Ashtavakra Gita chapter 17: The one who knows
Chapter 17 of the Ashtavakra Gita, "The one who knows", has 20 verses. Ashtavakra speaks. A portrait of the free person, who wants neither pleasure nor freedom and lives at ease seeing, hearing and eating. Every verse is below in Sanskrit and in Wisdom's plain English.
All 20 verses
तेन ज्ञानफलं प्राप्तं योगाभ्यासफलं तथा ।तृप्तः स्वच्छेन्द्रियो नित्यमेकाकी रमते तु यः ॥
tena jñānaphalaṃ prāptaṃ yogābhyāsaphalaṃ tathā |tṛptaḥ svacchendriyo nityamekākī ramate tu yaḥ ||
He has the fruit of knowledge and the fruit of yoga practice who is content, whose senses are clear, and who delights in being alone.
न कदाचिज्जगत्यस्मिन् तत्त्वज्ञो हन्त खिद्यति ।यत एकेन तेनेदं पूर्णं ब्रह्माण्डमण्डलम् ॥
na kadācijjagatyasmin tattvajño hanta khidyati |yata ekena tenedaṃ pūrṇaṃ brahmāṇḍamaṇḍalam ||
One who knows what is real is never troubled here, for this whole round of worlds is filled by him alone.
- 17.3Word meanings and notes
न जातु विषयाः केऽपि स्वारामं हर्षयन्त्यमी ।सल्लकीपल्लवप्रीतमिवेभं निम्बपल्लवाः ॥
na jātu viṣayāḥ ke'pi svārāmaṃ harṣayantyamī |sallakīpallavaprītamivebhaṃ nimbapallavāḥ ||
No objects ever please one who delights in the Self, as neem leaves do not please an elephant who loves sallaki leaves.
यस्तु भोगेषु भुक्तेषु न भवत्यधिवासितः ।अभुक्तेषु निराकाङ्क्षी तदृशो भवदुर्लभः ॥
yastu bhogeṣu bhukteṣu na bhavatyadhivāsitaḥ |abhukteṣu nirākāṅkṣī tadṛśo bhavadurlabhaḥ ||
One who does not dwell on pleasures he has had and does not long for those he has not had: such a person is rare.
बुभुक्षुरिह संसारे मुमुक्षुरपि दृश्यते ।भोगमोक्षनिराकाङ्क्षी विरलो हि महाशयः ॥
bubhukṣuriha saṃsāre mumukṣurapi dṛśyate |bhogamokṣanirākāṅkṣī viralo hi mahāśayaḥ ||
Here we see people who want enjoyment and people who want freedom. Rare is the great soul who wants neither.
धर्मार्थकाममोक्षेषु जीविते मरणे तथा ।कस्याप्युदारचित्तस्य हेयोपादेयता न हि ॥
dharmārthakāmamokṣeṣu jīvite maraṇe tathā |kasyāpyudāracittasya heyopādeyatā na hi ||
Rare is the large-hearted person who has no sense of taking or rejecting dharma, wealth, pleasure, freedom, life or death.
वाञ्छा न विश्वविलये न द्वेषस्तस्य च स्थितौ ।यथा जीविकया तस्माद् धन्य आस्ते यथा सुखम् ॥
vāñchā na viśvavilaye na dveṣastasya ca sthitau |yathā jīvikayā tasmād dhanya āste yathā sukham ||
He has no wish for the world to end and no dislike of its going on. So the fortunate one lives at ease on whatever livelihood comes.
कृतार्थोऽनेन ज्ञानेनेत्येवं गलितधीः कृती ।पश्यन् शृण्वन् स्पृशन् जिघ्रन्अश्नन्नास्ते यथा सुखम् ॥
kṛtārtho'nena jñānenetyevaṃ galitadhīḥ kṛtī |paśyan śṛṇvan spṛśan jighranaśnannāste yathā sukham ||
Fulfilled by this knowledge, his mind melted away, he lives at ease, seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating.
शून्या दृष्टिर्वृथा चेष्टा विकलानीन्द्रियाणि च ।न स्पृहा न विरक्तिर्वा क्षीणसंसारसागरे ॥
śūnyā dṛṣṭirvṛthā ceṣṭā vikalānīndriyāṇi ca |na spṛhā na viraktirvā kṣīṇasaṃsārasāgare ||
For one whose ocean of the world has dried up, the gaze is empty, action has no aim, the senses are idle. There is no wanting and no turning away.
