Ashtavakra Gita chapter 1: The witness

Chapter 1 of the Ashtavakra Gita, "The witness", has 20 verses. King Janaka asks one question and Ashtavakra answers. Janaka asks how to know, how to be free and how to let go, and Ashtavakra answers that he is already the free witness of everything. Every verse is below in Sanskrit and in Wisdom's plain English.

All 20 verses

1. 1.1Word meanings and notes

   कथं ज्ञानमवाप्नोति कथं मुक्तिर्भविष्यति ।वैराग्यं च कथं प्राप्तमेतद् ब्रूहि मम प्रभो ॥

   kathaṃ jñānamavāpnoti kathaṃ muktirbhaviṣyati |vairāgyaṃ ca kathaṃ prāptametad brūhi mama prabho ||

   How does one come to know? How does freedom come about? And how is dispassion reached? Tell me this, my lord.

2. 1.2Word meanings and notes

   मुक्तिमिच्छसि चेत्तात विषयान् विषवत्त्यज ।क्षमार्जवदयातोषसत्यं पीयूषवद् भज ॥

   muktimicchasi cettāta viṣayān viṣavattyaja |kṣamārjavadayātoṣasatyaṃ pīyūṣavad bhaja ||

   If you want freedom, my child, leave the objects of the senses as you would leave poison. Take forgiveness, honesty, kindness, contentment and truth as you would take nectar.

3. 1.3Word meanings and notes

   न पृथ्वी न जलं नाग्निर्न वायुर्द्यौर्न वा भवान् ।एषां साक्षिणमात्मानं चिद्रूपं विद्धि मुक्तये ॥

   na pṛthvī na jalaṃ nāgnirna vāyurdyaurna vā bhavān |eṣāṃ sākṣiṇamātmānaṃ cidrūpaṃ viddhi muktaye ||

   You are not earth, water, fire, air or space. To be free, know yourself as the witness of all these, made of awareness.

4. 1.4Word meanings and notes

   यदि देहं पृथक् कृत्य चिति विश्राम्य तिष्ठसि ।अधुनैव सुखी शान्तो बन्धमुक्तो भविष्यसि ॥

   yadi dehaṃ pṛthak kṛtya citi viśrāmya tiṣṭhasi |adhunaiva sukhī śānto bandhamukto bhaviṣyasi ||

   If you set the body apart and rest in awareness, you will be happy, at peace and free of bondage this very moment.

5. 1.5Word meanings and notes

   न त्वं विप्रादिको वर्णो नाश्रमी नाक्षगोचरः ।असङ्गोऽसि निराकारो विश्वसाक्षी सुखी भव ॥

   na tvaṃ viprādiko varṇo nāśramī nākṣagocaraḥ |asaṅgo'si nirākāro viśvasākṣī sukhī bhava ||

   You are not a Brahmin or of any other varna, you belong to no stage of life, and you are nothing the eyes can see. Unattached and formless, you are the witness of everything. Be happy.

6. 1.6Word meanings and notes

   धर्माधर्मौ सुखं दुःखं मानसानि न ते विभो ।न कर्तासि न भोक्तासि मुक्त एवासि सर्वदा ॥

   dharmādharmau sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ mānasāni na te vibho |na kartāsi na bhoktāsi mukta evāsi sarvadā ||

   Right and wrong, pleasure and pain belong to the mind. They are not yours, all-pervading one. You are not the doer and not the one who enjoys. You are free, always.

7. 1.7Word meanings and notes

   एको द्रष्टासि सर्वस्य मुक्तप्रायोऽसि सर्वदा ।अयमेव हि ते बन्धो द्रष्टारं पश्यसीतरम् ॥

   eko draṣṭāsi sarvasya muktaprāyo'si sarvadā |ayameva hi te bandho draṣṭāraṃ paśyasītaram ||

   You are the one seer of all, and you have always been free. Your only bondage is this: you see the seer as someone else.

8. 1.8Word meanings and notes

   अहं कर्तेत्यहंमानमहाकृष्णाहिदंशितः ।नाहं कर्तेति विश्वासामृतं पीत्वा सुखी भव ॥

   ahaṃ kartetyahaṃmānamahākṛṣṇāhidaṃśitaḥ |nāhaṃ karteti viśvāsāmṛtaṃ pītvā sukhī bhava ||

   You have been bitten by the great black snake of the thought 'I am the doer'. Drink the nectar of trust in 'I am not the doer', and be happy.

9. 1.9Word meanings and notes

   एको विशुद्धबोधोऽहमिति निश्चयवह्निना ।प्रज्वाल्याज्ञानगहनं वीतशोकः सुखी भव ॥

   eko viśuddhabodho'hamiti niścayavahninā |prajvālyājñānagahanaṃ vītaśokaḥ sukhī bhava ||

   'I am the one pure awareness': let this certainty be a fire that burns down the forest of not knowing. Then be free of grief, and be happy.

10. 1.10Word meanings and notes

    यत्र विश्वमिदं भाति कल्पितं रज्जुसर्पवत् ।आनन्दपरमानन्दः स बोधस्त्वं सुखं भव ॥

    yatra viśvamidaṃ bhāti kalpitaṃ rajjusarpavat |ānandaparamānandaḥ sa bodhastvaṃ sukhaṃ bhava ||

    That in which this world appears, imagined like a snake on a rope, that joy beyond joy, that awareness: you are that. Be happy.

