Ashtavakra Gita chapter 2: Janaka's wonder

Chapter 2 of the Ashtavakra Gita, "Janaka's wonder", has 25 verses. King Janaka speaks. Janaka finds himself as awareness and bows to it in astonishment, testing the new view against the world, the body and the crowd. Every verse is below in Sanskrit and in Wisdom's plain English.

All 25 verses

1. 2.1Word meanings and notes

   अहो निरञ्जनः शान्तो बोधोऽहं प्रकृतेः परः ।एतावन्तमहं कालं मोहेनैव विडम्बितः ॥

   aho nirañjanaḥ śānto bodho'haṃ prakṛteḥ paraḥ |etāvantamahaṃ kālaṃ mohenaiva viḍambitaḥ ||

   How strange. I am spotless, at peace, awareness itself, beyond nature. All this time I have been fooled by delusion.

2. 2.2

   यथा प्रकाशयाम्येको देहमेनं तथा जगत् ।अतो मम जगत्सर्वमथवा न च किञ्चन ॥

   yathā prakāśayāmyeko dehamenaṃ tathā jagat |ato mama jagatsarvamathavā na ca kiñcana ||

   As I alone light up this body, so I light up the world. So the whole world is mine, or nothing is.

3. 2.3

   स शरीरमहो विश्वं परित्यज्य मयाधुना ।कुतश्चित् कौशलाद् एव परमात्मा विलोक्यते ॥

   sa śarīramaho viśvaṃ parityajya mayādhunā |kutaścit kauśalād eva paramātmā vilokyate ||

   Now that I have let go of the world along with the body, through some skill in the teaching I see the supreme Self.

4. 2.4

   यथा न तोयतो भिन्नास्तरङ्गाः फेनबुद्बुदाः ।आत्मनो न तथा भिन्नं विश्वमात्मविनिर्गतम् ॥

   yathā na toyato bhinnāstaraṅgāḥ phenabudbudāḥ |ātmano na tathā bhinnaṃ viśvamātmavinirgatam ||

   Waves, foam and bubbles are not different from water. In the same way the world, which comes out of the Self, is not different from the Self.

5. 2.5

   तन्तुमात्रो भवेद् एव पटो यद्वद् विचारितः ।आत्मतन्मात्रमेवेदं तद्वद् विश्वं विचारितम् ॥

   tantumātro bhaved eva paṭo yadvad vicāritaḥ |ātmatanmātramevedaṃ tadvad viśvaṃ vicāritam ||

   Looked at closely, a cloth is only thread. Looked at closely in the same way, this world is only the Self.

6. 2.6

   यथैवेक्षुरसे क्लृप्ता तेन व्याप्तैव शर्करा ।तथा विश्वं मयि क्लृप्तं मया व्याप्तं निरन्तरम् ॥

   yathaivekṣurase klṛptā tena vyāptaiva śarkarā |tathā viśvaṃ mayi klṛptaṃ mayā vyāptaṃ nirantaram ||

   As sugar made from cane juice is filled with that juice, so the world, imagined in me, is filled with me through and through.

7. 2.7

   आत्मज्ञानाज्जगद् भाति आत्मज्ञानान्न भासते ।रज्ज्वज्ञानादहिर्भाति तज्ज्ञानाद् भासते न हि ॥

   ātmajñānājjagad bhāti ātmajñānānna bhāsate |rajjvajñānādahirbhāti tajjñānād bhāsate na hi ||

   When the Self is not known, the world appears. When the Self is known, it does not. When the rope is not known, a snake appears. When it is known, the snake is gone.

8. 2.8

   प्रकाशो मे निजं रूपं नातिरिक्तोऽस्म्यहं ततः ।यदा प्रकाशते विश्वं तदाहं भास एव हि ॥

   prakāśo me nijaṃ rūpaṃ nātirikto'smyahaṃ tataḥ |yadā prakāśate viśvaṃ tadāhaṃ bhāsa eva hi ||

   Light is my own form. I am nothing other than that. When the world shines, it is I who shine.

