Ashtavakra Gita 1.14

Ashtavakra Gita 1.14 is a verse from chapter 1 (The witness). The sage Ashtavakra speaks it to King Janaka. In plain English it says: "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."

What to notice

Ashtavakra calls the king putraka, little son, while handing him a sword.

Word by word

deha-abhimāna

the conviction 'I am the body'

pāśena

by the rope, the noose

ciram

for a long time

baddhaḥ asi

you have been bound

putraka

my son, dear child

bodhaḥ aham

I am awareness

jñāna-khaḍgena

with the sword of knowledge

tat

that

nikṛtya

cutting through

sukhī bhava

be happy

Reading the verse

The noose in this verse is dehābhimāna, the settled feeling that I am this body. It is old, ciram, and it is tight. Ashtavakra calls Janaka putraka, little son, which is tender and also a little funny given that the speaker is the younger of the two. Then he hands him a sword: the knowledge 'I am awareness'. A sword is used once, cleanly. You do not untie a noose knot by knot when you can cut it. The Advaita teachers read this as the same point made in 1.9 with a fire: knowledge acts all at once, not by degrees. The body still exists and still needs care. What the sword cuts is the identification that makes every ache a threat to me. The sword image also appears in the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna tells Arjuna to cut doubt with the sword of knowledge and stand up. There the result is action. Here the result is happiness. Both are what follows when the noose is gone.

Same thread in the Bhagavad Gita

Chapter 1, The witness: 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.