The Ashtavakra Gita

The forty-one verses, by station

The text refuses a graded path, so the verses are grouped by the station of the circuit each one speaks from, not by chapter. Each number on the dial is how many verses speak from that station; click one to go there. Sanskrit, a reading in English letters, and English for each.

The Root

A finite mind, marked by distinction, turns and asks. Janaka’s three questions are the site’s root question in royal dress: how knowledge, how freedom, how dispassion.

1.1 · Sakshi

कथं ज्ञानमवाप्नोति कथं मुक्तिर्भविष्यति । वैराग्यं च कथं प्राप्तमेतद् ब्रूहि मम प्रभो

katham jnanamavapnoti katham muktirbhavishyati | vairagyam cha katham praptametad bruhi mama prabho

How is knowledge gained? How does liberation come? How is dispassion reached? Tell me this, my lord.

The site’s root question in royal dress — three doors named in one breath. Everything after is the answer dismantling the asker’s ground.

The Doors

What the path asks before the path disappears. One ethical verse stands at the gate; one verse turns the reader from desire. That is the entire prerequisite — and it is not optional.

1.2 · Sakshi

मुक्तिमिच्छसि चेत्तात विषयान् विषवत्त्यज । क्षमार्जवदयातोषसत्यं पीयूषवद् भज

muktimichhasi chettata vishayan vishavattyaja | kshamarjavadayatoshasatyam piyushavad bhaja

If it is freedom you want, my son, spit out the objects of sense like poison — and take up forgiveness, sincerity, kindness, contentment and truth, like nectar.

The one ethical verse, standing at the gate. The text is not ethics-free; it puts the whole of ethics into a single line, and then walks past it.

10.1 · Vairagya

विहाय वैरिणं काममर्थं चानर्थसङ्कुलम् । धर्ममप्येतयोर्हेतुं सर्वत्रानादरं कुरु

vihaya vairinam kamamartham chanarthasankulam | dharmamapyetayorhetum sarvatranadaram kuru

Desire, the enemy — and gain, its twin — and the good works that feed them both: look on all of it with indifference.

The Threshold

The step from contents to the witness of contents. The five elements refused, the mirror named, the seer mistaken for someone else — and corrected.

1.3 · Sakshi

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

na prithvi na jalam nagnirna vayurdyaurna va bhavan | esham sakshinamatmanam chidrupam viddhi muktaye

You are not earth, not water, not fire, not air — not even space. To be free, know yourself as the witness of all these: awareness itself.

The five-element ladder — the whole Tattva page — refused in one verse. Not denied: witnessed.

1.7 · Sakshi

एको द्रष्टासि सर्वस्य मुक्तप्रायोऽसि सर्वदा । अयमेव हि ते बन्धो द्रष्टारं पश्यसीतरम्

eko drashtasi sarvasya muktaprayo’si sarvada | ayameva hi te bandho drashtaram pashyasitaram

You are the one witness of all that appears, and in truth always free. Your only bondage: you take the witness to be someone else.

The whole diagnosis in two lines — a case of mistaken identity, not a condition.

1.19 · Sakshi

यथैवादर्शमध्यस्थे रूपेऽन्तः परितस्तु सः । तथैवाऽस्मिन् शरीरेऽन्तः परितः परमेश्वरः

yathaivadarshamadhyasthe rupe’ntah paritastu sah | tathaiva’smin sharire’ntah paritah parameshvarah

As a mirror is within and without the image it holds, the supreme self is within and without this body.

The mirror figure: the body appears in you; you do not appear in it.

The Summit

Recognition, not attainment. Rest as awareness and the grammar of pursuit goes quiet — adhunaiva, even now. Nine sentences hold the peak open.

1.4 · Sakshi

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

yadi deham prithak kritya chiti vishramya tishthasi | adhunaiva sukhi shanto bandhamukto bhavishyasi

Set the body apart, rest in awareness — and this very moment you are happy, at peace, unbound.

Adhunaiva — “even now.” Liberation with no schedule attached.

