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Ashtavakra Gita · 3 of 20

Chapter 3: Wisdom of the Self

Ashtavakra said:

3.1. Knowing yourself as truly one and indestructible, how could a wise man possessing self-knowledge like you feel any pleasure in acquiring wealth?

3.2. Truly, when one does not know oneself, one takes pleasure in the objects of mistaken perception, just as greed arises for the mistaken silver in one who does not know mother of pearl for what it is.

3.3. All this wells up like waves in the sea. Recognising, “I am That,” why run around like someone in need?

3.4. After hearing of oneself as pure consciousness and the supremely beautiful, is one to go on lusting after sordid sexual objects?

3.5. When the sage has realised that he himself is in all beings, and all beings are in him, it is astonishing that the sense of individuality should be able to continue.

3.6. It is astonishing that a man who has reached the supreme nondual state and is intent on the benefits of liberation should still be subject to lust and in bondage to sexual activity.

3.7. It is astonishing that one already very debilitated, and knowing very well that its arousal is the enemy of knowledge, should still hanker after sensuality, even when approaching his last days.

3.8. It is astonishing that one who is unattached to the things of this world or the next, who discriminates between the permanent and the impermanent, and who longs for liberation, should still be afraid of liberation.

3.9. Whether feted or tormented, the wise man is always aware of his supreme self-nature and is neither pleased nor disappointed.

3.10. The great-souled person sees even his own body in action as if it were someone else’s, so how should he be disturbed by praise or blame?

3.11. Seeing this world as pure illusion, and devoid of any interest in it, how should the strong-minded person feel fear, even at the approach of death?

3.12. Who can be compared to the great-souled person whose mind is free from desire even in disappointment, and who has found satisfaction in self-knowledge?

3.13. How should a strong-minded person who knows that what he sees is by its very nature nothing, consider one thing to be grasped and another to be rejected?

3.14. An object of enjoyment that comes of itself is neither painful nor pleasurable for someone who has eliminated attachment, and who is free from dualism and from desire.

Asked of Guide

If the Self is 'one and indestructible,' why do sages still feel desire or fear?

Ashtavakra repeatedly says the Self is pure consciousness, “one and indestructible,” and that desire and fear arise from mistaken identification with transient objects and the body. The text points out that ignorance makes a person “take pleasure in the objects of mistaken perception,” like confusing mother-of-pearl for silver, so desires persist while that misidentification remains.

The chapter stresses that a realized person who firmly knows “I am That” perceives the world as insubstantial and remains unattached, so praise, blame, fear or death do not disturb him. Compare the Crest-Jewel of Wisdom, which describes one who, discerning the self in its own form, becomes “passionless, deathless…fearing nothing at all,” showing the same claim about knowledge dissolving desire and fear.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.

Echoes elsewhere

The Yoga-Vasishtha-Maharamayana of Valmiki · Hinduism(The true nature of the soul and that of God, is unknown to all finite beings every where). 33. It is hard to have a wise man, whose mind is devoid of its firm reliance on the vaniCrest-Jewel of Wisdom · Hinduismbut self; discerning this perfectly, in its own form, a man is sinless, passionless, deathless. Sorrowless, altogether bliss, full of wisdom, fearing nothing at all from anything; The Mahabharata · Hinduismendued with wisdom, who are liberated from ideas of meum (and teum), and who are devoid of egoism. All these, freed from every kind of attachment, attain to the status of Greatness