Ashtavakra Gita chapter 15: What you are

Chapter 15 of the Ashtavakra Gita, "What you are", has 20 verses. Ashtavakra speaks. Ashtavakra's second long teaching: you are awareness, the world is waves on your ocean, so move about at ease. Every verse is below in Sanskrit and in Wisdom's plain English.

All 20 verses

1. 15.1

   यथातथोपदेशेन कृतार्थः सत्त्वबुद्धिमान् ।आजीवमपि जिज्ञासुः परस्तत्र विमुह्यति ॥

   yathātathopadeśena kṛtārthaḥ sattvabuddhimān |ājīvamapi jijñāsuḥ parastatra vimuhyati ||

   A person of clear understanding is fulfilled by a teaching given in any way at all. Another may inquire his whole life and still stay confused.

2. 15.2

   मोक्षो विषयवैरस्यं बन्धो वैषयिको रसः ।एतावदेव विज्ञानं यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ॥

   mokṣo viṣayavairasyaṃ bandho vaiṣayiko rasaḥ |etāvadeva vijñānaṃ yathecchasi tathā kuru ||

   Freedom is losing the taste for objects. Bondage is the taste for them. That is all there is to know. Now do as you wish.

3. 15.3

   वाग्मिप्राज्ञामहोद्योगं जनं मूकजडालसम् ।करोति तत्त्वबोधोऽयमतस्त्यक्तो बुभुक्षभिः ॥

   vāgmiprājñāmahodyogaṃ janaṃ mūkajaḍālasam |karoti tattvabodho'yamatastyakto bubhukṣabhiḥ ||

   This knowing of the truth turns the talker, the clever and the busy into someone silent, still and idle. So those who want enjoyment avoid it.

4. 15.4Word meanings and notes

   न त्वं देहो न ते देहो भोक्ता कर्ता न वा भवान् ।चिद्रूपोऽसि सदा साक्षी निरपेक्षः सुखं चर ॥

   na tvaṃ deho na te deho bhoktā kartā na vā bhavān |cidrūpo'si sadā sākṣī nirapekṣaḥ sukhaṃ cara ||

   You are not the body, and the body is not yours. You are not the doer or the enjoyer. You are awareness itself, always the witness, needing nothing. Move about at ease.

5. 15.5

   रागद्वेषौ मनोधर्मौ न मनस्ते कदाचन ।निर्विकल्पोऽसि बोधात्मा निर्विकारः सुखं चर ॥

   rāgadveṣau manodharmau na manaste kadācana |nirvikalpo'si bodhātmā nirvikāraḥ sukhaṃ cara ||

   Liking and disliking belong to the mind, and the mind was never yours. You are free of wavering, awareness itself, unchanging. Move about at ease.

6. 15.6

   सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि ।विज्ञाय निरहङ्कारो निर्ममस्त्वं सुखी भव ॥

   sarvabhūteṣu cātmānaṃ sarvabhūtāni cātmani |vijñāya nirahaṅkāro nirmamastvaṃ sukhī bhava ||

   Know the Self in every being and every being in the Self. Free of 'I' and free of 'mine', be happy.

7. 15.7Word meanings and notes

   विश्वं स्फुरति यत्रेदं तरङ्गा इव सागरे ।तत्त्वमेव न सन्देहश्चिन्मूर्ते विज्वरो भव ॥

   viśvaṃ sphurati yatredaṃ taraṅgā iva sāgare |tattvameva na sandehaścinmūrte vijvaro bhava ||

   That in which this world shimmers like waves on the sea: you are that, without doubt. You who are awareness, let the fever go.

8. 15.8Word meanings and notes

   श्रद्धस्व तात श्रद्धस्व नात्र मोऽहं कुरुष्व भोः ।ज्ञानस्वरूपो भगवानात्मा त्वं प्रकृतेः परः ॥

   śraddhasva tāta śraddhasva nātra mo'haṃ kuruṣva bhoḥ |jñānasvarūpo bhagavānātmā tvaṃ prakṛteḥ paraḥ ||

   Trust, my child, trust. Do not be confused about this. You are the Self, made of knowledge, the Lord, beyond nature.

9. 15.9

   गुणैः संवेष्टितो देहस्तिष्ठत्यायाति याति च ।आत्मा न गन्ता नागन्ता किमेनमनुशोचसि ॥

   guṇaiḥ saṃveṣṭito dehastiṣṭhatyāyāti yāti ca |ātmā na gantā nāgantā kimenamanuśocasi ||

   The body, wrapped in the qualities of nature, comes, stays and goes. The Self neither goes nor comes. Why grieve over it?

10. 15.10

    देहस्तिष्ठतु कल्पान्तं गच्छत्वद्यैव वा पुनः ।क्व वृद्धिः क्व च वा हानिस्तव चिन्मात्ररूपिणः ॥

    dehastiṣṭhatu kalpāntaṃ gacchatvadyaiva vā punaḥ |kva vṛddhiḥ kva ca vā hānistava cinmātrarūpiṇaḥ ||

    Let the body last to the end of the age or go today. What is gained or lost for you, who are awareness alone?

