Ashtavakra Gita 2.16Chapter 2, Verse 16
Ashtavakra Gita 2.16 is a verse from chapter 2 (Janaka's wonder). King Janaka speaks it to his teacher, the sage Ashtavakra. In plain English it says: "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."
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.
King Janaka, to Ashtavakra
Word meanings and a note for this verse are still being written. Read it in context on the chapter 2 page, or start with the verses in where to begin.
Chapter 2, Janaka's wonder: Janaka finds himself as awareness and bows to it in astonishment, testing the new view against the world, the body and the crowd.
Read all 25 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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