CHAPTER THREE
अष्टावक्र उवाच
Ashtaavakra spoke
{DESIRES BLOCK THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE}
अविनाशिनमात्मानं एकं विज्ञ्नाय तत्त्वतः ।
तवात्मज्ञ्नानस्य धीरस्य कथमर्थार्जने रतिः ॥३-१॥
After realizing the truth of the one
imperishable essence which shines as all,
and after you are identified with that
essence as the Self
through the practice of Knowledge,
and when you have courageously come out
of it all,
why then should you show interest in the
acquirement of wealth?
आत्मज्ञ्नानादहो प्रीतिर्विषयभ्रमगोचरे ।
शुक्तेरज्ञ्नानतो लोभो यथा रजतविभ्रमे ॥३-२॥
If one does not know the true essence
within,
then, there rises the attraction for
sense objects which are just delusory appearances.
It is equal to getting fooled by the
silver-shine
by not knowing the conch-shell that is
really there.
विश्वं स्फुरति यत्रेदं तरङ्गा इव सागरे ।
सोऽहमस्मीति विज्ञ्नाय किं दीन इव धावसि ॥३-३॥
Vishva (perceived world) rises with its
manifoldness, like waves rising in the ocean.
After realizing the truth of ’I am
that’,
why then are you after the acquirement
of wealth like a wretched person?
(Why act like a rich man begging for
alms by forgetting your enormous wealth?)
श्रुत्वापि शुद्धचैतन्य आत्मानमतिसुन्दरम् ।
उपस्थेऽत्यन्तसंसक्तो मालिन्यमधिगच्छति ॥३-४॥
After hearing about the truth of the true essence (Aatman),
which is pure Knowledge-consciousness
and is the most beautiful,
you are still showing extreme
infatuation
for the joys of the lower regions of the
body
and are becoming filthy
(by longing for the company of women who
are shapes made of flesh and blood only)!
सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि ।
मुनेर्जानत आश्चर्यं ममत्वमनुवर्तते ॥३-५॥
It is indeed a matter of surprise that
even in an ascetic given to the silence
of the mind (Muni),
who sees his own essence in all and all
in his own essence,
there lingers still the idea of
possession!
(He is also attached to his
water-pot, grass-mat and Kaupeena (loin cloth)!
आस्थितः परमाद्वैतं मोक्षार्थेऽपि व्यवस्थितः ।
आश्चर्यं कामवशगो विकलः केलिशिक्षया ॥३-६॥
When engaged in the ‘Vichaara’ of the
Supreme state of non-duality,
and also while preparing oneself in
disciplined ways in order to attain Moksha,
it is indeed surprising that one is
tossed about by desires,
and is wastefully exerting oneself in
earth-enjoyments
(by losing control over the senses).
उद्भूतं ज्ञ्नानदुर्मित्रमवधार्यातिदुर्बलः
।
आश्चर्यं काममाकाङ्क्षेत्कालमन्तमनुश्रितः ॥३-७॥
It is indeed surprising that
when one is beset with the death of the
body at any moment,
one still hankers after the sense
objects,
and holds on to the enemy of Knowledge (desire)
like a weak person!
(How stupid one can be!)
इहामुत्र विरक्तस्य नित्यानित्यविवेकिनः ।
आश्चर्यं मोक्षकामस्य मोक्षादेव विभीषिका ॥३-८॥
It is indeed surprising that
for a person, who has developed
dispassion for the pleasures here and hereafter,
and who can discriminate between the
stable and unstable states,
and who desires Moksha,
Moksha itself proves to be a frightening
aspect!
(Why is a man who wants
Moksha afraid of Moksha itself?
Because he does not
understand what Moksha is actually!
He imagines that he may not
be able to enjoy any sense pleasure, if he attains the Moksha state!
He imagines that he will be
stuck to some emptiness and exist as emptiness forever! He imagines that Moksha
puts an end to all; his own identity!
He is stuck between the
attraction of the world; and the forced Moksha as a goal of his life. He falls
into sense pleasures again and again, because the taste for them lingers in his
mind as Vaasanaas, the subtle unmanifest desires.)
{JEEVANMUKTA/ LIBERATED WHILE LIVNG}
धीरस्तु भोज्यमानोऽपि पीड्यमान्योऽपि सर्वदा ।
आत्मानं केवलं पश्यन् न तुष्यति न कुप्यति ॥३-९॥
Whereas a courageous man
who has conquered all the desires and
fears (of the mind),
is aware of the truth of his own
essence, and so, never gets elated or irritated,
though encountered with all the
pleasures and pains at all times.
(A man of wisdom, who has
destroyed all his Vaasanaas completely, is no more affected by the events of
the world, good or bad.
There is no desire in his
mind; so there is no anger or disappointment also.
He retains no fear of the
good or bad results that actions may bring; for he never has the doership while
doing any action. He sees everything as the shine of the Self only!
How can you want anything,
when everything is the Self?
How can you get angry, when
everything is the Self?)
चेष्टमानं शरीरं स्वं पश्यत्यन्यशरीरवत् ।
संस्तवे चापि निन्दायां कथं क्षुभ्येत् महाशयः ॥३-१०॥
He sees his own moving body as another
person.
How can that noble one get disturbed by
praises or blames?
(A man of wisdom, has
completely destroyed his identity with the body; he has no mind-imagined ego
also. He sees his own body as an object perceived by senses.
When there is no one existing
there as a body or ego, what can blames or praises do to that all-pervading
Aatman?)
मायामात्रमिदं विश्वं पश्यन्विगतकौतुकः ।
अपि सन्निहिते मृत्यौ कथं त्रस्यति धीरधीः ॥३-११॥
Having lost all curiosity about the
world (for varieties of new enjoyments),
observing the world as a mind-made
illusion only;
how can the courageous man endowed with true
Knowledge,
get agitated even if death is ready to
swallow off the body?
(When the pot breaks, space
does not get destroyed. The space which was inside and outside continues to be
the same. It is never divided; and is not destroyed by the destruction of the
pot.
Similarly, when the body
dies, Aatman which is all pervading as Knowledge does not die. It continues to
be the same.
What can happen to Aatman, if
the body made of imagination dies?
Reality never ceases to be!)
निःस्पृहं मानसं यस्य नैराशयेऽपि महात्मनः ।
तस्यात्मज्ञ्नानतृप्तस्य तुलना केन जायते ॥३-१२॥
Who can understand the mind of that
great one, who is satisfied in his own Self,
whose mind stays without any want,
even when met with hopeless circumstances?
स्वभावादेव जानानो दृश्यमेतन्न किंचन ।
इदं ग्राह्यमिदं त्याज्यं स किं पश्यति धीरधीः ॥३-१३॥
How can the courageous man endowed with
true Knowledge,
who knows that by his very nature, that
this ‘perceived’ is nothing,
differentiate between that which is to
be accepted, or that which is to be rejected?
(He is equal-minded towards everything.)
अन्तस्त्यक्तकषायस्य निर्द्वन्द्वस्य निराशिषः ।
यदृच्छयागतो भोगो न दुःखाय न तुष्टये ॥३-१४॥
For that Knower of Self, who has
completely renounced all the taints of the mind,
who is without the affectation of
dualities, and who has no desires at all,
the pleasures of life, which come along
the course of life,
do not cause any pain when absent; nor do they
cause any joy when present.
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