Ashtavakra Gita chapter 8: Bondage and freedom
Chapter 8 of the Ashtavakra Gita, "Bondage and freedom", has 4 verses. Ashtavakra speaks. Four verses that define bondage as the mind wanting and grieving, and freedom as its rest. Every verse is below in Sanskrit and in Wisdom's plain English.
All 4 verses
- 8.1Word meanings and notes
तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं किञ्चिद् वाञ्छति शोचति ।किञ्चिन् मुञ्चति गृण्हाति किञ्चिद् दृष्यति कुप्यति ॥
tadā bandho yadā cittaṃ kiñcid vāñchati śocati |kiñcin muñcati gṛṇhāti kiñcid dṛṣyati kupyati ||
It is bondage when the mind wants something or grieves over something, lets go of something or grabs something, is pleased by something or angry at something.
तदा मुक्तिर्यदा चित्तं न वाञ्छति न शोचति ।न मुञ्चति न गृण्हाति न हृष्यति न कुप्यति ॥
tadā muktiryadā cittaṃ na vāñchati na śocati |na muñcati na gṛṇhāti na hṛṣyati na kupyati ||
It is freedom when the mind does not want and does not grieve, does not let go and does not grab, is not pleased and is not angry.
तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं सक्तं काश्वपि दृष्टिषु ।तदा मोक्षो यदा चित्तमसक्तं सर्वदृष्टिषु ॥
tadā bandho yadā cittaṃ saktaṃ kāśvapi dṛṣṭiṣu |tadā mokṣo yadā cittamasaktaṃ sarvadṛṣṭiṣu ||
It is bondage when the mind is attached to any one experience. It is freedom when the mind is attached to none.
- 8.4Word meanings and notes
यदा नाहं तदा मोक्षो यदाहं बन्धनं तदा ।मत्वेति हेलया किञ्चिन्मा गृहाण विमुञ्च मा ॥
yadā nāhaṃ tadā mokṣo yadāhaṃ bandhanaṃ tadā |matveti helayā kiñcinmā gṛhāṇa vimuñca mā ||
When there is no 'I', there is freedom. When there is 'I', there is bondage. Knowing this, lightly, take nothing and drop nothing.
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.