Ashtavakra Gita 17.9Chapter 17, Verse 9
Ashtavakra Gita 17.9 is a verse from chapter 17 (The one who knows). The sage Ashtavakra speaks it to King Janaka. In plain English it says: "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."
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.
Ashtavakra, to King Janaka
Word meanings and a note for this verse are still being written. Read it in context on the chapter 17 page, or start with the verses in where to begin.
Chapter 17, The one who knows: A portrait of the free person, who wants neither pleasure nor freedom and lives at ease seeing, hearing and eating.
Read all 20 verses in this chapter →Seven mornings of short readings from the Bhagavad Gita, chosen for what you're going through, by email.
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