न जागर्ति न निद्राति नोन्मीलति न मीलति ।अहो परदशा क्वापि वर्तते मुक्तचेतसः ॥
na jāgarti na nidrāti nonmīlati na mīlati |aho paradaśā kvāpi vartate muktacetasaḥ ||
He is not awake and not asleep, he neither opens nor closes his eyes. How wonderful: the free mind lives in the highest state wherever it is.
सर्वत्र दृश्यते स्वस्थः सर्वत्र विमलाशयः ।समस्तवासना मुक्तो मुक्तः सर्वत्र राजते ॥
sarvatra dṛśyate svasthaḥ sarvatra vimalāśayaḥ |samastavāsanā mukto muktaḥ sarvatra rājate ||
The free one is seen at ease everywhere, clear-hearted everywhere. Free of all tendencies, he shines everywhere.
पश्यन् शृण्वन् स्पृशन् जिघ्रन्अश्नन् गृण्हन् वदन् व्रजन् ।ईहितानीहितैर्मुक्तो मुक्त एव महाशयः ॥
paśyan śṛṇvan spṛśan jighranaśnan gṛṇhan vadan vrajan |īhitānīhitairmukto mukta eva mahāśayaḥ ||
Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, taking, speaking, walking, free of wanting and not wanting, the great soul is free.
न निन्दति न च स्तौति न हृष्यति न कुप्यति ।न ददाति न गृण्हाति मुक्तः सर्वत्र नीरसः ॥
na nindati na ca stauti na hṛṣyati na kupyati |na dadāti na gṛṇhāti muktaḥ sarvatra nīrasaḥ ||
He does not blame and does not praise, is not elated and is not angry, does not give and does not take. The free one has no taste for anything.
सानुरागां स्त्रियं दृष्ट्वा मृत्युं वा समुपस्थितम् ।अविह्वलमनाः स्वस्थो मुक्त एव महाशयः ॥
sānurāgāṃ striyaṃ dṛṣṭvā mṛtyuṃ vā samupasthitam |avihvalamanāḥ svastho mukta eva mahāśayaḥ ||
Whether he sees a woman full of desire or death standing near, the great soul stays unshaken and at ease. He is free.
सुखे दुःखे नरे नार्यां सम्पत्सु च विपत्सु च ।विशेषो नैव धीरस्य सर्वत्र समदर्शिनः ॥
sukhe duḥkhe nare nāryāṃ sampatsu ca vipatsu ca |viśeṣo naiva dhīrasya sarvatra samadarśinaḥ ||
In pleasure and pain, man and woman, good fortune and bad, the steady one, who sees the same everywhere, finds no difference.
न हिंसा नैव कारुण्यं नौद्धत्यं न च दीनता ।नाश्चर्यं नैव च क्षोभः क्षीणसंसरणे नरे ॥
na hiṃsā naiva kāruṇyaṃ nauddhatyaṃ na ca dīnatā |nāścaryaṃ naiva ca kṣobhaḥ kṣīṇasaṃsaraṇe nare ||
In one whose round of births is worn out there is no cruelty and no pity, no arrogance and no meekness, no wonder and no agitation.
न मुक्तो विषयद्वेष्टा न वा विषयलोलुपः ।असंसक्तमना नित्यं प्राप्ताप्राप्तमुपाश्नुते ॥
na mukto viṣayadveṣṭā na vā viṣayalolupaḥ |asaṃsaktamanā nityaṃ prāptāprāptamupāśnute ||
The free one neither hates objects nor craves them. With a mind always unattached, he takes what comes and what does not.
समाधानसमाधानहिताहितविकल्पनाः ।शून्यचित्तो न जानाति कैवल्यमिव संस्थितः ॥
samādhānasamādhānahitāhitavikalpanāḥ |śūnyacitto na jānāti kaivalyamiva saṃsthitaḥ ||
Gathered or scattered, good or bad: one whose mind is empty does not know these choices. He stays as if in final freedom.
निर्ममो निरहङ्कारो न किञ्चिदिति निश्चितः ।अन्तर्गलितसर्वाशः कुर्वन्नपि करोति न ॥
nirmamo nirahaṅkāro na kiñciditi niścitaḥ |antargalitasarvāśaḥ kurvannapi karoti na ||
Without 'mine', without 'I', certain that nothing is, every wish melted within, he does not act even while acting.
मनःप्रकाशसंमोहस्वप्नजाड्यविवर्जितः ।दशां कामपि सम्प्राप्तो भवेद् गलितमानसः ॥
manaḥprakāśasaṃmohasvapnajāḍyavivarjitaḥ |daśāṃ kāmapi samprāpto bhaved galitamānasaḥ ||
Free of the play of mind, confusion, dream and dullness, one whose mind has melted reaches a state nobody can name.
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.