Gist of Ashtavakrageetam

  

ASHTAAVAKRA SAMHITAM

[GIST OF IT ALL IN SIMPLIFIED LANGUAGE]

To explain it all in modern language-

BODHA

The ‘World you see’ is made of information only.

In Sanskrit, you name it as Bodha.

INDRIYAS

What are the tools that bring you this info-collection called the world?

They are referred to by the term ‘senses’ -Indriyas.

Indriya means the servant who serves the Aatman, the Self, the Indra, the ruler of all.

These senses are not physical organs as eye etc.

They are subtle functions of the mind.

Mind uses the senses of knowledge to produce sense information.

Mind uses senses of action for the mechanical processes of walking, talking etc.

BODY/WORLD

Actually physical body is also a ‘collection of info’ only.

It is an object captured by the senses.

Mind produces the first object of knowledge as the body; and corrupts it with the ‘I’ concept. That first corruption, acts as the seed of the entire corrupted forest of information called the world.

MANAS/PRAANA

That which operates these senses is also not a physical organ, but some function like agitations, movements that keep on going without a stop.

The power of this movement is known as Praana, the power which enables the function of living.

This power of Praana which acts as the mind also, (or vice versa also), is again sourced from some ‘indefinable something’, which is not material or solid.

‘THAT SOMETHING’

That something is like some potential state, where any knowledge, any information, any Bodha is ready to rise up as the information perceived by the senses.

This Bodha is right or wrong.

VIDYAA/AVIDYAA

Right information is liberation; wrong information is the ‘perceived world’.

Right information is uncorrupted by the mind; and wrong information is corrupted by the mind. First one is Vidyaa; second one is Avidyaa.

Absence of right information is bondage; it is Avidyaa.

When wrong information is discarded, then only you have access to the Right information.

This accessing the Right information is the ‘Knowledge path that leads to liberation’.

VICHAARA

If one analyzes properly, this is how the Vichaara process goes on:

Let us start with the object that is in front of you; say a pot.

Is this pot really there or not?

Sense of touch says that it is solid.

Sense of sight says that it is round and endowed with some colour.

Sense of taste says that it is muddy.

Sense of sound says that it makes noise.

Sense of nose says it smells muddy.

Where is the so-called solidity, image etc?

In the mind only!

Mind (the neural function in the brain) alone has the code of sound, code of touch etc to decode (interpret) some object-info from somewhere.

Sound, touch etc reside in the mind; not in the object outside.

These codes of sound etc produce in the mind, the concept of some solid body existing in some outside.

This so-called outside also is information only, as the object’s location.

The object is said to exist in some time and space measure; and occupy some place.

If the information of the object is not produced or received, the object is said to be absent.

So you can discard the idea of existence and non-existence of objects as just information of their presence and absence.

At one instance of perception, you receive one set of information only as the perceived (Drshyam). This inert information gets coloured by the agitation process called the mind.

Whatever object is seen, comes with the package information of its origin and future destruction.

Any object of Knowledge has a beginning and end as its innate quality.

We cannot perceive any object or action in this world without the co-related information of beginning and end.

The entire world is just the collection of Knowledge you receive, according to the capacity of your mind (or brain-capacity).

This entire knowledge-information of the world is the Jagat (the patterns which get produced to get destroyed only.)

Each mind has its own idea of the world according to its understanding capacity; like each person sees a different rainbow based on his location in space-measure; but yet a crowd of people seeing different rainbows believe that they are seeing one single rainbow only.

The different world-ideas seen by different minds are understood by everyone as one single solid world under a single sky-roof.

WHO KNOWS IT ALL?

This Knowledge is understood by some one called ‘you’.

Who is this ‘you’? (or ‘I’?)

You cannot be the body, because body is also the information received or produced by the senses, and the story-telling mind.

You cannot be the mind, because it is also the information received or produced by the intellect (the thinking level of the mind).

You cannot be the intellect, because it is also the information received or produced by the intellect (the thinking level of mind).

Intellect itself is the information of its own existence!

Amazing! Is it not?

I AM NOT AN INFORMATION

Any term with meaning (Shabda/Artha) is just information only.

When you are receiving or producing any information, you cannot be the information yourself. So stop producing information or receiving it, to get at yourself!

How?

Start from the outermost point.

SENSE PLEASURES

The objects of the world are the collection of information produced by senses.

Mind adds the qualities of pleasure and pain to them.

Pleasure from sense objects is just the imagined information that belongs to the mind.

So stop running after sense pleasures for getting happiness.

(Actually brain produces some particular chemicals at certain levels, which get interpreted as ‘joy’ by the humans.

‘Joy’ experienced by humans here is just a chemical interpretation; not real.

The chemical which makes you happy is called dopamine.

Happiness level raises or lowers according to the level of dopamine produced by the brain.

Any action that gives you joy, including meditation at the highest level, or sadistic murder at the lowest level, is because of this chemical called dopamine.

Objects do not contain the quality of pleasure.

Objects of Knowledge do not contain any pleasure.

Information is just the information of pleasure; not actually the pleasure.

Brain secretes dopamine to deceive you into believing that you are happy.)

FAMILY

Next look at the family and friends!

They are also Bodha-forms only; sense info corrupted as nearest and dearest.

PERCEIVED (DRSHYAM)

All that you see as the ‘perceived’ is nothing but sense information misinterpreted by the mind.

This mind itself a misinterpreted information.

It does not exist as anything at all; it is just co-related to the perceived.

RENUNCIATION

Reject the perceived world as wrong information.

Reject the body, the ‘I’ as wrong information.

Ego is also information produced by the mind based on the body-identity.

