Ashtavakra Gita chapter 19: My own greatness
Chapter 19 of the Ashtavakra Gita, "My own greatness", has 8 verses. King Janaka speaks. Janaka has pulled the thorn of opinions from his heart; time, place, life and death have no hold on him. Every verse is below in Sanskrit and in Wisdom's plain English.
All 8 verses
तत्त्वविज्ञानसन्दंशमादाय हृदयोदरात् ।नानाविधपरामर्शशल्योद्धारः कृतो मया ॥
tattvavijñānasandaṃśamādāya hṛdayodarāt |nānāvidhaparāmarśaśalyoddhāraḥ kṛto mayā ||
With the tongs of knowing the truth, I have pulled from deep inside my heart the thorn of many kinds of opinion.
क्व धर्मः क्व च वा कामः क्व चार्थः क्व विवेकिता ।क्व द्वैतं क्व च वाऽद्वैतं स्वमहिम्नि स्थितस्य मे ॥
kva dharmaḥ kva ca vā kāmaḥ kva cārthaḥ kva vivekitā |kva dvaitaṃ kva ca vā'dvaitaṃ svamahimni sthitasya me ||
Where is dharma, where is pleasure, where is wealth, where is discernment, where is duality, where is even non-duality, for me who rest in my own greatness?
क्व भूतं क्व भविष्यद् वा वर्तमानमपि क्व वा ।क्व देशः क्व च वा नित्यं स्वमहिम्नि स्थितस्य मे ॥
kva bhūtaṃ kva bhaviṣyad vā vartamānamapi kva vā |kva deśaḥ kva ca vā nityaṃ svamahimni sthitasya me ||
Where is past, where is future, where is even the present, where is place, where is even the eternal, for me who rest in my own greatness?
क्व चात्मा क्व च वानात्मा क्व शुभं क्वाशुभं यथा ।क्व चिन्ता क्व च वाचिन्ता स्वमहिम्नि स्थितस्य मे ॥
kva cātmā kva ca vānātmā kva śubhaṃ kvāśubhaṃ yathā |kva cintā kva ca vācintā svamahimni sthitasya me ||
Where is the Self, where the not-Self, where good and bad, where worry and freedom from worry, for me who rest in my own greatness?
क्व स्वप्नः क्व सुषुप्तिर्वा क्व च जागरणं तथा ।क्व तुरीयं भयं वापि स्वमहिम्नि स्थितस्य मे ॥
kva svapnaḥ kva suṣuptirvā kva ca jāgaraṇaṃ tathā |kva turīyaṃ bhayaṃ vāpi svamahimni sthitasya me ||
Where is dream, where is deep sleep, where is waking, where is the fourth state, where is even fear, for me who rest in my own greatness?
क्व दूरं क्व समीपं वा बाह्यं क्वाभ्यन्तरं क्व वा ।क्व स्थूलं क्व च वा सूक्ष्मं स्वमहिम्नि स्थितस्य मे ॥
kva dūraṃ kva samīpaṃ vā bāhyaṃ kvābhyantaraṃ kva vā |kva sthūlaṃ kva ca vā sūkṣmaṃ svamahimni sthitasya me ||
Where is far, where is near, where is outside, where is inside, where is gross, where is subtle, for me who rest in my own greatness?
क्व मृत्युर्जीवितं वा क्व लोकाः क्वास्य क्व लौकिकम् ।क्व लयः क्व समाधिर्वा स्वमहिम्नि स्थितस्य मे ॥
kva mṛtyurjīvitaṃ vā kva lokāḥ kvāsya kva laukikam |kva layaḥ kva samādhirvā svamahimni sthitasya me ||
Where is death, where is life, where are the worlds and worldly ways, where is dissolution, where is samadhi, for me who rest in my own greatness?
अलं त्रिवर्गकथया योगस्य कथयाप्यलम् ।अलं विज्ञानकथया विश्रान्तस्य ममात्मनि ॥
alaṃ trivargakathayā yogasya kathayāpyalam |alaṃ vijñānakathayā viśrāntasya mamātmani ||
Enough talk of the three aims of life. Enough talk of yoga. Enough talk of knowledge too. I rest in the Self.
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.