Guided Chanting
by Swami ShantanandaLoading player0:00 / 0:00
Chapter 1 · Instruction on Self-realization
Janaka
कथं कथं । च कथं ॥ १-१॥
How can knowledge be acquired? How can liberation be attained? How is renunciation possible? Tell me this, O Lord.
Ashtavakra
। ॥ १-२॥
If you aspire after liberation, my child, shun the objects of the senses as poison and seek forgiveness, sincerity, kindness, contentment and truth as nectar.
Ashtavakra
न न जलं नाग्निर्न वा भवान् ।एषां ॥ १-३॥
You are neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor air, nor ether. In order to attain liberation, know the Self as the witness of all these and as Consciousness itself.
Ashtavakra
।अधुनैव ॥ १-४॥
If you detach yourself from the body and rest in pure Intelligence, you will at once become happy, peaceful and free from bondage.
Ashtavakra
न त्वं नाश्रमी नाक्षगोचरः । ॥ १-५॥
You do not belong to the Brahmana or any other caste, nor to any Ashrama, nor are you perceived by the senses. Unattached and formless, you are the witness of all. Be happy.
Ashtavakra
न ते ।न न एवासि ॥ १-६॥
Virtue and vice, pleasure and pain are of the mind and not of you, O all-pervading one. You are neither doer nor enjoyer. Verily, you are ever free.
Ashtavakra
एको सर्वदा ।अयमेव हि ते पश्यसीतरम् ॥ १-७॥
You are the one seer of all and are really ever free. Verily this alone is your bondage: that you see the seer as something other than yourself.
Ashtavakra
अहं ।नाहं कर्तेति ॥ १-८॥
Bitten by the great black serpent of the egoism 'I am the doer', drink the nectar of the faith 'I am not the doer', and be happy.
Ashtavakra
एको । ॥ १-९॥
Burn down the forest of ignorance with the fire of the conviction 'I am the One Pure Awareness', and be free from grief and be happy.
Ashtavakra
। स सुखं भव ॥ १-१०॥
That Consciousness in which this universe appears like a snake in a rope is Bliss — Supreme Bliss. You are that Consciousness. Be happy.
Ashtavakra
हि । सत्येयं या सा ॥ १-११॥
One who considers oneself free is free indeed, and one who considers oneself bound remains bound. This popular saying 'as one thinks, so one becomes' is very true.
Ashtavakra
एको । ॥ १-१२॥
The Self is witness, all-pervading, perfect, One, free, pure Consciousness, actionless, unattached, desireless and quiet. Through illusion it appears as if caught in worldly existence.
Ashtavakra
। ॥ १-१३॥
Meditate on the Self as immovable, pure Awareness and non-dual, having given up the illusion 'I am the reflected self' along with all external and internal self-identifications.
Ashtavakra
। ॥ १-१४॥
My child, you have long been bound by the noose of body-consciousness. Sever it with the sword of the knowledge 'I am pure Awareness' and be happy.
Ashtavakra
त्वं ।अयमेव हि ते ॥ १-१५॥
You are unattached, actionless, self-effulgent and without any blemish. This indeed is your bondage: that you practise Samadhi.
Ashtavakra
त्वयि । मा गमः ॥ १-१६॥
You pervade this universe, and this universe exists in you in reality. You are by nature Pure Consciousness. Do not be small-minded.
Ashtavakra
। भव ॥ १-१७॥
You are unconditioned, immutable, without support, of cool disposition, of unfathomable intelligence and unperturbed. Be with the desire for pure Consciousness alone.
Ashtavakra
तु । न ॥ १-१८॥
Know that which has form to be unreal, and the formless to be permanent. Through this instruction in truth, rebirth becomes impossible.
Ashtavakra
सः ।तथैवाऽस्मिन् ॥ १-१९॥
Just as a mirror exists within and all around the image reflected in it, so the Supreme Lord exists inside and outside this body.
