Aṣṭāvakra Saṃhitā
A Dialogue on Self-realization
Chapter 18, Verse 71
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Ashtavakra Gita 18.71 -
शुद्धस्फुरणरूपस्य दृश्यभावमपश्यत: ।
क्व विधि: क्व च वैराग्यं क्व त्याग: क्व शमोऽपि वा
śuddha-sphuraṇa-rūpasya dṛśya-bhāvam-apaśyataḥ .
kva vidhiḥ kva ca vairāgyaṃ kva tyāgaḥ kva śamo’pi vā..18-71..
For one whose nature is pure splendour and who sees not any objectivity, where is the question of any injunction, where comes dispassion, where is the scope for renunciation and where is placidity?
Commentary by Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Ashtavakra Maharshi is insistent that King Janaka and other seekers should grasp the wholesome, singular nature of Self-realization. As already pointed, Self is the all-permeating presence, disallowing any second factor, factual or imaginary. Will the seeker grasp this supreme Truth and outlive all the rest?
By analysing our experiential life, it becomes unambiguous for any intelligent man that all experiences rest upon the mind. Compared to the body and the world, which are objective, mind and its experiences are doubtlessly subjective. Even the body and world are inner experiences of the mind.
As the mind is subjective, so are its experiences too. Where is any objective body or world then? Are not all solely subjective imprints? Self is their source. The one who realizes the Self thus cannot entertain or allow objectivity of any kind whatsoever. For him, the Self alone is. He sees nothing besides. Naturally where is the need for any do’s or don’ts? Even dispassion becomes redundant. What to speak of renunciation then? Self alone is. What can it renounce? Quietitude also is equally irrelevant.
One starts floating in supreme singleness. Compared to the body and world, you may term it as transcendence. But in itself, the Self does not transcend anything. It is sovereign and singular!
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