CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
अष्टावक्र उवाच
Ashtaavakra spoke
{THE STATE OF A MUKTA}
तेन ज्ञ्नानफलं प्राप्तं योगाभ्यासफलं
तथा ।
तृप्तः स्वच्छेन्द्रियो नित्यं एकाकी
रमते तु यः ॥१७-१॥
He alone has attained the fruit of
Knowledge,
and also the fruit of practicing the
knowledge path,
when he is seen as content (has no
wants);
when his senses remain clean always (not
running after inert objects);
and he enjoys the lone-ness of the Self.
(always is in the awareness of his
existence)
न कदाचिज्जगत्यस्मिन् तत्त्वज्ञो हन्त
खिद्यति ।
यत एकेन तेनेदं पूर्णं ब्रह्माण्डमण्डलम्
॥१७-२॥
Ah! The Knowers of the truth never feel
sad anytime in this world;
because the entire sphere of Brahmaanda
is filled by that ‘One’ only.
न जातु विषयाः केऽपि स्वारामं हर्षयन्त्यमी
।
सल्लकीपल्लवप्रीतमिवेभं निंबपल्लवाः ॥१७-३॥
None of the sense pleasures give joy to
a person absorbed in the bliss of the Self,
like the elephant which relishes the
(delicious) leaves of the Sallaki creeper,
cannot relish the (bitter) lime leaves.
यस्तु भोगेषु भुक्तेषु न भवत्यधिवासिता
।
अभुक्तेषु निराकांक्षी तादृशो भवेद्दुर्लभः
॥१७-४॥
He who does not develop the lingering
taste from pleasures enjoyed,
and is not bothered about the pleasures
that are not enjoyed, is rare to find.
(Pleasures of the senses
acting like viral diseases cause these two side-effects in those who contact
them. If you enjoy any sense pleasure, the taste lingers; and you want the same
experience again, and again. This is known as Vaasanaa. If not enjoyed, you
spend your time thinking about them, get irritated and angry that you do not
have them; take to wicked paths to fulfil them; and are destroyed forever.
Actually, there is no
pleasure in any sense object; it is just that the mind believes idiotically
that it is feeling happy by the contact of the sense objects.
The silence it obtains by the
fulfilment of desire is defined as joy by the ignorant.
This joy is actually the
agitation-less state of the mind.
This you can get without the
contact of the sense objects also.
This the Jnaani knows very
well.
He has no Vaasanaas; no
desires. He is the happiest of all!
Such men of wisdom are very
rare in this world!)
बुभुक्षुरिह संसारे मुमुक्षुरपि दृश्यते
।
भोगमोक्षनिराकांक्षी विरलो हि महाशयः
॥१७-५॥
In this world, one can see a man hungry
for pleasures;
and a man after Moksha also.
A noble man, who is not interested in
both enjoyment and liberation,
is hard to find.
(For a man with the true
understanding of Reality, there is no enjoyment got by the contact of sense
objects; and no fulfilment that he has to reach as liberation also.)
धर्मार्थकाममोक्षेषु जीविते मरणे तथा
।
कस्याप्युदारचित्तस्य हेयोपादेयता न
हि ॥१७-६॥
For a man whose state is the expansive
state of Knowledge,
there is no feeling of acceptance and
rejection about the fourfold goal of life,
and also about life or death.
(A Knower does not belong to
any station of life; he has nothing to fulfill as his life-long goals. He has
nothing to renounce, nothing to accept.
He just attends to whatever
duty he finds himself in, and does that work to the best of his ability. He
will cry when necessary; laugh when needed; be angry also when he has to face
an evil; will love also when wanted.
Inside, he will be
unperturbed like an actor donning different costumes on a stage.
Even emotions become a tool
in the hands of a Yogi.
A realized person is not an
inert, no emotional, smile less person; nor is he an insane person laughing
like mad.
He is the best of the humans;
who has the highest Knowledge ever.
He alone knows who he is; and
is Brahman in person.)