Ashtavakra
एकं । तथा ॥ १-२०॥
As the same all-pervading ether exists both inside and outside a jar, so the eternal, all-pervasive Brahman exists in all beings.
Chapter 2 · The Disciple's Joy at Self-realization
Janaka
। ॥ २-१॥
O, I am spotless, tranquil, Pure Consciousness and beyond Nature. All this time I have been duped by illusion.
Janaka
प्रकाशयाम्येको ।अतो न च ॥ २-२॥
As I alone reveal this body, even so do I reveal this universe. Therefore mine is all this universe, or verily nothing is mine.
Janaka
स । कौशलाद् ॥ २-३॥
O, having renounced the universe along with the body, I am now perceiving the Supreme Self through wisdom received from my Guru.
Janaka
न । न ॥ २-४॥
As waves, foam and bubbles are not different from water, even so the universe emanating from the Self is not different from it.
Janaka
भवेद् पटो यद्वद् । तद्वद् ॥ २-५॥
As cloth when analysed is found to be nothing but thread, even so this universe, duly considered, is nothing but the Self.
Janaka
यथैवेक्षुरसे व्याप्तैव । ॥ २-६॥
Just as sugar generated in sugarcane juice is wholly pervaded by it, even so the universe produced in me is permeated by me through and through.
Janaka
आत्मज्ञानान्न । तज्ज्ञानाद् न ॥ २-७॥
The world appears from the ignorance of the Self and disappears with the knowledge of the Self, even as the snake appears from the non-cognition of the rope and disappears with its recognition.
Janaka
नातिरिक्तोऽस्म्यहं । ॥ २-८॥
Light is my very nature and I am no other than that. When the universe manifests itself, verily then it is I that shine.
Janaka
। ॥ २-९॥
O, the universe appears in me being conceived through ignorance, even as silver appears in the mother-of-pearl, snake in the rope and water in the sunbeam.
Janaka
मय्येव । ॥ २-१०॥
Just as a jug dissolves into earth, a wave into water or a bracelet into gold, even so the universe which has emanated from me will dissolve into me.
Janaka
अहं नमो नास्ति । ॥ २-११॥
Wonderful am I! Adoration to myself who know no decay and survive even the destruction of the world from Brahma down to the clump of grass.
Janaka
अहं नमो ।क्वचिन्न ॥ २-१२॥
Wonderful am I! Adoration to myself who though with body am one, who neither go anywhere nor come from anywhere but abide pervading the universe.
Janaka
अहं नमो नास्तीह । ॥ २-१३॥
Wonderful am I! Adoration to myself! There is none so capable as I, who am bearing the universe for all eternity without touching it with the body.
Janaka
अहं नमो नास्ति । यद् ॥ २-१४॥
Wonderful am I! Adoration to myself who have nothing, or have all that is thought and spoken of.
Janaka
नास्ति ।अज्ञानाद् सोऽहमस्मि ॥ २-१५॥
Knowledge, knower and knowable — these three do not in reality exist. I am that stainless Self in which this triad appears through ignorance.
Janaka
। ॥ २-१६॥
Oh, duality is the root of misery. There is no other remedy for it except the realization that all objects of experience are false and that I am one, pure intelligence and bliss.
Janaka
।एवं ॥ २-१७॥
I am Pure Intelligence. Through ignorance I have imposed limitation upon myself. Constantly reflecting in this way, I am abiding in the Absolute.
Janaka
न । न ॥ २-१८॥
I have neither bondage nor freedom. The illusion having lost its support has ceased. Oh, the universe, though existing in me, does not in reality so exist.
Janaka
न किञ्चिदिति । च ॥ २-१९॥
I have known for certain that the body and the universe are nothing and that the Self is only Pure Consciousness. So on which now can imagination be possible?
Janaka
भयं । किं ॥ २-२०॥
Body, heaven and hell, bondage and freedom, as also fear — all these are mere imagination. What have I to do with all these — I whose nature is Chit?