1.12 · Sakshi

आत्मा साक्षी विभुः पूर्ण एको मुक्तश्चिदक्रियः । असङ्गो निःस्पृहः शान्तो भ्रमात्संसारवानिव

atma sakshi vibhuh purna eko muktashchidakriyah | asango nihsprihah shanto bhramatsamsaravaniva

The self: witness, all-pervading, complete, one, free, aware, actionless, alone, desireless, still. Through confusion it seems tangled in a world.

Ten adjectives, one subject — the summit stated as plain inventory.

8.2 · Moksha

तदा मुक्तिर्यदा चित्तं न वाञ्छति न शोचति । न मुञ्चति न गृह्णाति न हृष्यति न कुप्यति

tada muktiryada chittam na vanchhati na shochati | na munchati na grihnati na hrishyati na kupyati

Freedom is the mind not wanting, not grieving, not grasping, not rejecting — pleased by nothing, displeased by nothing.

Chapter 8 is four verses long: the shortest complete definition of the whole matter in the literature.

11.1 · Chidrupa

भावाभावविकारश्च स्वभावादिति निश्चयी । निर्विकारो गतक्लेशः सुखेनैवोपशाम्यति

bhavabhavavikarashcha svabhavaditi nishchayi | nirvikaro gatakleshah sukhenaivopashamyati

Being, becoming, change — this is the nature of things. Knowing it, undisturbed and painless, one rests easily.

12.1 · Svabhava

कायकृत्यासहः पूर्वं ततो वाग्विस्तरासहः । अथ चिन्तासहस्तस्माद् एवमेवाहमास्थितः

kayakrityasahah purvam tato vagvistarasahah | atha chintasahastasmad evamevahamasthitah

First intolerant of action, then of speech, then of thought itself — so, verily, I remain.

Janaka reporting the dissolution in real time: three subtractions, one remainder.

13.7 · Yathasukham

सुखादिरूपा नियमं भावेष्वालोक्य भूरिशः । शुभाशुभे विहायास्मादहमासे यथासुखम्

sukhadirupa niyamam bhaveshvalokya bhurishah | shubhashubhe vihayasmadahamase yathasukham

What comes, let it come; what goes, let it go. Happiness that leans on neither.

18.13 · Jivanmukti

कृत्यं किमपि नैवास्ति न कापि हृदि रञ्जना । यथा जीवनमेवेह जीवन्मुक्तस्य योगिनः

krityam kimapi naivasti na kapi hridi ranjana | yatha jivanameveha jivanmuktasya yoginah

For the free one there is no duty left and no desire left — nothing, anywhere, taken to heart.

18.68 · Jivanmukti

बहुनात्र किमुक्तेन ज्ञाततत्त्वो महाशयः । भोगमोक्षनिराकाङ्क्षी सदा सर्वत्र नीरसः

bahunatra kimuktena jnatatattvo mahashayah | bhogamokshanirakankshi sada sarvatra nirasah

Great-souled: wanting neither pleasure nor liberation itself; through all times, in every place, free of clinging.

18.72 · Jivanmukti

स्फुरतोऽनन्तरूपेण प्रकृतिं च न पश्यतः । क्व बन्धः क्व च वा मोक्षः क्व हर्षः क्व विषादिता

sphurato’nantarupena prakritim cha na pashyatah | kva bandhah kva cha va mokshah kva harshah kva vishadita

Lit with the radiance of the infinite: for him no bondage, no liberation, no pleasure, no pain.

The Cycle

The world comes back — as waves on the one water. Manifestation is not denied from the summit; it is placed. Hiranyagarbha, first person.

2.4 · Ashcharyam

यथा न तोयतो भिन्नास्तरङ्गाः फेनबुद्।ह्बुदाः । आत्मनो न तथा भिन्नं विश्वमात्मविनिर्गतम्

yatha na toyato bhinnastarangah phenabud|hbudah | atmano na tatha bhinnam vishvamatmavinirgatam

Waves, foam and bubbles are nothing but water. So this universe, streaming out of the self, is nothing but the self.

