Krishjan

Chapter 17 — Kaivalya

Ashtavakra Gita

20 Shloka • Translation Only

Aṣṭāvakra said: He alone has attained the fruit of Knowledge and likewise the fruit of Yoga practice, who is ever content, whose senses are clear and at rest, and who delights in being alone.

Ah! The knower of Truth is never troubled in this world. For by that One alone, this entire sphere of the universe is pervaded and made complete.

Sense-objects can never truly delight one who rejoices in the Self. Just as bitter neem leaves cannot attract an elephant that delights in the tender leaves of the Śallakī tree.

Rare indeed is the person who leaves no lingering impression after experiencing pleasures, and who has no craving for pleasures not yet experienced.

In this world, one may find those who desire enjoyment, and one may also find those who desire Liberation. But rare indeed is the great soul who desires neither enjoyment nor liberation.

For the noble-hearted one, there is nothing to be accepted or rejected with regard to Dharma, Artha, Kāma, or Mokṣa, nor with regard to life or death.

He has no desire for the dissolution of the universe, nor any aversion to its continued existence. Therefore, content with whatever sustains life, the blessed one abides in happiness and ease.

Thinking, "Through this Knowledge, the purpose of life has been fulfilled," and with all mental agitation dissolved, the accomplished one lives in ease and happiness— seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and eating, just as life unfolds.

For one in whom the ocean of Saṃsāra has dried up, perception is empty of grasping, actions are without personal motive, and the senses function without agitation. There is neither desire nor dispassion. All such opposites have come to an end.

He neither wakes nor sleeps. He neither opens nor closes his eyes. Ah! How extraordinary is the state in which the liberated mind abides.

Everywhere he is seen abiding in his own natural state. Everywhere his inner disposition is pure and clear. Free from all Vāsanās (latent tendencies and desires), the liberated one shines everywhere.

Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, receiving, speaking, and moving about, the great soul remains free from all notions of what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Truly, he is liberated.

He neither condemns nor praises. He neither rejoices nor becomes angry. He neither gives nor receives. Free everywhere from attachment and personal involvement, he remains liberated.

Whether seeing a woman filled with affection and beauty, or facing death standing directly before him, the great soul remains inwardly unshaken and established in his own natural state. Truly, he is liberated.

For the wise one who sees with equal vision, there is no distinction between pleasure and pain, between man and woman, between prosperity and adversity. He remains the same in all circumstances.

In one whose wandering through Saṃsāra has come to an end, there is neither violence nor even the opposite attitude of compassion as a separate mental stance. There is neither arrogance nor humility. There is neither astonishment nor disturbance. He abides beyond all such opposites.

The liberated one is neither a hater of sense-objects, nor one who longs for them. With a mind that is ever unattached, he experiences alike what comes and what does not come.

One whose mind is empty of mental constructions no longer entertains notions of concentration and lack of concentration, nor distinctions of beneficial and harmful. Abiding as though in Kaivalya (absolute freedom), he knows none of these divisions.

Free from possessiveness and egoism, firmly convinced that nothing truly exists as a separate entity, with all desires dissolved within, he acts, yet in reality does not act.

Free from the fluctuations of the mind, from delusion, from dream-like projections, and from dullness, one whose mind has dissolved attains an indescribable state beyond ordinary experience.