Janaka said:
How is knowledge to be acquired? How is liberation to be attained? And how is dispassion to be reached? Tell me this, sir. 1.1
Ashtavakra said:
If you are seeking liberation, my dearest one, shun the objects of the senses like poison. Draught the nectar of tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment and truthfulness. 1.2
You are neither earth, water, fire, air or even ether. For liberation know yourself as consisting of consciousness, the witness of these five. 1.3
If only you will remain resting in consciousness, seeing yourself as distinct from the body, then even now you will become happy, peaceful and free from bonds. 1.4
You do not belong to the brahmin or warrior or any other caste, you are not at any stage, nor are you anything that the eye can see. You are unattached and formless, the witness of everything – now be happy. 1.5
Righteousness and unrighteousness, pleasure and pain are purely of the mind and are no concern of yours. You are neither the doer nor the reaper of the consequences; you are always free. 1.6
You are the one witness of everything, and are always totally free. The cause of bondage is that one sees the witness as something other than this. 1.7
Since you have been bitten by that black snake of self-opinion- thinking foolishly that `I am the doer,’, now drink the nectar in the fact that “I am not the doer”, and now be happy. 1.8
Burn down the forest of ignorance with the fire of understanding. Know `I am the one pure awareness.’ With such ashes now be happy, free from distress. 1.9
That in which all this appears is but imagined like the snake in a rope; that joy, supreme knowledge and awareness is what you are; now be happy. 1.10
If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of oneself as bound, one is bound. Here this saying `Thinking makes it so’ is true . 1.11
Your real nature is one perfect, free, and actionless consciousness, the all-pervading witness – unattached to anything, desireless, at peace. It is illusion that you seem to be involved in any other matter. 1.12
Meditate on yourself as motionless awareness, free from any dualism, giving up the mistaken idea that you are just a derivative consciousness; anything external or internal is false. 1.13
You have long been trapped in the snare of identification with the body. Sever it with the knife of knowledge that “I am awareness”, and be happy, my dearest. 1.14
You are really unbound and actionless, self-illuminating and spotless already. The cause of your bondage is that you are still resorting to stilling the mind. 1.15
All of this is really filled by you and strung out in you, for what you consist of is pure awareness – so don’t be small-minded. 1.16
You are unconditioned and changeless, formless and immovable, unfathomable awareness, imperturbable – such consciousness is unclinging. 1.17
Recognise that the apparent is unreal, while the unmanifest is abiding. Through this initiation into truth you will escape falling into unreality again. 1.18
Just as a mirror exists as part and apart from its reflected images, so the Supreme Lord exists as part and apart from this body. 1.19
Just as one and the same all-pervading space exists within and without a jar, so the eternal, everlasting Being exists in the totality of things. 1.20
Janaka said:
Truly I am spotless and at peace, the awareness beyond natural causality. All this time I have been afflicted by delusion. 2.1
As I alone give light to this body, so do I enlighten the world. As a result the whole world is mine, and, alternatively, nothing is. 2.2
So now abandoning the body and everything else, suddenly somehow my true self becomes apparent. 2.3
Just as waves, foam and bubbles are not different from water, so all this which has emanated from oneself, is no other than oneself. 2.4
Just as cloth when examined is found to be just thread, so when all this is analysed it is found to be no other than oneself. 2.5
Just as the sugar produced from the juice of the sugarcane is permeated with the same taste, so all this, produced out of me, is completely permeated with me. 2.6
From ignorance of oneself, the world appears, and by knowledge of oneself it appears no longer. From ignorance of the rope a snake appears, and by knowledge of the rope the snake appears no longer. Shining is my essential nature, and I am nothing over and beyond that. When the world shines forth, it is simply me that is shining forth. 2.8
All this appears in me, imagined, due to ignorance, just as a snake appears in the rope, just as the mirage of water in the sunlight, and just as silver in mother of pearl. 2.9
All this, which has originated out of me, is resolved back into me too, like a gourd back into soil, a wave into water, and a bracelet into gold. 2.10
How wonderful I am! Glory to me, for whom there is no destruction, remaining even beyond the destruction of the world from Brahma down to the last blade of grass. 2.11
How wonderful I am! Glory to me, solitary! Even though with a body, I am neither going or coming anywhere; I abide forever, filling all that is. 2.12
How wonderful I am! Glory to me! There is no one so clever as me! I have borne all that is, forever, without even touching it with my body! 2.13
How wonderful I am! Glory to me! I possess nothing at all, and alternatively possess everything to which speech and mind can refer. 2.14
Knowledge, what is to be known, and the knower – these three do not exist in reality. I am the spotless reality in which they appear, spotted by ignorance. 2.15
Truly dualism is the root of suffering. There is no other remedy for it than the realisation that all this that one sees is unreal, and that I am the one stainless reality, consisting of consciousness. 2.16
I am pure awareness although through ignorance I have imagined myself to have additional attributes. By continually reflecting like this, my dwelling place is the Unimagined. 2.17