2.6 · Ashcharyam

यथैवेक्षुरसे क्लृप्ता तेन व्याप्तैव शर्करा । तथा विश्वं मयि क्लृप्तं मया व्याप्तं निरन्तरम्

yathaivekshurase klripta tena vyaptaiva sharkara | tatha vishvam mayi klriptam maya vyaptam nirantaram

Examine cloth and you find thread; examine the world and you find the self.

Janaka’s own images, minted in the first hour of seeing.

2.23 · Ashcharyam

अहो भुवनकल्लोलैर्विचित्रैर्द्राक् समुत्थितम् । मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ चित्तवाते समुद्यते

aho bhuvanakallolairvichitrairdrak samutthitam | mayyanantamahambhodhau chittavate samudyate

In me, the shoreless ocean, the wind of the mind rises — and a thousand worlds ripple into being.

Hiranyagarbha in the first person. The egg page, spoken from inside.

2.25 · Ashcharyam

मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधावाश्चर्यं जीववीचयः । उद्यन्ति घ्नन्ति खेलन्ति प्रविशन्ति स्वभावतः

mayyanantamahambhodhavashcharyam jivavichayah | udyanti ghnanti khelanti pravishanti svabhavatah

In me, the shoreless ocean, the waves of beings rise, strike one another, play, and subside. What a wonder.

10.6 · Vairagya

राज्यं सुताः कलत्राणि शरीराणि सुखानि च । संसक्तस्यापि नष्टानि तव जन्मनि जन्मनि

rajyam sutah kalatrani sharirani sukhani cha | samsaktasyapi nashtani tava janmani janmani

Kingdoms, sons, wives, bodies, pleasures — lost, life after life, though you clung to them.

15.7 · Tattvam

विश्वं स्फुरति यत्रेदं तरङ्गा इव सागरे । तत्त्वमेव न सन्देहश्चिन्मूर्ते विज्वरो भव

vishvam sphurati yatredam taranga iva sagare | tattvameva na sandehashchinmurte vijvaro bhava

You are the awareness in which worlds rise like waves at sea. You are that. Be free of the fever.

The Exit-Trap

The last bond is the wish to be free. The text catches its own reader here, by name, more than once — pride in liberation is listed with the other possessions.

1.11 · Sakshi

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

muktabhimani mukto hi baddho baddhabhimanyapi | kimvadantiha satyeyam ya matih sa gatirbhavet

Held free, one is free; held bound, bound. As one thinks, so one becomes — the old saying is true here.

Bondage as belief. The trap and the door are the same thought, differently held.

1.15 · Sakshi

निःसङ्गो निष्क्रियोऽसि त्वं स्वप्रकाशो निरञ्जनः । अयमेव हि ते बन्धः समाधिमनुतिष्ठसि

nihsango nishkriyo’si tvam svaprakasho niranjanah | ayameva hi te bandhah samadhimanutishthasi

You are unbound, actionless, self-luminous, already spotless. That you still practise stilling yourself — this is your bondage.

The counter-verse to every method, this site’s Yoga page included. Practice belongs to the one who still believes the practicer.

5.1 · Laya

न ते सङ्गोऽस्ति केनापि किं शुद्धस्त्यक्तुमिच्छसि । सङ्घातविलयं कुर्वन्नेवमेव लयं व्रज

na te sango’sti kenapi kim shuddhastyaktumichhasi | sanghatavilayam kurvannevameva layam vraja

You touch nothing; you are pure. What is there for you to renounce? Let the whole complex go — and dissolve into your rest.

Even renunciation is caught renouncing.

8.1 · Moksha

तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं किञ्चिद् वाञ्छति शोचति । किञ्चिन् मुञ्चति गृह्णाति किञ्चिद्धृष्यति कुप्यति

tada bandho yada chittam kinchid vanchhati shochati | kinchin munchati grihnati kinchiddhrishyati kupyati

Bondage is the mind wanting, grieving, grasping, rejecting — pleased at this, displeased at that.