वाञ्छा न विश्वविलये न द्वेषस्तस्य च
स्थितौ ।
यथा जीविकया तस्माद्धन्य आस्ते यथासुखम्
॥१७-७॥
He does not have the desire for the end
of the world;
he does not hate also its existence.
The blessed one just feels happy in
whatever state he is in.
(A Knower sees no world at
all; he sees only Knowledge shining as Knowledge.
The knowledge of the world
shines as its beginning and end also.
Why should he want it to
exist or not-exist, when the world is not there at all?
Whatever life-scene is there
in whatever form; he stays there happily, like living inside a dream-world; but
awake fully.)
कृतार्थोऽनेन ज्ञ्नानेनेत्येवं गलितधीः
कृती ।
पश्यन् शृण्वन् स्पृशन् जिघ्रन् अश्नन्नास्ते
यथासुखम् ॥१७-८॥
Having attained the best of fulfilments
through the realization of true knowledge,
with the mind in a dissolved condition,
the best of achievers stays blissful in
his own Self,
when seeing, hearing, touching,
smelling, and tasting.
(Does the Knower act with a
mind?
Mind gets the name Manas;
because it vibrates as agitations (Manana).
Thoughts are need not be in
language at all times.
Thoughts just represent the
restless state of the mind.
It is just the continuous
vibrating consciousness you have as the mind.
Mind is the capacity of
Chit-state to connect the sense perceptions and produce an idea of object with
some name attached to it.
Mind is the object-maker; it
is the world-maker.
It is a ghost that rises as
desires, wants, Vaasanaas, likes, dislike, attachment, hatred, ego etc. This
ghost is non-existent in a Knower.
So how does he see the world
without this agitation-state called the mind?
He just sees the world, like
one sees lions and tigers in the floating clouds; as not real.
His dead mind now exists like
a burnt snake; pure and powerless.
It brings in the
sense-information as usual; gives the story also; but waits for the Master to
take action. It has no say in anything. It has no work also as such.
It stays empty of all
quivering. It is without agitations of any sort.)
शून्या दृष्टिर्वृथा चेष्टा विकलानीन्द्रियाणि
च ।
न स्पृहा न विरक्तिर्वा क्षीणसंसारसागरे
॥१७-९॥
(For a Knower here on earth) all that is
seen is empty;
and all the actions of the restless
senses appear wasteful.
Thee is no desire; and no dispassion,
in this dried up ocean of worldly
existence.
(World for a Knower is a
canvas of emptiness filled with the paintings drawn by senses; not real at all!
And the colours? They are
supplied by the mind plentifully.
All the stories belong to the
mind-author only, the excellent liar!)
न जागर्ति न निद्राति नोन्मीलति न मीलति
।
अहो परदशा क्वापि वर्तते मुक्तचेतसः ॥१७-१०॥
He does not keep awake; does not sleep;
does not open or close the eyes.
Aha! Some unique state belongs to the
one who is free of the mind.
(He is not awake to the
reality of the perceived world, as seen by the ignorant.
He does not sleep; because he
never forgets himself, like the ignorant do while asleep.
He does no actions; not even
the closing or opening of the eyes.
He is a witness only!
He sees even when the eyes are
closed! He is wide awake.
He is asleep even when the
eyes are open! He is unaffected by the ‘perceived’.
How can his state get
explained in words?)
सर्वत्र दृश्यते स्वस्थः सर्वत्र विमलाशयः
।
समस्तवासनामुक्तो मुक्तः सर्वत्र राजते
॥१७-११॥
He always sees everything established in
his true essence.
He acts with a taintless mind.
He is freed of all Vaasanaas.
The free one shines everywhere as the
very essence of all.
पश्यन् शृण्वन् स्पृशन् जिघ्रन् अश्नन्
गृह्णन् वदन् व्रजन् ।
ईहितानीहितैर्मुक्तो मुक्त एव महाशयः
॥१७-१२॥
Even while seeing, hearing, touching,
smelling, tasting, taking, saying, and moving,
he is free of wants and no-wants.