For me, here is neither bondage nor liberation. The illusion has lost its basis and ceased. Truly all this exists in me, though ultimately it does not even exist in me. 2.18
I have recognised that all this and my body are nothing, while my true self is nothing but pure consciousness- so what can the imagination work on now? 2.19
The body, heaven and hell, bondage and liberation, and fear too, all this is active imagination. What is there left to do for one whose very nature is consciousness? 2.20
Truly I do not see dualism even in a crowd of people. What pleasure should I have when it has turned into a wilderness? 2.21
I am not the body, nor is the body mine. I am not a living being. I am consciousness. It was my thirst for living that was my bondage. 2.22
Truly it is in the limitless ocean of myself, stimulated by the colourful waves of the worlds, that everything suddenly arises in the wind of consciousness. 2.23
It is in the limitless ocean of myself, that the wind of thought subsides; the trader-like living creatures’ world ark is now drydocked by lack of goods. 2.24
How wonderful it is that in the limitless ocean of myself the waves of living beings arise, collide, play and disappear, according to their natures. 2.25
Ashtavakra said:
Knowing yourself as truly one and indestructible, how could a wise man like you- one possessing self-knowledge- feel any pleasure in acquiring wealth? 3.1
Truly, when one does not know oneself, one takes pleasure in the objects of mistaken perception, just as greed for its seeming silver arises in one who does not know mother-of-pearl for what it is. 3.2
All this wells up like waves in the sea. Recognising, I am That, why run around like someone in need? 3.3
After hearing of oneself as pure consciousness and the supremely beautiful, is one to go on lusting after sordid sensual objects? 3.4
When the sage has realised that one is oneself is in all beings, and all beings are in oneself, it is astonishing that the sense of individuality should be able to continue. 3.5
It is astonishing that a person who has reached the supreme non-dual state and is intent on the benefits of liberation should still be subject to lust and be held back by the desire to copulate. 3.6
It is astonishing that one already very debilitated, and knowing very well that sensual arousal is the enemy of knowledge should still eagerly hanker after concupiscence, even when approaching one’s last days. 3.7
It is astonishing that one who is unattached to the things of this world or the next, who discriminates between the permanent and the impermanent, and who longs for liberation, should still feel fear for liberation. 3.8
Whether feted or tormented, the wise person is always aware of the supreme self-nature and is neither expectant nor disappointed. 3.9
The great souled person sees even one’s own body in action as if it were someone else’s, so how then be disturbed by praise or blame? 3.10
Seeing this world as pure illusion, and devoid of any interest in it, how should the strong-minded person feel fear, even at the approach of death? 3.11
Who is to be compared to the great-souled person whose mind is free of desire, free of expectation and disappointment, and who has found satisfaction in self-knowledge? 3.12
How should a strong-minded person who knows that whatever is seen is by its very nature nothing, how then consider one thing to be grasped and another to be rejected? 3.13
For someone who has eliminated attachment, and who is free from dualism and from desire and from repulsion, for such a one an object that comes of itself is neither painful nor pleasurable. 3.14
Ashtavakra said:
Certainly the wise person of self-knowledge, playing the game of worldly life, bears no resemblance whatever to the world’s bewildered beasts of burden. 4.1
Truly the one centered in mystic union feels no excitement even at being established in that state which all the gods from Indra down yearn for disconsolately. 4.2
He who has known That is untouched within by good deeds or bad, just as the sky is not touched by smoke, however much it may appear to be. 4.3
Who can prevent the great-souled person who has known this whole world as oneself from living as one pleases? 4.4
Of all the four categories of beings, from Brahma down to the dryest clump of grass, only the person of knowledge is capable of eliminating desire and aversion. 4.5
Rare is the person who knows oneself as the undivided Lord of the world; no fear occurs to one who lives the truth. 4.6
Ashtavakra said:
You are not bound by anything. What does a pure person like you need to renounce? Putting the complex organism to rest, you can go to your rest. 5.1
All this arises out of you, like a bubble out of the sea. Knowing yourself like this to be but one, you can go to your rest. 5.2
In spite of being in front of your eyes, all this, being insubstantial, does not exist in you, spotless as you are. It is an appearance like the snake in a rope, so you can go to your rest. 5.3
Equal in pain and in pleasure, equal in hope and in disappointment, equal in life and in death, and complete as you are, you can go to your rest. 5.4
Ashtavakra said:
I am infinite like space, and the natural world is like a jar. To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation, acceptance or cessation of it. 6.1
I am like the ocean, and the multiplicity of objects is comparable to a wave. To know this is knowledge, and here there is neither renunciation, acceptance or cessation of it. 6.2
I am like the mother of pearl, and the imagined world is like the silver. To know this is knowledge, and here there is neither renunciation, acceptance or cessation of it. 6.3
Alternatively, I am in all beings, and all beings are in me. To know this is knowledge, and here there is neither renunciation, acceptance or cessation of it.