10.4 · Vairagya

तृष्णामात्रात्मको बन्धस्तन्नाशो मोक्ष उच्यते । भवासंसक्तिमात्रेण प्राप्तितुष्टिर्मुहुर्मुहुः

trishnamatratmako bandhastannasho moksha uchyate | bhavasamsaktimatrena praptitushtirmuhurmuhuh

Bondage is nothing but desire; its ending is called liberation. Only non-clinging reaches the unending joy.

The exit-trap named without decoration: not desire for things — desire itself, liberation included.

16.2 · Svasthya

भोगं कर्म समाधिं वा कुरु विज्ञ तथापि ते । चित्तं निरस्तसर्वाशमत्यर्थं रोचयिष्यति

bhogam karma samadhim va kuru vijna tathapi te | chittam nirastasarvashamatyartham rochayishyati

Enjoy, work, meditate — still the mind will long for what is beyond every object, where all wanting ends.

16.10 · Svasthya

यस्याभिमानो मोक्षेऽपि देहेऽपि ममता तथा । न च ज्ञानी न वा योगी केवलं दुःखभागसौ

yasyabhimano mokshe’pi dehe’pi mamata tatha | na cha jnani na va yogi kevalam duhkhabhagasau

One proud even of liberation, proud of his own body, counting them “mine” — he is no knower, no yogi. He only suffers.

The guardrail verse. Enlightenment claimed as a possession is listed with the other possessions.

18.16 · Jivanmukti

येन दृष्टं परं ब्रह्म सोऽहं ब्रह्मेति चिन्तयेत् । किं चिन्तयति निश्चिन्तो द्वितीयं यो न पश्यति

yena drishtam param brahma so’ham brahmeti chintayet | kim chintayati nishchinto dvitiyam yo na pashyati

Seeing there is only one, without a second — on whom should he meditate?

The Third Stance

No seeker, no door. Not renunciation, not pursuit. Eleven sentences ask kva — “where is…?” — until teacher, student, scripture and goal have all been asked away. The king keeps ruling; no one rules.

1.6 · Sakshi

धर्माधर्मौ सुखं दुःखं मानसानि न ते विभो । न कर्तासि न भोक्तासि मुक्त एवासि सर्वदा

dharmadharmau sukham duhkham manasani na te vibho | na kartasi na bhoktasi mukta evasi sarvada

Right and wrong, pleasure and pain belong to the mind — not to you. You are not the doer, not the reaper. You have always been free.

Doer and reaper resign together. What remains of a chart, a duty, a debt, when their owner was never appointed?

4.4 · Sarvamatma

आत्मैवेदं जगत्सर्वं ज्ञातं येन महात्मना । यदृच्छया वर्तमानं तं निषेद्धुं क्षमेत कः

atmaivedam jagatsarvam jnatam yena mahatmana | yadrichhaya vartamanam tam nisheddhum kshameta kah

He who has known this whole world as himself — who could stop him from living just as it comes?

Engaged non-dualism in one line. The king who says it keeps the kingdom.

8.4 · Moksha

यदा नाहं तदा मोक्षो यदाहं बन्धनं तदा । मत्वेति हेलया किञ्चिन्मा गृहाण विमुञ्च मा

yada naham tada moksho yadaham bandhanam tada | matveti helaya kinchinma grihana vimuncha ma

Where there is “me”, bondage. Where “me” is not, freedom. Knowing this, take nothing, refuse nothing.

9.1 · Nirveda

कृताकृते च द्वन्द्वानि कदा शान्तानि कस्य वा । एवं ज्ञात्वेह निर्वेदाद् भव त्यागपरोऽव्रती

kritakrite cha dvandvani kada shantani kasya va | evam jnatveha nirvedad bhava tyagaparo’vrati

Done and undone — for whom do these pairs cease, and when? Watching this, be given wholly, through dispassion, to letting go.

