Seven mornings with the Ashtavakra Gita

Seven mornings with the Ashtavakra Gita: one verse a day, read aloud in Sanskrit and in plain English, with one small thing to try. It starts with 1.3, you are the witness, and ends with 18.59, at ease in ordinary life. Each morning takes about three minutes.

Read the Sanskrit aloud once, even slowly, even badly. Read the English. Try the one thing. That is the whole morning. Open a day to begin.

1. 1Notice the one who noticesAshtavakra Gita 1.3

   न पृथ्वी न जलं नाग्निर्न वायुर्द्यौर्न वा भवान् ।एषां साक्षिणमात्मानं चिद्रूपं विद्धि मुक्तये ॥

   na pṛthvī na jalaṃ nāgnirna vāyurdyaurna vā bhavān |eṣāṃ sākṣiṇamātmānaṃ cidrūpaṃ viddhi muktaye ||

   You are not earth, water, fire, air or space. To be free, know yourself as the witness of all these, made of awareness.

   This morning

   Before you get up, notice five things: the sheet, the air, a sound, your breath, a thought. Then notice what is aware of all five.

   Word meanings and notes for 1.3

2. 2Rest for three breathsAshtavakra Gita 1.4

   यदि देहं पृथक् कृत्य चिति विश्राम्य तिष्ठसि ।अधुनैव सुखी शान्तो बन्धमुक्तो भविष्यसि ॥

   yadi dehaṃ pṛthak kṛtya citi viśrāmya tiṣṭhasi |adhunaiva sukhī śānto bandhamukto bhaviṣyasi ||

   If you set the body apart and rest in awareness, you will be happy, at peace and free of bondage this very moment.

   This morning

   Sit for three breaths before you reach for anything. Let attention rest on the plain fact of being aware.

   Word meanings and notes for 1.4

3. 3Put down the weight of doingAshtavakra Gita 1.8

   अहं कर्तेत्यहंमानमहाकृष्णाहिदंशितः ।नाहं कर्तेति विश्वासामृतं पीत्वा सुखी भव ॥

   ahaṃ kartetyahaṃmānamahākṛṣṇāhidaṃśitaḥ |nāhaṃ karteti viśvāsāmṛtaṃ pītvā sukhī bhava ||

   You have been bitten by the great black snake of the thought 'I am the doer'. Drink the nectar of trust in 'I am not the doer', and be happy.

   This morning

   Before your first task, say once: I will do my part. Then do it, and leave the result where it belongs.

   Word meanings and notes for 1.8

4. 4Hear what you call yourselfAshtavakra Gita 1.11

   मुक्ताभिमानी मुक्तो हि बद्धो बद्धाभिमान्यपि ।किंवदन्तीह सत्येयं या मतिः सा गतिर्भवेत् ॥

   muktābhimānī mukto hi baddho baddhābhimānyapi |kiṃvadantīha satyeyaṃ yā matiḥ sā gatirbhavet ||

   One who thinks 'I am free' is free. One who thinks 'I am bound' stays bound. The old saying is true: as you hold yourself, so you become.

   This morning

   Catch one sentence today that starts 'I am the kind of person who'. Ask whether it is true, or only repeated.

   Word meanings and notes for 1.11

5. 5Hold it lightlyAshtavakra Gita 8.4

   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.

   This morning

   Pick one thing you are gripping today, a plan or a grievance, and hold it the way you would hold a small bird.

   Word meanings and notes for 8.4

6. 6Let the wave be a waveAshtavakra Gita 15.11

   त्वय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ विश्ववीचिः स्वभावतः ।उदेतु वास्तमायातु न ते वृद्धिर्न वा क्षतिः ॥

   tvayyanantamahāmbhodhau viśvavīciḥ svabhāvataḥ |udetu vāstamāyātu na te vṛddhirna vā kṣatiḥ ||

   In you, the endless ocean, the wave of the world rises or sinks by its own nature. You neither grow nor shrink.

   This morning

   When the day brings a high or a low, say the last words of the verse to yourself: no growth, no loss.

   Word meanings and notes for 15.11

7. 7At ease in ordinary thingsAshtavakra Gita 18.59

   सुखमास्ते सुखं शेते सुखमायाति याति च ।सुखं वक्ति सुखं भुङ्क्ते व्यवहारेऽपि शान्तधीः ॥

   sukhamāste sukhaṃ śete sukhamāyāti yāti ca |sukhaṃ vakti sukhaṃ bhuṅkte vyavahāre'pi śāntadhīḥ ||

   At ease he sits, at ease he sleeps, at ease he comes and goes, at ease he speaks, at ease he eats. Calm-minded, he is at ease even in daily dealings.

   This morning

   Eat one meal today with nothing else going on, and see whether the ease the verse describes is already there.

   Word meanings and notes for 18.59

After the seventh morning

If one of these verses stayed with you, read its chapter from the start. Chapter 1 is twenty verses and holds the whole teaching. If you would rather keep a line each morning, the Bhagavad Gita is the place most people go next, and you can have a week of it chosen for what you are going through.

On a computer? Get a week of Gita readings by email.