and the stopping of
thought, while the wise see nothing to
be done and remain in themselves like
those asleep. 18.33
The
stupid does not attain cessation whether
he acts or abandons action, while the
wise man find peace within simply by
knowing the truth. 18.34
People
cannot come to know themselves by
practices - pure awareness, clear,
complete, beyond multiplicity and
faultless though they are. 18.35
The
stupid does not achieve liberation even
through regular practice, but the
fortunate remains free and action less
simply by discrimination. 18.36
The
stupid does not attain Godhead because
he wants to become it, while the wise
man enjoys the Supreme Godhead without
even wanting it. 18.37
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. 18.38
The
stupid does not find peace because he is
wanting it, while the wise
discriminating the truth is always
peaceful minded. 18.39
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. 18.40
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. 18.41
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. 18.42
Those
of weak intelligence think of themselves
as pure non-duality, but because of their
delusion do not know this, and remain
unfulfilled all their lives. 18.43
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. 18.44
Seeing
the tigers of the senses, the frightened
refuge-seekers at once enter the cave in
search of cessation of thought and
one-pointed ness. 18.45
Seeing
the desireless lion the elephants of the
senses silently run away, or, if they
cannot, serve him like courtiers. 18.46
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. 18.47
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.
18.48
The
straightforward person does whatever
arrives to be done, good or bad, for his
actions are like those of a child. 18.49
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. 18.50
When
one sees oneself as neither the doer nor
the reaper of the consequences, then all
mind waves come to an end. 18.51
The
spontaneous un-assumed behavior of the
wise is noteworthy, but not the
deliberate, intentional stillness of the
fool. 18.52
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. 18.53
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.
18.54
A
yogi is not in the least put out even
when humiliated by the ridicule of
servants, sons, wives, grandchildren or
other relatives. 18.55
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. 18.56
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. 18.57
Even
when doing nothing the fool is agitated
by restlessness, while a skilful man
remains undisturbed even when doing what
there is to do. 18.58
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. 18.59
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. 18.60
Even
abstention from action leads to action
in a fool, while even the action of the
wise man brings the fruits of inaction.
18.61
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. 18.62
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. 18.63
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 he does. 18.64
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. 18.65
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.
18.66
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.
18.67
In
brief, the great-soul man who has come
to know the Truth is without desire for
either pleasure or liberation, and is
always and everywhere free from
attachment. 18.68
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? 18.69
The
pure man who has experienced the
Indescribable attains peace by his own
nature, realizing that all this is
nothing but illusion, and that nothing
is. 18.70
There
are no rules, dispassion, renunciation
or meditation for one who is pure
receptivity by nature, and admits no
knowable form of being? 18.71
For
him who shines with the radiance of
Infinity and is not subject to natural
causality there is neither bondage,
liberation, pleasure nor pain. 18.72
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. 18.73
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.
18.74
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. 18.75
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. 18.76
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. 18.77
For
the wise man who is always unchanging
and fearless there is neither darkness
nor light nor destruction, nor anything.
18.78
There
is neither fortitude, prudence nor
courage for the yogi whose nature is
beyond description and free of
individuality. 18.79
There
is neither heaven nor hell nor even
liberation during life. In a nutshell,
in the sight of the seer nothing exists
at all. 18.80
He
neither longs for possessions nor
grieves at their absence. The calm mind
of the sage is full of the nectar of
immortality. 18.81
The
dispassionate does not praise the good
or blame the wicked. Content and equal
in pain and pleasure, he sees nothing
that needs doing. 18.82
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. 18.83
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. 18.84
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. 18.85
Let
his body rise or fall. The great soul
one gives it no thought, having
forgotten all about samsara in coming to
rest on the ground of his true nature.
18.86
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. 18.87
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. 18.88
Who
can compare with that contented,
liberated soul who pays no regard to
anything and has no desire left in his
heart? 18.89
Who
but the upright man without desire knows
without knowing, sees without seeing and
speaks without speaking? 18.90
Beggar
or king, he excels who is without
desire, and whose opinion of things is
rid of 'good' and 'bad'. 18.91
There
is neither dissolute behavior nor
virtue, nor even discrimination of the
truth for the sage who has reached the
goal and is the very embodiment of
guileless sincerity. 18.92
How
can one describe what is experienced
within by one desire less and free from
pain, and content to rest in himself -
and of whom? 18.93
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. 18.94
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. 18.95
Neither
happy nor unhappy, neither detached nor
attached, neither seeking liberation nor
liberated, he is neither something nor
nothing. 18.96
Not
distracted in distraction, in mental
stillness not poised, in stupidity not
stupid, that blessed one is not even
wise in his wisdom. 18.97
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. 18.98
He
is not pleased when praised nor upset
when blamed. He is not afraid of death
nor attached to life. 18.99
A
man at peace does not run off to popular
resorts or to the forest. Whatever and
wherever, he remains the same. 18.100
Swami Veet Chintan T'Zorba-Krsna
Jyotish
Shastracharya
& Vedic Astrologer of India
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