Ashtavakra Gita Part 2

Joy of Self Realization

Janaka said:
I am now spotless and at peace-- Awareness beyond Consciousness.All this time I have been
duped by illusion.By this light alone the body and the universe appear.I am Everything or
Nothing.
Seeing there is no universe or body, by grace the Self is revealed. As waves, foam and
bubbles are not different from water, so the universe emanating from Self is not different
from Self.
Look closely at cloth, you see only threads. Look closely at creation, you see only Self.
As sweetness pervades sugarcane juice, I am the essence of creation.
Not seeing Self, the world is materialized. Seeing Self, the world is vanished.
A rope is not a snake, but can appear to be.

I am not other than Light. The universe manifests at my glance. The mirage of universe
appears in me as silver appears in mother-of-pearl, as a snake appears in a rope, as water
appears on a desert horizon.
As a pot returns to clay, a wave to water, a bracelet to gold, so will the universe return
to Me.

I am wonderful indeed-- beyond adoration. I cannot decay nor ever die, though God and all
the universe should perish to the last blade of grass.
I am wonderful indeed--beyond adoration. Even with a body I am One. I neither come nor go.
I am everywhere at once.
I am wonderful indeed--beyond adoration. I am astounded at my powers.The universe appears
within me but I do not touch it.
I am wonderful indeed-- beyond adoration. I am everything thought or spoken, and have
nothing.

In Reality, knowledge, the knower, and the knowable do not exist. I am the transparent Self
in which through ignorance they appear.
Looking at One and seeing many is the cause of all misery. The only cure is to realize what
is seen is not there.
I am One—aware, blissful, immaculate.

I am unbounded Awareness.Only in imagination do I have limits.Reflecting on this, I abide in
the Absolute.I am neither free nor bound. The illusion of such things has fallen into
disbelief.Though I contain creation, it has no substance.

Having seen for certain that this universe and body is without form or substance,I am revealed
as Awareness alone. Imagination has no place here.

The body exists only in imagination, as do heaven and hell, bondage, freedom, fear. Are these
my concern?

I, who am pure Awareness?
I see no differences or separation.Even the multitudes appear as a single formless desert.
To what should I cling?
I am not the body. I do not have a body. I am Awareness, not a person. My thirst for life
bound me to a seeming of life.

In the limitless ocean of Myself the winds of the mind roil the myriad waves of the world.
But when the wind subsides in the limitless ocean the ark of personhood is swallowed up,
along with the universe it carries.

And how wonderful it is!In the limitless ocean of Myself, waves of beings arise, collide,
play for a time,then disappear--as is their nature.

Ashtavakra Gita Part One

Janaka said:Master,how is Knowledge to be achieved,detachment acquired,liberation attained?


Ashtavakra said: To be free,shun the experiences of the senses like poison. Turn your attention to
                 forgiveness, sincerity, kindness, simplicity, truth.
                 You are not earth, water, fire or air. Nor are you empty space. Liberation is to
                 know yourself as Awareness alone—the Witness of these.
                 Abide in Awareness with no illusion of person.
                 You will be instantly free and at peace.
                 You have no caste or duties. You are invisible, unattached, formless.You are the
                 Witness of all things.Be happy.
                 Right and wrong, pleasure and pain,exist in mind only.They are not your concern.
                 You neither do nor enjoy.You are free.
                 You are the Solitary Witness of All That Is,forever free.Your only bondage is
                 not seeing This.
                 The thought: “I am the doer” is the bite of a poisonous snake.To know: “I do nothing”
                 is the wisdom of faith.Be happy.

                 A single understanding:“I am the One Awareness,”consumes all suffering in the fire of
                 an instant.Be happy.
                 You are unbounded Awareness— Bliss, Supreme Bliss--in which the universe appears
                 like the mirage of a snake in a rope.Be happy.
                 It is true what they say:“You are what you think.” If you think you are bound you
                 are bound.If you think you are free you are free.
                 You are Self—the Solitary Witness.You are perfect, all-pervading, One.
                 You are free, desireless, forever still.The universe is but a seeming in You.
                 Meditate on this: “I am Awareness alone--Unity itself.” Give up the idea that
                 you are a separate person,that there is within and without.
                 You have long been bound thinking:“I am a person.” Let the knowledge:
                 “I am Awareness alone" be the sword that frees you.
                 You are now and forever free, luminous, transparent, still.The practice of meditation
                 keeps one in bondage
                 You are pure Consciousness— the substance of the universe.
                 The universe exists within you.
                 Don’t be small-minded.

                 You are unconditioned, changeless, formless.You are solid, unfathomable, cool.
                 Desire nothing.You are Consciousness.
                 That which has form is not real. Only the formless is permanent. Once this is known,
                 you will not return to illusion.
                 Just as a mirror exists both within and without the image reflected,the Supreme Self exists
                 both within and without the body.
                 Just as the same space exists both within and without a jar, the timeless, all-pervasive One

                 exists as Totality.

Adi Shankaracharyya's Atma Shatakam

As the story goes on :-
A lonely boy of eight , wondering Himalayas in search of Guru.
The boy encountered a sage , who asked him "who are you?"
The boy gave his identity in six slokas , today known as Atma Shatakam or Nirvana Shatakam or the Song of the True Self.
The boy was Adi Shankara (eighth century ), the sage indeed was his Guru ,Swami Govindapada Acharyya and the song was summarized entity of Advaita Vedanta or non-dualistic philosophy.




mano buddhi ahankara chittani naaham
na cha shrotravjihve na cha ghraana netre
na cha vyoma bhumir na tejo na vaayuhu
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
(I am not the mind, the intellect, the ego or the memory,
I am not the ears, the skin, the nose or the eyes,
I am not space, not earth, not fire, water or wind,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…)


na cha prana sangyo na vai pancha vayuhu
na va sapta dhatur na va pancha koshah
na vak pani-padam na chopastha payu
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
(I am not the breath, nor the five elements,
I am not matter, nor the 5 sheaths of conciousness
Nor am I the speech, the hands, or the feet,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…)


na me dvesha ragau na me lobha mohau
na me vai mado naiva matsarya bhavaha
na dharmo na chartho na kamo na mokshaha
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
(There is no like or dislike in me, no greed or delusion,
I know not pride or jealousy,
I have no duty, no desire for wealth, lust or liberation,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…)


na punyam na papam na saukhyam na duhkham
na mantro na tirtham na veda na yajnah
aham bhojanam naiva bhojyam na bhokta
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
(No virtue or vice, no pleasure or pain,
I need no mantras, no pilgrimage, no scriptures or rituals,
I am not the experienced, nor the experience itself,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…)


na punyam na papam na saukhyam na duhkham
na mantro na tirtham na veda na yajnah
aham bhojanam naiva bhojyam na bhokta
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
(No virtue or vice, no pleasure or pain,
I need no mantras, no pilgrimage, no scriptures or rituals,
I am not the experienced, nor the experience itself,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…)


aham nirvikalpo nirakara rupo
vibhut vatcha sarvatra sarvendriyanam
na cha sangatham naiva muktir na meyaha
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
(I am devoid of duality, my form is formlessness,
I exist everywhere, pervading all senses,
I am neither attached, neither free nor captive,
I am the form of conciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…)