Astavakra Samhita - 3

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Translation by Thomas Byrom

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Chapter 3 - Wisdom

 

 

1 You know the Self

By nature one

Without end.

 

You know the Self,

And you are serene.

 

How can you still desire riches?

 

2 When from ignorance

You see silver in mother-of-pearl,

Greed arises.

 

From ignorance of the Self

Desire arises

For the world where the senses whirl.

 

3 Knowing yourself as That

In which the worlds rise and fall

Like waves in the ocean,

Why do you run about so wretchedly?

 

4 For have you not heard?

 

You are pure awareness,

And your beauty is infinite!

 

So why let lust mislead you?

 

5 The man who is wise

Knows himself in all things

And all things in himself.

 

Yet how strange!

He still says, " This is mine. "

 

6 Determined to be free,

He abides in the oneness

Beyond all things.

 

Yet how strange!

Indulging in passion, he weakens,

And lust overwhelms him.

 

7 Feeble with age,

Still he is filled with desire,

When without doubt he knows

That lust is the enemy of awareness.

 

Indeed how strange!

 

8 He longs to be free …

 

He has no care for this world

Or the next,

And he knows what is passing

Or forever.

 

And yet how strange!

He is still afraid of freedom.

 

9 But he who is truly wise

Always sees the absolute Self.

 

Celebrated, he is not delighted.

Spurned, he is not angry.

 

10 Pure of heart,

He watches his own actions

As if they were another's.

 

How can praise or blame disturb him?

 

11 With clear and steady insight

He sees this world is a mirage,

And he no longer wonders about it.

 

How can he fear the approach of death?

 

12 Pure of heart,

He desires nothing,

Even in despair.

 

He is content

In the knowledge of the Self.

 

With whom may I compare him?

 

13 With clear and steady insight

He knows that whatever he sees

Is by its very nature nothing.

 

How can he prefer one thing to another?

 

14 He is beyond all duality.

 

Free from desire,

He has driven from his mind

All longing for the world.

 

Come what may,

Joy or sorrow,

Nothing moves him.

 

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" Open mind, open heart, tolerance of all viewpoints "

 

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