Ashtavakra Gita – Abridged
Ashta Musings
Formless and free,
Beyond the reach of the senses,
The witness of all things.
Be happy!
Right or wrong,
Joy and sorrow,
These are of the mind only.
They are not yours.
Be happy!
For you are joy, unbounded.
You are awareness itself.
The witness of all things,
Without action, clinging or desire.
Be happy!
For you are already free,
Without action or flaw,
Luminous and bright.
You are flowing in all things,
And all things are flowing in you.
Remember that a wave,
Seething and foaming,
Is only water.
I am pure awareness.
I live beyond all distinctions,
Indeed, I am neither bound nor free.
An end to illusion!
All is groundless for I am the infinite ocean.
The man who is wise
Knows himself in all things
And all things in himself.
But with clear and steady insight
He knows that whatever he sees
Is by its very nature, nothing.
The wise man knows the Self,
And also plays the game of life.
All things arise, suffer, change,
And then pass away.
The world with all its wonders
Is still nothing.
Doing, or not doing,
Both come from not knowing.
Thinking of what is beyond thinking
Is still thinking.
I accept nothing.
I reject nothing.
I am happy.
Knowing I do nothing,
I do whatever comes my way,
And I am happy.
I have forsaken good and bad.
What do I care for money
Or for friends or knowledge or holy books?
Liberation or Bondage,
What are they to me?
What do I care for freedom?
I am the endless sea
In whom all the worlds like waves
Naturally rise and fall.
I have nothing to win,
Nothing to lose.
For the world is nothing.
It is only an idea.
Nothing more!
When this is known,
All illusions vanish.
The veil falls,
And you see clearly.
Finding freedom in this life,
The master takes nothing to heart,
Neither duty nor desire.
The master is undistracted.
He has nothing to fulfill.
And so there is nothing to accomplish?
The master is like a child.
He does freely whatever comes his way,
Good or bad.
He acts like an ordinary man.
He has nothing to do
But to live out his life.
For when a man realizes
He is neither the doer nor the enjoyer,
The ripples of his mind are stilled.
Wealth or pleasure,
Duty or discrimination,
Duality or nonduality,
What are they to me?
What is yesterday,
Tomorrow, Or today?
What is space,
Or eternity?
I have no fear.
What is the Self,
Or the not-Self?
What is thinking,
Or not thinking?
What is good or evil?
Waking, Dreaming, Sleeping,
What are they to me?
Or even ecstasy?
What is far or near,
Outside or inside,
Gross or subtle?
Dissolving the mind,
Or the highest meditation,
The world and all its works,
Life or death,
What are they to me?
For I have no fear.
So, I do as I please,
And only those like me
Understand my ways.
