Aṣṭāvakra Saṃhitā
A Dialogue on Self-realization
Chapter 9, Verse 3
Order Now 
Ashtavakra Gita 9.3 -
अनित्यं सर्वमेवेदं तापत्रितयदूषितम् ।
असारं निन्दितं हेयमिति निश्चित्य शाम्यति
anityaṃ sarvam-evedaṃ tāpa-tritaya-dūṣitam .
asāraṃ ninditaṃ heyam-iti niścitya śāmyati .. 9-3..
The wise one becomes quiescent by resolving that all this is transient, tainted by threefold misery, unsubstantial, despicable, hence to be abandoned outright.
Commentary by Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Dispassion has untold impact on the mind and its responses, just like love and greed have theirs. One leads to possession while the other to dispossession. Dispassion grows when you reflect upon the world’s evils, as Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita (13.8-12 ).
Transitoriness of everything including our planet, sun, moon, etc. is the first factor to reflect upon. Life on earth is subject to threefold misery – ādhyātmika, ādhibhautika and ādhidaivika – those caused by our own body, mind and intelligence; dangers arising from animate and inanimate things around; the third caused by Providential elements like floods, drought, earthquake, etc.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam clearly sets forth in the very beginning (1.1.2 ) that human life in the world is beset by tāpa-trayam, and the only way to redress it is by the knowledge of Truth, namely the Self. To know the Truth is to realize the Self.
When something desirable and alluring is there, our mind develops fondness for it. Likewise, when the same thing is found to be detestable, the mind recoils from it.
Suppose you are about to sip tea and the cup is already on your lip, your friend warns “do not sip, it contains poison”, what will be the response? The same will be when you reflect upon the evils of the world. Mind will recoil and you will become quiescent. As the mind is agitated now, so it will be placid and poised then!
Select Chapter and Verse
