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Aṣṭāvakra Saṃhitā
A Dialogue on Self-realization
Poojya Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Chapter 18, Verse 35
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Ashtavakra Gita 18.35 -

शुद्धं बुद्धं प्रियं पूर्णं निष्प्रपञ्चं निरामयम् ।
आत्मानं तं न जानन्ति तत्राभ्यासपरा जना:

śuddhaṃ buddhaṃ priyaṃ pūrṇaṃ niṣprapañcaṃ nirāmayam.
ātmānaṃ taṃ na jānanti tatrābhyāsa-parā janāḥ .. 18-35..

Those people given to various practices do not succeed in knowing the Self, which is pure, conscious, beloved, complete, untainted and which transcends the phenomenal world.

Commentary by Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

What a clear pointer to the seekers and enquirers of supreme Truth! Ananyatā, exclusiveness, is the one quality or characteristic that distinguishes the dedicated seeker from all the rest. Krishna emphasizes this quality many times in Gita. He first mentions it while introducing karma-yoga (2.41 ). Later he reiterates exclusiveness (11.54, 13.10, 18.56,65,66 ).

Supreme Reality is but one. It is the Self. The distance to it is zero. To think of the Supreme as dwelling in you is the only right, simple and full way. Why then indulge in various practices?

You are the starting point of sādhanā, and Self the endpoint. Draw a straight line connecting the two! In Ashtavakra Samhita the mention, description, reiteration and confirmation are only about this straight line path. Sage Vasishtha in Yoga-vāsishṭha (6p.69.27 ) speaks about it as eka-tattva-ghana-abhyāsa, the intense practice of the singular truth.

The Self alone is. It is the sole witness of whatever is or appears to be. From body onwards, whatever surrounds you called the world, comes under the witnessed. Let there be many things in the world. You, the ‘I’, is the sole witness of it all. The witness cannot be the witnessed. Nor can the witnessed be the witness. What then are you going to do for any sake? Understand this first and last, and be the witness ever. Drop all thought of diverse practices for ever. Be the witness Self alone!

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