Janaka said:
It is in the infinite ocean of myself that the world ark wanders here and there, driven by its own wind. I am not upset by that. 7.1
Let the world wave of its own nature rise or vanish in the infinite ocean of myself. There is no increase or diminution to me from it. 7.2
It is in the infinite ocean of myself that the imagination called the world takes place. I am supremely peaceful and formless, and as such I remain. 7.3
My true nature is not contained in objects, nor does any object exist in it, for it is infinite and spotless. So it is unattached, desireless and at peace, and as such I remain. 7.4
Truly I am but pure consciousness, and the world is like a conjuror’s show, so how could I imagine there is anything here to take up or reject ? 7.5
Ashtavakra said:
Bondage is when the mind longs for something, grieves about something, rejects something, holds on to something, is pleased about something or displeased about something. 8.1
Liberation is when the mind does not long for anything, grieve about anything, reject anything, or hold on to anything, and is not pleased about anything or displeased about anything. 8.2
Bondage is when the mind is tangled in one of the senses, and liberation is when the mind is not tangled in any of the senses. 8.3
When there is no `me’, that is liberation, and when there is me there is bondage. Considering this earnestly, I do not hold on and do not reject. 8.4
Ashtavakra said:
Knowing when the dualism of things done and undone has been put to rest, or the person for whom they occur has been cognized, then you can here and now go beyond renunciation and obligations by indifference to such things. 9.1
Rare indeed, my dearest, is the lucky person whose observation of the world’s behaviour has led to the extinction of the thirst for living, for pleasure and for knowledge. 9.2
All this is impermanent and spoilt by the three sorts of pain. Recognising it to be insubstantial, comtemptible and only fit for indifference, one attains peace. 9.3
When was that age or time of life when the dualism of extremes did not exist for people? Abandoning them, a person happy to take whatever comes suddenly realizes perfection. 9.4
Who does not end up with indifference to such things and attain peace when he has seen the differences of opinions among the great sages, saints and yogis? 9.5
Is he not a guru who, endowed with dispassion and equanimity, achieves full knowledge of the nature of consciousness, and so leads others out of samsara? 9.6
If you would just see the transformations of the elements as nothing more than the elements, then you would immediately be freed from all bonds and established in your own nature. 9.7
One’s inclinations are samsara. Knowing this, abandon them. The renunciation of them is the renunciation of it. Now you can remain as you are. 9.8
Ashtavakra said:
Abandoning desire, the enemy, along with gain, itself so full of loss, and the good deeds which are the cause of the other two – I practice indifference to everything. 10.1
I look on such things as friends, land, money, property, wife, and bequests as nothing but a a dream or a three or five-day conjuror’s show. 10.2
Wherever a desire occurs, I see samsara in it. Establishing myself in firm dispassion, I be free of passion and happy. 10.3
The essential nature of bondage is nothing other than desire, and its elimination is known as liberation. It is simply by not being attached to changing things that the everlasting joy of attainment is reached. 10.4
You are one, conscious and pure, while all this is just inert non-being. Ignorance itself is nothing, so what need have you of desire to understand? 10.5
Kingdoms, children, wives, bodies, pleasures – these have all been lost to you life after life, attached to them though you were. 10.6
Enough of wealth, sensuality and good deeds. In the forest of samsara the mind has never found satisfaction in these. 10.7
How many births have you not done hard and painful labour with body, mind and speech. Now at last stop! 10.8
Ashtavakra said:
Unmoved and undistressed, realising now that being, non-being and transformation are of the very nature of things, one easily finds peace. 11.1
At peace, having shed all desires within, and realising that nothing exists here but the Lord, the Creator of all things, one is no longer attached to anything. 11.2
Realising that misfortune and fortune come in their turn from fate, one is contented, one’s senses under control, and one does not like or dislike. 11.3
Realising that pleasure and pain, birth and death are from fate, and that one’s desires cannot be achieved, one remains inactive, and even when acting does not get attached. 11.4
Realising that suffering arises from nothing other than thinking, dropping all desires one rids oneself of it, and is happy and at peace everywhere. 11.5