11. 1.11Word meanings and notes

    मुक्ताभिमानी मुक्तो हि बद्धो बद्धाभिमान्यपि ।किंवदन्तीह सत्येयं या मतिः सा गतिर्भवेत् ॥

    muktābhimānī mukto hi baddho baddhābhimānyapi |kiṃvadantīha satyeyaṃ yā matiḥ sā gatirbhavet ||

    One who thinks 'I am free' is free. One who thinks 'I am bound' stays bound. The old saying is true: as you hold yourself, so you become.

12. 1.12Word meanings and notes

    आत्मा साक्षी विभुः पूर्ण एको मुक्तश्चिदक्रियः ।असङ्गो निःस्पृहः शान्तो भ्रमात्संसारवानिव ॥

    ātmā sākṣī vibhuḥ pūrṇa eko muktaścidakriyaḥ |asaṅgo niḥspṛhaḥ śānto bhramātsaṃsāravāniva ||

    The Self is the witness: all-pervading, whole, one, free, awareness itself, without action, unattached, without wanting, at peace. Only through error does it seem caught in worldly life.

13. 1.13Word meanings and notes

    कूटस्थं बोधमद्वैतमात्मानं परिभावय ।आभासोऽहं भ्रमं मुक्त्वा भावं बाह्यमथान्तरम् ॥

    kūṭasthaṃ bodhamadvaitamātmānaṃ paribhāvaya |ābhāso'haṃ bhramaṃ muktvā bhāvaṃ bāhyamathāntaram ||

    Meditate on the Self as unchanging awareness, one without a second. Let go of the mistaken idea that you are a reflection, and of every sense of outside and inside.

14. 1.14Word meanings and notes

    देहाभिमानपाशेन चिरं बद्धोऽसि पुत्रक ।बोधोऽहं ज्ञानखड्गेन तन्निकृत्य सुखी भव ॥

    dehābhimānapāśena ciraṃ baddho'si putraka |bodho'haṃ jñānakhaḍgena tannikṛtya sukhī bhava ||

    My child, you have long been tied by the rope of 'I am the body'. Cut it with the sword of knowing 'I am awareness', and be happy.

15. 1.15Word meanings and notes

    निःसङ्गो निष्क्रियोऽसि त्वं स्वप्रकाशो निरञ्जनः ।अयमेव हि ते बन्धः समाधिमनुतिष्ठति ॥

    niḥsaṅgo niṣkriyo'si tvaṃ svaprakāśo nirañjanaḥ |ayameva hi te bandhaḥ samādhimanutiṣṭhati ||

    You are unattached and without action, shining by your own light, without stain. This is your bondage: you keep practising samadhi.

16. 1.16Word meanings and notes

    त्वया व्याप्तमिदं विश्वं त्वयि प्रोतं यथार्थतः ।शुद्धबुद्धस्वरूपस्त्वं मा गमः क्षुद्रचित्तताम् ॥

    tvayā vyāptamidaṃ viśvaṃ tvayi protaṃ yathārthataḥ |śuddhabuddhasvarūpastvaṃ mā gamaḥ kṣudracittatām ||

    In truth this world is pervaded by you and strung on you. Your nature is pure awareness. Do not fall into smallness of mind.

17. 1.17Word meanings and notes

    निरपेक्षो निर्विकारो निर्भरः शीतलाशयः ।अगाधबुद्धिरक्षुब्धो भव चिन्मात्रवासनः ॥

    nirapekṣo nirvikāro nirbharaḥ śītalāśayaḥ |agādhabuddhirakṣubdho bhava cinmātravāsanaḥ ||

    Need nothing, change not, be full and cool at heart, deep in understanding and unshaken. Let your one leaning be toward awareness alone.

18. 1.18Word meanings and notes

    साकारमनृतं विद्धि निराकारं तु निश्चलम् ।एतत्तत्त्वोपदेशेन न पुनर्भवसम्भवः ॥

    sākāramanṛtaṃ viddhi nirākāraṃ tu niścalam |etattattvopadeśena na punarbhavasambhavaḥ ||

    Know that what has form is unreal and what is formless is unmoving. Taught this truth, you do not come back to birth.

19. 1.19Word meanings and notes

    यथैवादर्शमध्यस्थे रूपेऽन्तः परितस्तु सः ।तथैवाऽस्मिन् शरीरेऽन्तः परितः परमेश्वरः ॥

    yathaivādarśamadhyasthe rūpe'ntaḥ paritastu saḥ |tathaivā'smin śarīre'ntaḥ paritaḥ parameśvaraḥ ||

    As a mirror is present inside the image it holds and all around it, so the Supreme Lord is present inside this body and all around it.

20. 1.20Word meanings and notes

    एकं सर्वगतं व्योम बहिरन्तर्यथा घटे ।नित्यं निरन्तरं ब्रह्म सर्वभूतगणे तथा ॥

    ekaṃ sarvagataṃ vyoma bahirantaryathā ghaṭe |nityaṃ nirantaraṃ brahma sarvabhūtagaṇe tathā ||

    As one all-pervading space is inside a pot and outside it, so Brahman, eternal and unbroken, is in every being.