Krishjan

Chapter 2 — Ascaryam

Ashtavakra Gita

25 Shloka • Translation Only

King Janaka said: Ah! I am the stainless, peaceful Awareness, beyond Prakṛti. For so long a time, I was deceived and deluded by ignorance alone.

Just as I alone illumine this body, so too I illumine the entire universe. Therefore, either the whole universe is mine, or else nothing whatsoever is mine.

Ah! Having now set aside identification with the body and the world, through a certain subtle insight and skill, the Supreme Self (Paramātman) is directly beheld.

Just as waves, foam, and bubbles are not different from water, so too this universe, having arisen from the Ātman, is not different from the Ātman itself.

Just as, when carefully examined, a cloth is found to be nothing but threads, so too, upon inquiry, this entire universe is found to be nothing but the Ātman.

Just as sugar is produced from the juice of sugarcane and is entirely pervaded by that very essence, so too this universe is projected in me and is pervaded by me completely and without interruption.

Through ignorance of the Ātman, the universe appears to exist. Through the knowledge of the Ātman, it no longer appears as a separate reality. Just as a snake appears through ignorance of the rope, and disappears when the rope is truly known.

Light (Consciousness) is my own true nature; I am not other than that. Whenever the universe appears, it shines only through my own radiance.

Ah! Through imagination born of ignorance, this universe appears in me. Just as silver appears in a shell, a snake in a rope, or water in the rays of the sun, so does the world appear in Consciousness.

This universe has arisen from me and will dissolve back into me alone. Just as a pot returns to clay, a wave to water, and an ornament to gold, so does the universe return to its source.

Ah! I bow to myself. For me there is no destruction whatsoever. Even when the entire universe—from Brahmā down to the smallest blade of grass—passes away, I remain unchanged and ever established.

Ah! I bow to myself. Though appearing to dwell in a body, I am One alone. I neither go anywhere nor come from anywhere. Pervading the entire universe, I remain ever established.

Ah! I bow to myself. There is none here as capable and wondrous as I. Without ever being touched by the body, I have sustained this universe from time immemorial.

Ah! I bow to myself. Nothing whatsoever belongs to me. Or rather, everything that can be perceived by speech or mind belongs to me.

Knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the knower—this threefold division has no ultimate reality. It appears only through ignorance. I am that stainless Reality in which all of this appears.

Ah! Duality is the root of all suffering; there is no other remedy for it. All that is seen is unreal and merely an appearance. I alone am the pure essence of Consciousness, stainless and One.

I am pure Awareness alone. Through ignorance, limiting adjuncts (Upādhis) have been imagined by me. Reflecting upon this constantly, I abide in the state beyond all mental distinctions (Nirvikalpa).

For me, there is neither bondage nor liberation. Delusion has come to rest and has no foundation. Ah! The universe appears to abide in me, yet in truth, it does not abide in me at all.

It is firmly understood that this universe, together with the body, is truly nothing. The Ātman alone is pure Consciousness. In that reality, what room remains for imagination or projection?

The body, heaven and hell, bondage and liberation, and even fear— all these are merely products of imagination. What concern can they have for me, who am the Self of pure Consciousness?

Ah! Even amidst a multitude of people, I see no duality. To me, it is as though I were alone in a forest. In what, then, could I seek delight or attachment?

I am not the body, nor is the body mine. I am not the individual Jīva; I am pure Consciousness. This alone was my bondage: the desire to continue as a separate living being.

Ah! In me, the infinite ocean, the wondrous waves of countless worlds suddenly arise, stirred into motion by the winds of the mind (Citta).

In me, the infinite ocean, when the winds of the mind (Citta) become still, the perishable boat of the world, in which the merchant called the Jīva travels, comes to rest and disappears.

In me, the infinite ocean, how wondrous are the waves called Jīvas! By their very nature, they arise, clash with one another, play for a while, and then merge back again.