16.11 · Svasthya

हरो यद्युपदेष्टा ते हरिः कमलजोऽपि वा । तथापि न तव स्वाथ्यं सर्वविस्मरणादृते

haro yadyupadeshta te harih kamalajo’pi va | tathapi na tava svathyam sarvavismaranadrite

Though Shiva himself should teach you — until it is all forgotten, there is no standing within.

18.66 · Jivanmukti

क्व संसारः क्व चाभासः क्व साध्यं क्व च साधनम् । आकाशस्येव धीरस्य निर्विकल्पस्य सर्वदा

kva samsarah kva chabhasah kva sadhyam kva cha sadhanam | akashasyeva dhirasya nirvikalpasya sarvada

No world for him, no “I”, no goal, no way toward a goal — and he lacks nothing.

18.80 · Jivanmukti

न स्वर्गो नैव नरको जीवन्मुक्तिर्न चैव हि । बहुनात्र किमुक्तेन योगदृष्ट्या न किञ्चन

na svargo naiva narako jivanmuktirna chaiva hi | bahunatra kimuktena yogadrishtya na kinchana

For him no heaven, no hell, not even freedom-in-life. In the seer’s seeing, nothing at all remains.

18.96 · Jivanmukti

न सुखी न च वा दुःखी न विरक्तो न सङ्गवान् । न मुमुक्षुर्न वा मुक्ता न किञ्चिन्न च किञ्चन

na sukhi na cha va duhkhi na virakto na sangavan | na mumukshurna va mukta na kinchinna cha kinchana

Not happy, not unhappy; not detached, not attached; not liberated, not seeking it. Neither something nor nothing.

20.6 · Akinchanabhava

क्व लोकं क्व मुमुक्षुर्वा क्व योगी ज्ञानवान् क्व वा । क्व बद्धः क्व च वा मुक्तः स्वस्वरूपेऽहमद्वये

kva lokam kva mumukshurva kva yogi jnanavan kva va | kva baddhah kva cha va muktah svasvarupe’hamadvaye

Where is a world, where a seeker of freedom? Where a contemplative, where a knower? Where anyone bound, where anyone free? — I am one, without stain.

The station this site calls “no seeker, no door”, in the text’s own grammar: kva — “where is…?” — asked until nothing answers.

20.12 · Akinchanabhava

क्व प्रवृत्तिर्निर्वृत्तिर्वा क्व मुक्तिः क्व च बन्धनम् । कूटस्थनिर्विभागस्य स्वस्थस्य मम सर्वदा

kva pravrittirnirvrittirva kva muktih kva cha bandhanam | kutasthanirvibhagasya svasthasya mama sarvada

Where is action or inaction, where liberation, where bondage — for me, standing single, forever?

20.13 · Akinchanabhava

क्वोपदेशः क्व वा शास्त्रं क्व शिष्यः क्व च वा गुरुः । क्व चास्ति पुरुषार्थो वा निरुपाधेः शिवस्य मे

kvopadeshah kva va shastram kva shishyah kva cha va guruh | kva chasti purushartho va nirupadheh shivasya me

Where is instruction, where scripture? Where a student, where a teacher? Where any goal of life — for me, stainless, at rest?

The text dissolves its own genre: the dialogue erases teacher, student, and itself.

The Silence

The last verse spends its last words saying why there are no more words. Where the Nasadiya’s question survives the summit, here the asker does not.

20.14 · Akinchanabhava

क्व चास्ति क्व च वा नास्ति क्वास्ति चैकं क्व च द्वयम् । बहुनात्र किमुक्तेन किञ्चिन्नोत्तिष्ठते मम

kva chasti kva cha va nasti kvasti chaikam kva cha dvayam | bahunatra kimuktena kinchinnottishthate mama

Being? Non-being? One? Two? What more is there to say — nothing at all arises out of me. I am.

The last verse spends its last words on why there are no more words. Compare the Nasadiya’s yadi va na veda: there the question survives the summit; here the asker does not.