That noble one is indeed free.
न निन्दति न स्तौति न हृष्यति न कुप्यति
।
न ददाति न गृह्णाति मुक्तः सर्वत्र नीरसः
॥१७-१३॥
He does not blame; does not praise;
does not feel overjoyed; does not get
angry;
does not give; does not accept.
He is free and finds no interest
anywhere.
(What is there to drink in the mirage
river?)
सानुरागां स्त्रियं दृष्ट्वा मृत्युं
वा समुपस्थितम् ।
अविह्वलमनाः स्वस्थो मुक्त एव महाशयः
॥१७-१४॥
Looking at the woman who approaches him
with love (enjoyments);
or looking at death that is in proximity
(calamities),
he does not get agitated.
(He remains equal in all situations; and
acts in the needed way.)
That noble one is free and remains
established in the Self.
सुखे दुःखे नरे नार्यां संपत्सु विपत्सु
च ।
विशेषो नैव धीरस्य सर्वत्र समदर्शिनः
॥१७-१५॥
For the courageous one who has equal
vision everywhere,
there is no difference seen in happy
occasions and difficult situations,
in men, in women, in prosperities, and
in calamities.
न हिम्सा नैव कारुण्यं नौद्दत्यं न च
दीनता ।
नाश्चर्यं नैव च क्षोभः क्षीणसंसरणे नरे
॥१७-१६॥
For a man, for whom the Samsaara has
dried up,
there is no violent nature, no kindness, no
arrogance, no wretchedness,
nothing of surprise, nothing to feel
depressed about.
न मुक्तो विषयद्वेष्टा न वा विषयलोलुपः
।
असम्सक्तमना नित्यं प्राप्ताप्राप्तमुपाश्नुते
॥१७-१७॥
The liberated one is not a hater of
pleasures;
not also the one who drowns in
pleasures.
He is always with a detached mind;
treats equally that which is obtained
and that which is not obtained.
समाधानासमाधानहिताहितविकल्पनाः
शून्यचित्तो न जानाति कैवल्यमिव संस्थितः
॥१७-१८॥
The man with his mind empty of all
imaginations,
does not know of stable or unstable states of
the mind;
does not know the good or bad of
anything.
He stays as he is in the state which is
left over, with all things gone off.
(World that is perceived is a
dream-state imagined by the mind.
This dream-state has broken
off for the Knower.
Like the objects of the
dream-world dissolve into emptiness when one wakes up, this world has turned
empty for him. He just is as he is; the woken up consciousness.
He sees nothing but himself.
What is good or bad in
emptiness?
What is there to contemplate
upon?
He is forever the
contemplative state of Chit, shining as the world.
He is in the state of
‘SahajaSamaadhi’; a natural state of contemplation.
He has no need to seek
separate hours of contemplation to think about his essence.
He is always what he is; the
empty expanse of Chit.
A JeevanMukta is the term given to Chit which knows
the truth of itself.
Jeeva is a name given to Chit
which does not know the truth of itself.
Both are Brahman!
As a Jeeva, Chit dreams that
it is bound.
As a Mumukshu, Chit dreams of
liberation.
As a Mukta, Chit is what it
is; dreamless; it knows that it never dreamt anything!)
निर्ममो निरहंकारो न किंचिदिति निश्चितः
।
अन्तर्गलितसवाहः कुर्वन्नपि करोति न ॥१७-१९॥
He has no idea of possessions. He has no
ego.
He is ascertained that nothing is there.
He has dissolved all the desires in the
mind.
Though doing, he does not do anything.
मनःप्रकाशसंमोहस्वप्नजाड्यवर्जितः ।
दशां कामपि संप्राप्तो भवेद्गलितमानसः
॥१७-२०॥
He is free of
the brightness (revelation of the
world),
confusion (anxieties), dream
(imagination), and inertness (non-conscious nature)
and all those agitations that belong to
the mind.
He has dissolved his mind; and stays in
some indefinable state.
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