Realising `I am not the body, nor is the body mine; I am awareness,’ one attains the supreme state and no longer fritters over things done or undone. 11.6
Realising, `It is just me, from Brahma down to the last blade of grass,’ one becomes free from uncertainty, pure, at peace and unconcerned about what has been attained or not. 11.7
Realising that all this varied and wonderful world is nothing, one becomes pure receptivity, free from inclinations, and as if nothing existed, one finds peace. 11.8
Janaka said:
First of all I was averse to physical activity, then to lengthy speech, and finally to thinking itself, which is why I am now established. 12.1
In the absence of delight in sound and the other senses, and by the fact that I myself am not an object of the senses, my mind is focused and free from distraction – which is why I am now established. 12.2
Owing to the distraction of such things as wrong identification, one is driven to strive for mental stillness. Recognising this pattern I am now established. 12.3
By relinquishing the sense of rejection and acceptance, and with pleasure and disappointment ceasing today, so Brahmin, I am now established. 12.4
Life in a community, then going beyond such a state, meditation and the elimination of mind-made objects – by means of these I have seen my error, and I am now established. 12.5
Just as the performance of actions is due to ignorance, so their abandonment is too. By fully recognising this truth, I am now established. 12.6
Trying to think the unthinkable is unnatural to thought. Abandoning such a practice therefore, I am now established. 12.7
He who has achieved this has achieved the goal of life. He who is of such a nature has done what has to be done. 12.8
Janaka said:
The inner freedom of having nothing is hard to achieve, even with just a loin-cloth, but I live as I please abandoning both renunciation and acquisition. 13.1
Sometimes one experiences distress because of one’s body, sometimes because of one’s tongue, and sometimes because of one’s mind. Abandoning all of these in the goal of being human I live as I please. 13.2
Recognising that in reality no action is ever committed, I live as I please, just attending what presents itself to be done. 13.3
Mystics who identify themselves with bodies are insistent on fulfilling and avoiding certain actions, but I live as I please abandoning attachment and rejection. 13.4
No benefit or loss comes to me by standing, walking or lying down, so consequently I live as I please whether standing, walking or sleeping. 13.5
I lose nothing by sleeping and gain nothing by effort, so consequently I live as I please, abandoning loss and success. 13.6
Frequently observing the drawbacks of such things as pleasant objects, I live as I please, abandoning the pleasant and unpleasant. 13.7
Janaka said:
He who by nature is empty-minded, and who thinks of things only unintentionally, is freed from deliberate remembering, like one awakened from a dream. 14.1
As my desire has been eliminated, I have no wealth, friends, robbers, senses, scriptures or knowledge. 14.2
Realising my supreme self-nature in the Person of the Witness, the Lord, and the state of desirelessness in bondage or liberation, I feel no inclination for liberation. 14.3
The various states of one who is empty of uncertainty within, and who outwardly wanders about as he pleases, like a madman, can only be known by someone in the same condition. 14.4
Ashtavakra said:
While a person of pure intelligence may achieve the goal by the most casual of instructions, another may seek knowledge all one’s life and still remain bewildered. 15.1
Liberation is indifference to 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 person dumb, stupid and lazy, so it is avoided by those whose aim is enjoyment or praise. 15.3
You are not the body, nor is the body yours, nor are you the doer of actions nor 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, 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 me. 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 dearest, have faith. Don’t let yourself be deluded in this. You are yourself the Lord, whose property is knowledge- you 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, who consist of pure consciousness, gained or lost? 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 dearest, 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 `That is what I am,’ and `I am not That’, recognise that Everything is Self, and be, without distinction, and be 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 of 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/against. Be at peace and remain happily in yourself, the essence of joy. 15.19
Give up meditation completely and cling to nothing in your mind. You are free in your very nature, so what will you achieve by conceiving? 15.20
(continued….)