9. 2.9

   अहो विकल्पितं विश्वमज्ञानान्मयि भासते ।रूप्यं शुक्तौ फणी रज्जौ वारि सूर्यकरे यथा ॥

   aho vikalpitaṃ viśvamajñānānmayi bhāsate |rūpyaṃ śuktau phaṇī rajjau vāri sūryakare yathā ||

   How strange. Through not knowing, the imagined world appears in me, like silver in a shell, a snake in a rope, water in the sun's glare.

10. 2.10Word meanings and notes

    मत्तो विनिर्गतं विश्वं मय्येव लयमेष्यति ।मृदि कुम्भो जले वीचिः कनके कटकं यथा ॥

    matto vinirgataṃ viśvaṃ mayyeva layameṣyati |mṛdi kumbho jale vīciḥ kanake kaṭakaṃ yathā ||

    The world came out of me and will dissolve back into me, as a pot into clay, a wave into water, a bracelet into gold.

11. 2.11

    अहो अहं नमो मह्यं विनाशो यस्य नास्ति मे ।ब्रह्मादिस्तम्बपर्यन्तं जगन्नाशोऽपि तिष्ठतः ॥

    aho ahaṃ namo mahyaṃ vināśo yasya nāsti me |brahmādistambaparyantaṃ jagannāśo'pi tiṣṭhataḥ ||

    How wonderful I am. I bow to myself. I do not perish. Even when the whole world, from Brahma down to a blade of grass, perishes, I remain.

12. 2.12

    अहो अहं नमो मह्यमेकोऽहं देहवानपि ।क्वचिन्न गन्ता नागन्ता व्याप्य विश्वमवस्थितः ॥

    aho ahaṃ namo mahyameko'haṃ dehavānapi |kvacinna gantā nāgantā vyāpya viśvamavasthitaḥ ||

    How wonderful I am. I bow to myself. Though I have a body, I am one. I go nowhere and come from nowhere. I stand pervading the world.

13. 2.13

    अहो अहं नमो मह्यं दक्षो नास्तीह मत्समः ।असंस्पृश्य शरीरेण येन विश्वं चिरं धृतम् ॥

    aho ahaṃ namo mahyaṃ dakṣo nāstīha matsamaḥ |asaṃspṛśya śarīreṇa yena viśvaṃ ciraṃ dhṛtam ||

    How wonderful I am. I bow to myself. No one is as able as I am: without touching it with a body, I have held up this world for all time.

14. 2.14

    अहो अहं नमो मह्यं यस्य मे नास्ति किञ्चन ।अथवा यस्य मे सर्वं यद् वाङ्मनसगोचरम् ॥

    aho ahaṃ namo mahyaṃ yasya me nāsti kiñcana |athavā yasya me sarvaṃ yad vāṅmanasagocaram ||

    How wonderful I am. I bow to myself. Nothing is mine, or everything that speech and mind can reach is mine.

15. 2.15

    ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं तथा ज्ञाता त्रितयं नास्ति वास्तवम् ।अज्ञानाद् भाति यत्रेदं सोऽहमस्मि निरञ्जनः ॥

    jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ tathā jñātā tritayaṃ nāsti vāstavam |ajñānād bhāti yatredaṃ so'hamasmi nirañjanaḥ ||

    Knowledge, the known and the knower: these three are not real. I am the spotless one in whom they appear through not knowing.

16. 2.16

    द्वैतमूलमहो दुःखं नान्यत्तस्याऽस्ति भेषजम् ।दृश्यमेतन् मृषा सर्वमेकोऽहं चिद्रसोमलः ॥

    dvaitamūlamaho duḥkhaṃ nānyattasyā'sti bheṣajam |dṛśyametan mṛṣā sarvameko'haṃ cidrasomalaḥ ||

    How strange. Duality is the root of sorrow, and there is no medicine for it except this: all that is seen is unreal, and I am one, pure awareness, without stain.

