Aṣṭāvakra Saṃhitā
A Dialogue on Self-realization
Chapter 10
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Ashtavakra Samhita continues its strong emphasis on discrimination (viveka) and dispassion (vairāgya). Sage Ashtavakra presents desire as a powerful source of bondage and wealth as a cause of fear. The seeker is urged to abandon attachment to desire, wealth and even dharma, cultivating detachment and deep dispassion.
Land, friends, wealth, house, wife and gifts are to be seen as fleeting, like a dream or a magic show. Whenever desire arises, worldliness follows. Through rooted vairāgya, the seeker transcends longing and discovers happiness. Desirefulness is bondage, while the dissolution of clinging is liberation. When attachment falls away, the mind becomes pure, transparent and naturally joyful.
The Sage reminds King Janaka that he is the secondless, sentient Effulgence, while the universe is inert and illusory. All possessions are impermanent, and through truthful introspection, the mind becomes enriched with viveka and vairāgya. The seeker is guided to renounce all clinging and open the way to spiritual enlightenment.
Ashtavakra dismisses pursuits rooted in dharma, artha and kāma as they foster restlessness and delusion. After countless actions leading only to exertion and affliction, the seeker is encouraged to turn inward and discover the spiritual ecstasy bestowed by the Self.
दशमोऽध्याय: –
अष्टावक्र उवाच ।
विहाय वैरिणं काममर्थं चानर्थसङ्कुलम् ।
धर्ममप्येतयोर्हेतुं सर्वत्रानादरं कुरु
daśamo’dhyāyaḥ aṣṭāvakra uvāca ..- vihāya vairiṇaṃ kāmam-arthaṃ cānartha-saṅkulam .
dharmam-apy-etayor-hetuṃ sarvatrānādaraṃ kuru.. 10-1..
Ashtavakra said: Eschewing the enemy called desire, equally wealth which hosts many a danger, also relinquishing dharma the cause of these two, mete out disregard everywhere.
स्वप्नेन्द्रजालवत्पश्य दिनानि त्रीणि पञ्च वा ।
मित्रक्षेत्रधनागारदारदायादिसम्पद:
svapnendra-jālavat-paśya dināni trīṇi pañca vā .
mitra-kṣetra-dhanāgāra-dāra-dāyādi-sampadaḥ .. 10-2..
Look at friends, land, wealth, house, wife, gifts and other fortunes, lasting for three or five days, as a mere display of dream or a magic show.
यत्र यत्र भवेत्तृष्णा संसारं विद्धि तत्र वै ।
प्रौढवैराग्यमाश्रित्य वीततृष्ण: सुखी भव
yatra yatra bhavet-tṛṣṇā saṃsāraṃ viddhi tatra vai .
prauḍha-vairāgyam-āśritya vīta-tṛṣṇaḥ sukhī bhava ..
Wherever crops up desire, greed, there flashes worldliness. Taking recourse to deep rooted dispassion, transcend desire and be comfortable and exultant.
तृष्णामात्रात्मको बन्धस्तन्नाशो मोक्ष उच्यते ।
भवासंसक्तिमात्रेण प्राप्तितुष्टिर्मुहुर्मुहु:
tṛṣṇā-mātrātmako bandhas-tan-nāśo mokṣa ucyate .
bhavāsaṃsakti-mātreṇa prāpti-tuṣṭir-muhur-muhuḥ .. 10-4.
Desirefulness itself is bondage. Its dissolution is said to be liberation. Only by not clinging to the world, the joy of having attained the goal prevails constantly.
त्वमेकश्चेतन: शुद्धो जडं विश्वमसत्तथा ।
अविद्यापि न किञ्चित्सा का बुभुत्सा तथापि ते
tvam-ekaś-cetanaḥ śuddho jaḍaṃ viśvam-asattathā .
avidyāpi na kiñcit-sā kā bubhutsā tathāpi te .. 10-5..
You are the singular, pure sentience. Universe is inert, unreal. Ignorance, like darkness, is also nothing really present. Even then, what is this craving of yours for knowledge?
राज्यं सुता: कलत्राणि शरीराणि सुखानि च ।
संसक्तस्यापि नष्टानि तव जन्मनि जन्मनि
rājyaṃ sutāḥ kalatrāṇi śarīrāṇi sukhāni ca .
saṃsaktasyāpi naṣṭāni tava janmani janmani .. 10-6..
Kingdom, sons, wives, bodies and happiness have been lost to you birth after birth, even when you were clinging to them steadfast.
अलमर्थेन कामेन सुकृतेनापि कर्मणा एभ्य: संसारकान्तारे न विश्रान्तमभून्मन:
alam-arthena kāmena sukṛtenāpi karmaṇā .
ebhyaḥ saṃsāra-kāntāre na viśrāntam-abhūn-manaḥ ..
Enough of wealth, desire and holy acts. With these in the forest of world, the mind has had no restfulness so far!
कृतं न कति जन्मानि कायेन मनसा गिरा ।
दु:खमायासदं कर्म तदद्याप्युपरम्यताम्
kṛtaṃ na kati janmāni kāyena manasā girā .
duḥkham-āyāsa-daṃ karma tad-adyāpy-uparamyatām ..
With your body, mind and words, for how many lifetimes have you not done intense activity, fetching only affliction and undue exertion? Retire from it all at least now.
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