Ashtavakra Gita chapter 13: As it pleases me
Chapter 13 of the Ashtavakra Gita, "As it pleases me", has 7 verses. King Janaka speaks. Janaka lives without taking or giving up, doing what comes and living at ease. Every verse is below in Sanskrit and in Wisdom's plain English.
All 7 verses
अकिञ्चनभवं स्वास्थं कौपीनत्वेऽपि दुर्लभम् ।त्यागादाने विहायास्मादहमासे यथासुखम् ॥
akiñcanabhavaṃ svāsthaṃ kaupīnatve'pi durlabham |tyāgādāne vihāyāsmādahamāse yathāsukham ||
The ease of owning nothing is rare even for one who wears only a loincloth. So I have left both giving up and taking, and live as it pleases me.
कुत्रापि खेदः कायस्य जिह्वा कुत्रापि खेद्यते ।मनः कुत्रापि तत्त्यक्त्वा पुरुषार्थे स्थितः सुखम् ॥
kutrāpi khedaḥ kāyasya jihvā kutrāpi khedyate |manaḥ kutrāpi tattyaktvā puruṣārthe sthitaḥ sukham ||
Here the body is strained, there the tongue grows tired, and there the mind. So I have left them and live at ease in what life is for.
कृतं किमपि नैव स्याद् इति सञ्चिन्त्य तत्त्वतः ।यदा यत्कर्तुमायाति तत् कृत्वासे यथासुखम् ॥
kṛtaṃ kimapi naiva syād iti sañcintya tattvataḥ |yadā yatkartumāyāti tat kṛtvāse yathāsukham ||
Knowing as it is that nothing is ever done by the Self, I do whatever comes to be done and live as it pleases me.
कर्मनैष्कर्म्यनिर्बन्धभावा देहस्थयोगिनः ।संयोगायोगविरहादहमासे यथासुखम् ॥
karmanaiṣkarmyanirbandhabhāvā dehasthayoginaḥ |saṃyogāyogavirahādahamāse yathāsukham ||
Yogis who take themselves to be the body insist on action or on doing nothing. I am free of joining and parting, and live as it pleases me.
अर्थानर्थौ न मे स्थित्या गत्या न शयनेन वा ।तिष्ठन् गच्छन् स्वपन् तस्मादहमासे यथासुखम् ॥
arthānarthau na me sthityā gatyā na śayanena vā |tiṣṭhan gacchan svapan tasmādahamāse yathāsukham ||
I gain nothing and lose nothing by standing, walking or lying down. So whether I stand, walk or sleep, I live as it pleases me.
स्वपतो नास्ति मे हानिः सिद्धिर्यत्नवतो न वा ।नाशोल्लासौ विहायास्मादहमासे यथासुखम् ॥
svapato nāsti me hāniḥ siddhiryatnavato na vā |nāśollāsau vihāyāsmādahamāse yathāsukham ||
Sleeping, I lose nothing. Striving, I win nothing. So I have dropped both loss and delight, and live as it pleases me.
सुखादिरूपा नियमं भावेष्वालोक्य भूरिशः ।शुभाशुभे विहायास्मादहमासे यथासुखम् ॥
sukhādirūpā niyamaṃ bhāveṣvālokya bhūriśaḥ |śubhāśubhe vihāyāsmādahamāse yathāsukham ||
Having seen many times how pleasure and the rest come and go in things, I have left good and bad behind, and live as it pleases me.
Sources and method
Sanskrit from the common text of the Ashtavakra Gita, also called the Ashtavakra Samhita. Where our source had obvious typing errors we restored the standard reading and listed each change in our review notes. IAST is generated from the Devanagari. The English, the word meanings and the notes are Wisdom's own, written in the Advaita tradition of Shankara's school, the line followed by commentators such as Swami Nityaswarupananda and Swami Chinmayananda, with Lala Baij Nath's public-domain translation of 1907 as a reference.
Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, human review pending.