11. 15.11Word meanings and notes

    त्वय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ विश्ववीचिः स्वभावतः ।उदेतु वास्तमायातु न ते वृद्धिर्न वा क्षतिः ॥

    tvayyanantamahāmbhodhau viśvavīciḥ svabhāvataḥ |udetu vāstamāyātu na te vṛddhirna vā kṣatiḥ ||

    In you, the endless ocean, the wave of the world rises or sinks by its own nature. You neither grow nor shrink.

12. 15.12

    तात चिन्मात्ररूपोऽसि न ते भिन्नमिदं जगत् ।अतः कस्य कथं कुत्र हेयोपादेयकल्पना ॥

    tāta cinmātrarūpo'si na te bhinnamidaṃ jagat |ataḥ kasya kathaṃ kutra heyopādeyakalpanā ||

    My child, you are awareness alone. This world is not separate from you. So who could imagine anything to reject or take, and how, and where?

13. 15.13

    एकस्मिन्नव्यये शान्ते चिदाकाशेऽमले त्वयि ।कुतो जन्म कुतो कर्म कुतोऽहङ्कार एव च ॥

    ekasminnavyaye śānte cidākāśe'male tvayi |kuto janma kuto karma kuto'haṅkāra eva ca ||

    In you, who are one, unchanging, at peace, a spotless sky of awareness, where is birth, where is action, where is the sense of 'I'?

14. 15.14Word meanings and notes

    यत्त्वं पश्यसि तत्रैकस्त्वमेव प्रतिभाससे ।किं पृथक् भासते स्वर्णात् कटकाङ्गदनूपुरम् ॥

    yattvaṃ paśyasi tatraikastvameva pratibhāsase |kiṃ pṛthak bhāsate svarṇāt kaṭakāṅgadanūpuram ||

    Whatever you see, you alone appear in it. Do bracelets, armlets and anklets appear as anything apart from the gold?

15. 15.15

    अयं सोऽहमयं नाहं विभागमिति सन्त्यज ।सर्वमात्मेति निश्चित्य निःसङ्कल्पः सुखी भव ॥

    ayaṃ so'hamayaṃ nāhaṃ vibhāgamiti santyaja |sarvamātmeti niścitya niḥsaṅkalpaḥ sukhī bhava ||

    Drop the division 'I am this, I am not that'. Be certain that all is the Self, make no more plans of the mind, and be happy.

16. 15.16

    तवैवाज्ञानतो विश्वं त्वमेकः परमार्थतः ।त्वत्तोऽन्यो नास्ति संसारी नासंसारी च कश्चन ॥

    tavaivājñānato viśvaṃ tvamekaḥ paramārthataḥ |tvatto'nyo nāsti saṃsārī nāsaṃsārī ca kaścana ||

    Through your own not knowing, the world exists. In truth you alone are. There is no one apart from you, bound to the world or free of it.

17. 15.17

    भ्रान्तिमात्रमिदं विश्वं न किञ्चिदिति निश्चयी ।निर्वासनः स्फूर्तिमात्रो न किञ्चिदिव शाम्यति ॥

    bhrāntimātramidaṃ viśvaṃ na kiñciditi niścayī |nirvāsanaḥ sphūrtimātro na kiñcidiva śāmyati ||

    'This world is only an error, it is nothing': one who is sure of this is free of tendencies, awareness alone, and comes to rest as if nothing were there.

18. 15.18

    एक एव भवाम्भोधावासीदस्ति भविष्यति ।न ते बन्धोऽस्ति मोक्षो वा कृत्यकृत्यः सुखं चर ॥

    eka eva bhavāmbhodhāvāsīdasti bhaviṣyati |na te bandho'sti mokṣo vā kṛtyakṛtyaḥ sukhaṃ cara ||

    In the ocean of the world there was one, there is one, there will be one: you. You have no bondage and no freedom. Your work is done. Move about at ease.

19. 15.19

    मा सङ्कल्पविकल्पाभ्यां चित्तं क्षोभय चिन्मय ।उपशाम्य सुखं तिष्ठ स्वात्मन्यानन्दविग्रहे ॥

    mā saṅkalpavikalpābhyāṃ cittaṃ kṣobhaya cinmaya |upaśāmya sukhaṃ tiṣṭha svātmanyānandavigrahe ||

    You who are awareness, do not stir the mind with 'yes' and 'no'. Be still, and rest at ease in your own Self, which is joy itself.

20. 15.20

    त्यजैव ध्यानं सर्वत्र मा किञ्चिद् हृदि धारय ।आत्मा त्वं मुक्त एवासि किं विमृश्य करिष्यसि ॥

    tyajaiva dhyānaṃ sarvatra mā kiñcid hṛdi dhāraya |ātmā tvaṃ mukta evāsi kiṃ vimṛśya kariṣyasi ||

    Give up meditation altogether. Hold nothing in the heart. You are the Self, free already. What will you gain by thinking it over?