Ashtavakra Gita
Song of Ashtavakra
by Ashtavakra | 1994 | 8,560 words
The Ashtavakra Gita (अष्टावक्रगीता; aṣṭāvakragītā) or the 'Song of Ashtavakra' is a classical Advaita Vedanta scripture. Ashtavakra Gita (or 'Ashtavakra Samhita') is a dialogue between Ashtavakra and Janaka (king of Mithila) on the nature of soul, reality and bondage. It offers an extremely radical version of non-dualistic philosophy. The Gita ins...
Chapter XI
Ashtavakra:
1 Unmoved and undistressed, realising that being, non-being and transformation are of the very nature of things, one easily finds peace.
2 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.
3 Realising that misfortune and fortune come in their turn from fate, one is contented, one's senses under control, and does not like or dislike.
4 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.
5 Realising that suffering arises from nothing other than thinking, dropping all desires one rids oneself of it, and is happy and at peace everywhere.
6 Realising, 'I am not the body, nor is the body mine. I am awareness', one attains the supreme state and no longer remembers things done or undone.
7 Realising, 'It is just me, from Brahma down to the last clump of grass', one becomes free from uncertainty, pure, at peace and unconcerned about what has been attained or not.
8 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.