17. 2.17

    बोधमात्रोऽहमज्ञानाद् उपाधिः कल्पितो मया ।एवं विमृशतो नित्यं निर्विकल्पे स्थितिर्मम ॥

    bodhamātro'hamajñānād upādhiḥ kalpito mayā |evaṃ vimṛśato nityaṃ nirvikalpe sthitirmama ||

    I am awareness alone. Through not knowing, I imagined limits on myself. Reflecting on this always, I rest in what has no divisions.

18. 2.18

    न मे बन्धोऽस्ति मोक्षो वा भ्रान्तिः शान्तो निराश्रया ।अहो मयि स्थितं विश्वं वस्तुतो न मयि स्थितम् ॥

    na me bandho'sti mokṣo vā bhrāntiḥ śānto nirāśrayā |aho mayi sthitaṃ viśvaṃ vastuto na mayi sthitam ||

    I have no bondage and no freedom. The error has ended, with nothing left to stand on. How strange: the world rests in me, and in truth it does not rest in me.

19. 2.19

    सशरीरमिदं विश्वं न किञ्चिदिति निश्चितम् ।शुद्धचिन्मात्र आत्मा च तत्कस्मिन् कल्पनाधुना ॥

    saśarīramidaṃ viśvaṃ na kiñciditi niścitam |śuddhacinmātra ātmā ca tatkasmin kalpanādhunā ||

    This world, body and all, is nothing: that is settled. The Self is pure awareness alone. So where could imagining take hold now?

20. 2.20

    शरीरं स्वर्गनरकौ बन्धमोक्षौ भयं तथा ।कल्पनामात्रमेवैतत् किं मे कार्यं चिदात्मनः ॥

    śarīraṃ svarganarakau bandhamokṣau bhayaṃ tathā |kalpanāmātramevaitat kiṃ me kāryaṃ cidātmanaḥ ||

    Body, heaven and hell, bondage and freedom, and fear as well: all this is only imagining. What have I, who am awareness, to do with any of it?

21. 2.21

    अहो जनसमूहेऽपि न द्वैतं पश्यतो मम ।अरण्यमिव संवृत्तं क्व रतिं करवाण्यहम् ॥

    aho janasamūhe'pi na dvaitaṃ paśyato mama |araṇyamiva saṃvṛttaṃ kva ratiṃ karavāṇyaham ||

    How strange. Even in a crowd I see no second. It has become like a forest to me. What is there to cling to?

22. 2.22

    नाहं देहो न मे देहो जीवो नाहमहं हि चित् ।अयमेव हि मे बन्ध आसीद्या जीविते स्पृहा ॥

    nāhaṃ deho na me deho jīvo nāhamahaṃ hi cit |ayameva hi me bandha āsīdyā jīvite spṛhā ||

    I am not the body, and the body is not mine. I am not the separate self. I am awareness. My bondage was this: the craving to keep living.

23. 2.23

    अहो भुवनकल्लोलैर्विचित्रैर्द्राक् समुत्थितम् ।मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ चित्तवाते समुद्यते ॥

    aho bhuvanakallolairvicitrairdrāk samutthitam |mayyanantamahāmbhodhau cittavāte samudyate ||

    How strange. In me, the endless ocean, the many waves of the worlds rise at once when the wind of the mind blows.

24. 2.24

    मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ चित्तवाते प्रशाम्यति ।अभाग्याज्जीववणिजो जगत्पोतो विनश्वरः ॥

    mayyanantamahāmbhodhau cittavāte praśāmyati |abhāgyājjīvavaṇijo jagatpoto vinaśvaraḥ ||

    In me, the endless ocean, when the wind of the mind falls still, the ship of the world sinks, by the bad luck of the trader on board, the separate self.

25. 2.25Word meanings and notes

    मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधावाश्चर्यं जीववीचयः ।उद्यन्ति घ्नन्ति खेलन्ति प्रविशन्ति स्वभावतः ॥

    mayyanantamahāmbhodhāvāścaryaṃ jīvavīcayaḥ |udyanti ghnanti khelanti praviśanti svabhāvataḥ ||

    How wonderful. In me, the endless ocean, the waves of living beings rise, strike each other, play and sink back, by their own nature.