Aṣṭāvakra Saṃhitā
A Dialogue on Self-realization
Chapter 18, Verse 24
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Ashtavakra Gita 18.24 -
प्रकृत्या शून्यचित्तस्य कुर्वतोऽस्य यदृच्छया ।
प्राकृतस्येव धीरस्य न मानो नावमानता
prakṛtyā śūnyacittasya kurvato’sya yadṛcchayā .
prākṛtasyeva dhīrasya na māno nāvamānatā .. 18-24..
Having virtually no mind at all, yet living and moving by the impetus of Nature, like so many other beings, performing whatever activity comes on its own unasked, the enlightened one does not feel honour and dishonour like the ordinary person.
Commentary by Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Every one right from the birth of his body is experiencing the external world of objects through the senses. The interaction results in endless imprints the mind makes on itself. Impression of the external world becomes strong in all, almost irreplaceably.
But the entire picture changes once the seeker takes to spiritual enquiry and introspection. He starts feeling that the objects are not the first and last factor in our experience. The world itself is a perception our senses make, when the inner mind employs them. Perception is internal, not external at all. Mind feels like employing the senses and brings about perception, registering it in itself. Nothing clings to the senses. Objects by themselves have no role to play in this. The whole process is inner, by the mind.
This finding brings about a paradigm shift in the seeker. He knows he was deluded till now. Now the picture has changed. Self, the ‘I’, is the starting point of every perception. Perceiver and perceiving process are within the body. That is how at the end of every day, one goes to sleep, wiping the whole wakeful world and its effects. Thus, the mind of the Knower becomes vacant. He may seem to be active, but it does not affect him, does not bring any sense of reality. Honour and dishonour vanish for him. He floats in his inner uniformity and oneness with fulfilment.
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