Ashtavakra Gita 2.22Chapter 2, Verse 22
Ashtavakra Gita 2.22 is a verse from chapter 2 (Janaka's wonder). King Janaka speaks it to his teacher, the sage Ashtavakra. In plain English it says: "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."
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.
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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