मुक्ताभिमानी मुक्तो हि बद्धो बद्धाभिमान्यपि ।किंवदन्तीह सत्येयं या मतिः सा गतिर्भवेत् ॥
Think yourself free and you are free, bound and you are bound. As you hold yourself, so you become.
Ashtavakra Gita quotes
The line people quote most often from the Ashtavakra Gita is 1.11: as you hold yourself, so you become. Below are twenty of its best-known verses, each with the Sanskrit, Wisdom's own plain English and a link to the full verse with word meanings and commentary.
न पृथ्वी न जलं नाग्निर्न वायुर्द्यौर्न वा भवान् ।एषां साक्षिणमात्मानं चिद्रूपं विद्धि मुक्तये ॥
You are not earth, water, fire, air or space. Know yourself as the witness of these, made of awareness.
यदि देहं पृथक् कृत्य चिति विश्राम्य तिष्ठसि ।अधुनैव सुखी शान्तो बन्धमुक्तो भविष्यसि ॥
Set the body apart and rest in awareness, and you are happy, at peace and free right now.
अहं कर्तेत्यहंमानमहाकृष्णाहिदंशितः ।नाहं कर्तेति विश्वासामृतं पीत्वा सुखी भव ॥
Bitten by the snake 'I am the doer', drink the nectar 'I am not the doer', and be happy.
न त्वं देहो न ते देहो भोक्ता कर्ता न वा भवान् ।चिद्रूपोऽसि सदा साक्षी निरपेक्षः सुखं चर ॥
You are not the body, not the doer. You are awareness, always the witness. Move about at ease.
यदा नाहं तदा मोक्षो यदाहं बन्धनं तदा ।मत्वेति हेलया किञ्चिन्मा गृहाण विमुञ्च मा ॥
When there is no 'I', there is freedom. When there is 'I', there is bondage. Take nothing, drop nothing, lightly.
धर्माधर्मौ सुखं दुःखं मानसानि न ते विभो ।न कर्तासि न भोक्तासि मुक्त एवासि सर्वदा ॥
You are not the doer and not the one who enjoys. You are free, always.
देहाभिमानपाशेन चिरं बद्धोऽसि पुत्रक ।बोधोऽहं ज्ञानखड्गेन तन्निकृत्य सुखी भव ॥
Cut the old rope of 'I am the body' with the sword of 'I am awareness', and be happy.
त्वया व्याप्तमिदं विश्वं त्वयि प्रोतं यथार्थतः ।शुद्धबुद्धस्वरूपस्त्वं मा गमः क्षुद्रचित्तताम् ॥
This whole world is strung on you. You are pure awareness. Do not fall into smallness of mind.
साकारमनृतं विद्धि निराकारं तु निश्चलम् ।एतत्तत्त्वोपदेशेन न पुनर्भवसम्भवः ॥
What has form passes. What is formless does not move. Know this, and you are not born again.
अहो निरञ्जनः शान्तो बोधोऽहं प्रकृतेः परः ।एतावन्तमहं कालं मोहेनैव विडम्बितः ॥
I am spotless, at peace, awareness itself. All this time I was fooled by delusion.
मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधावाश्चर्यं जीववीचयः ।उद्यन्ति घ्नन्ति खेलन्ति प्रविशन्ति स्वभावतः ॥
In me, the endless ocean, living beings rise like waves, collide, play and sink back by their own nature.
तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं किञ्चिद् वाञ्छति शोचति ।किञ्चिन् मुञ्चति गृण्हाति किञ्चिद् दृष्यति कुप्यति ॥
It is bondage when the mind wants or grieves, grabs or lets go, is pleased or angry.
चिन्तया जायते दुःखं नान्यथेहेति निश्चयी ।तया हीनः सुखी शान्तः सर्वत्र गलितस्पृहः ॥
Sorrow is born of worry and of nothing else. Know this, and be happy, at peace, free of wanting.
श्रद्धस्व तात श्रद्धस्व नात्र मोऽहं कुरुष्व भोः ।ज्ञानस्वरूपो भगवानात्मा त्वं प्रकृतेः परः ॥
Trust, my child, trust. You are the Self, made of knowledge, beyond nature.
त्वय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ विश्ववीचिः स्वभावतः ।उदेतु वास्तमायातु न ते वृद्धिर्न वा क्षतिः ॥
Let the wave of the world rise or fall in you, the endless ocean. You neither grow nor shrink.
न जातु विषयाः केऽपि स्वारामं हर्षयन्त्यमी ।सल्लकीपल्लवप्रीतमिवेभं निम्बपल्लवाः ॥
Sense objects do not please one who delights in the Self, as neem leaves do not please an elephant.
सुखमास्ते सुखं शेते सुखमायाति याति च ।सुखं वक्ति सुखं भुङ्क्ते व्यवहारेऽपि शान्तधीः ॥
At ease he sits, sleeps, comes and goes, speaks and eats. A calm mind is at ease in daily life.
न धावति जनाकीर्णं नारण्यमुपशान्तधीः ।यथातथा यत्रतत्र सम एवावतिष्ठते ॥
A mind at peace runs neither to the crowd nor to the forest. Wherever it is, it stays the same.
मुक्तिमिच्छसि चेत्तात विषयान् विषवत्त्यज ।क्षमार्जवदयातोषसत्यं पीयूषवद् भज ॥
If you want freedom, leave sense objects like poison and take forgiveness, honesty, kindness, contentment and truth like nectar.
Each card links to its verse, with word meanings and a short commentary. If you are new to the text, start with the Ashtavakra Gita guide or read it beside the Bhagavad Gita.
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. The card meanings are short versions of our verse translations.
Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, human review pending.