Ego is a heap of wrong information. It is a story made by the mind! Pure fantasy!

Reject it.

KEVALATVAM

What is left back..?

If the senses and mind were not there at all, where would the world exist?

What is out there as Reality behind the shield of sense information?

There must be something which cannot be converted into any information produced or received by the mind or senses.

It cannot be the information that can be received or produced by the intellect.

What is that, which cannot be any information that can be corrupted by the mind?

It must be something; yet not anything that the mind can grasp.

When the mind is not there at all as agitations, when senses do not receive any information at all, what is there when nothing is there?

That something, which is hunger-like, is a potential state of Knowledge; and is the Reality. It is the potential state where any information is possible as a perceived.

Reality is what the world is; just Knowledge essence!

That Knowledge-essence alone swells up as you, I and others.

Jagat is Brahman, the swollen up knowledge.

It is Chit, the Knowledge essence that is in each information-content (object) as its basic ingredient.

Chit alone is Chitta (mind-functions).

Chit alone is the Chetana (perceiving consciousness).

Chit alone is the Chetya (perceived).

Chit alone is as all!

Chit alone is! Chinmaatram is!

FINALLY…

When you discard the information of the physical body, the mind, the senses and still are trying to understand the Reality…, the thoughts stop; even the breath becomes shallow.

The world vanishes.

Just some unique peaceful state rises as a ‘nobody’.

A silent state of awareness alone exists, where no information of anything is there, but some state ready to burst forth as information of space, time, objects, you, I etc.

That alone is!

A Knower goes up to this point using the intellect as the ladder.

When he discards the ‘information receiving quality of the intellect’ also, there rises the absolute state of silence, where no information of anything exists; not even the sense of ‘I’.

After this dip into the Supreme silent state of nectar, when the Yogi starts receiving the information-set called the Jagat or world, he never is the same.

He is a JeevanMukta.

He is said to be liberated while living.

NO DEATH

He sees no solid world outside; but only Bodha; knowledge unfolding as objects.

His body also appears for him like some information only; as a ‘non-material knowledge-form’.

He sees birth and death as information connected to the body-information.

He does not identify with the body-information.

He does not die ever; for he is just the potential state of all knowledge.

He is the formless state of existence only.

He is no more any object of information; but is the essence of all information.

How can Knowledge of death die ever?

BODHA

Knowledge of death does not die.

Knowledge of birth does not die.

Knowledge of the body is itself not the body.

Knowledge of change is changeless.

Knowledge of the beginning and end is without beginning and end.

Knowledge of ignorance is bondage; knowledge is not bound.

Knowledge of knowledge is liberation; knowledge is not liberated.

Knowledge of Jagat is not the Jagat.

Knowledge is not different from the Known.

Knower is not different from the Knowledge.

There is just the oneness of all!

VISHVAM

The entire world is nothing but a process of information passing through mind-systems and getting corrupted in the process.

Vishvam (the changing pattern called the world) is just the flow of continuous information. It comes out through the mind as the world; goes back to the mind as Vaasanaas (lingering taste for objects); and the world goes on existing without end.

This process never ceases to be.

Perceive; receive; store as Vaasanaas; Vaasanaas again create perceived fields; more information is received; more Vaasanaas get stored; and the world keeps on appearing in minds as agitations.

Like a seed producing thousands of trees forever continuously, the world made of information or Bodha swells up as reality.

There is no one; no person; no god; no world; but just Bodha-ocean rising as the waves of perceptions.  

DELUSION

Every one is drowned in the flood of wrong information produced by the mind through the tools of senses.

The deluded ones, who are lost in the mirage of the world, do not know of anything but the solid world they see.

They identify with the information called the body, which comes with the package information of birth and death.

So they get born they think; and they die also; so they think.

KNOWER

A knower on the other hand, stays always in the state of ‘no information received or produced’ state of awareness only.

He exists, no more as the information called the body or ego.

He is the essence of the entire perceived phenomena.

He is in the tranquil state, where no corrupted information of the mind is received or produced.

He is not a person; but a state of existence which is the essence of the entire perceived phenomenon.

His mind stays dead, unable to corrupt the information any more.

It is a very pure state of existence; unperturbed, uncorrupted, changeless, endless, beginningless, ‘Knowledge alone’ state.

It is Chinmaatram! It is Chit alone.

It is the potential state of all information that is there as the world.

To be that is liberation.

Actually no one gets liberated.

But you try to find out what it is; and lose your little ego in it; like a salt doll trying to find the depth of the ocean.

This is said to be the Knowledge-path.

This cannot be attained by receiving the information-content of gods, temples, holy places, gurus, ashrams, scriptures, chants, penance, meditation, Praanaayaama or any such thing involving outward action of body or mind.

Any outward action is information corrupted by the mind.

To not receive or produce information, you must not take recourse to any action, not even meditation.

You can only do Vichaara.

Use the intellect to discard all information of anything and everything; then throw away the intellect also as an information corrupted by the mind; and stay just as silence.

It is indeed a wonderful silence; so cool and so blissful and so peaceful!

This bliss is not induced by the dopamine content of the brain.

A mind trapped in the brain-function can never know of it, like a rock cannot know of consciousness.

SILENCE SUPREME

It is the silence obtained by Yogis, by just melting off the mind in the resonance of Omkaara.

It is the silence that is adored as Aatman by all the Upanishads and Vedaanta scriptures.

It is the silence sought by Devas like Indra also.

Just be that; as the no-information state!

You stand above Gods also who are also just information-contents!

[Blessed is the one who stays as ‘That alone’!]

AUM

                                                                             [END]