Janaka
न । करवाण्यहम् ॥ २-२१॥
O, I do not find any duality. Even the multitude of human beings has therefore become like a wilderness. What should I attach myself to?
Janaka
नाहं न नाहमहं । आसीद्या ॥ २-२२॥
Neither am I this body, nor am I embodied. I am not Jīva; I am Chit. This indeed was my bondage — that I had thirst for life.
Janaka
।मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ ॥ २-२३॥
O! In me, the limitless ocean, diverse waves of worlds are produced forthwith on the rising of the wind of the mind.
Janaka
मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ । ॥ २-२४॥
With the calming of the wind of the mind in the infinite ocean of myself, the ark of the universe of Jīva the trader unfortunately meets destruction.
Janaka
मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधावाश्चर्यं । ॥ २-२५॥
How wonderful! In me, the shoreless ocean, the waves of individual selves rise, strike each other, play for a time and disappear, each according to its nature.
Chapter 3 · Test of Disciple's Self-Realization
Ashtavakra
।तवात्मज्ञानस्य ॥ ३-१॥
Having known yourself as truly indestructible and one, how is it that you, serene and knower of Self, feel attached to the acquisition of wealth?
Ashtavakra
आत्माज्ञानादहो । ॥ ३-२॥
Alas, as greed arises from the illusion of silver caused by the ignorance of mother-of-pearl, even so arises the attachment to the objects of illusory perception from the ignorance of the Self.
Ashtavakra
।सोऽहमस्मीति किं ॥ ३-३॥
Having known yourself to be That in which the universe appears like waves on the sea, why do you run about like a miserable being?
Ashtavakra
। ॥ ३-४॥
Even after hearing oneself to be Pure Consciousness and surpassingly beautiful, how can one be attached to lust and thus become unclean?
Ashtavakra
चात्मानं चात्मनि । ॥ ३-५॥
It is strange that the sense of ownership should continue even in the sage who has realized the Self in all beings and all beings in the Self.
Ashtavakra
। ॥ ३-६॥
Strange that, abiding in supreme non-duality and intent on liberation, one should yet be subject to lust and be unsettled by the practice of amorous pastimes!
Ashtavakra
। ॥ ३-७॥
It is strange that knowing lust to be an enemy of Knowledge, one who has grown extremely weak and reached one's last days, should yet be eager for sensual enjoyment.
Ashtavakra
इहामुत्र । मोक्षाद् ॥ ३-८॥
It is strange that one who is unattached to the objects of this world and the next, who discriminates the eternal from the transient and who longs for emancipation, should fear emancipation itself.
Ashtavakra
। न न ॥ ३-९॥
But feted and feasted or tormented, the serene person ever sees the absolute Self and is thus neither gratified nor angry.
Ashtavakra
पश्यत्यन्यशरीरवत् । चापि कथं ॥ ३-१०॥
The high-souled person witnesses his own body acting as if it were another's. As such, how can he be disturbed by praise or blame?
Ashtavakra
। कथं ॥ ३-११॥
Realizing this universe as mere illusion and losing all interest therein, how can one of steady mind fear even the approach of death?
Ashtavakra
। ॥ ३-१२॥
With whom can we compare that great-souled one, contented with the knowledge of Self, whose mind is desireless even in disappointment?
Ashtavakra
स्वभावाद् ।इदं स किं ॥ ३-१३॥
Why should that steady-minded one who knows, by one's own nature, the object of perception to be nothing in an absolute sense, consider this fit to be accepted and that fit to be rejected?
Ashtavakra
। न न ॥ ३-१४॥
He who has given up worldly attachment from his mind, who is beyond the pairs of opposites, and who is free from desire — to him any experience coming as a matter of course does not cause either pleasure or pain.
Chapter 4 · Glorification of Self-Realization
Janaka
।न ॥ ४-१॥
Oh, the man of understanding — the knower of Self who plays the game of life — has no similarity to the deluded beasts of the world.
Janaka
। न ॥ ४-२॥
Oh, the Yogi does not feel elated abiding in that state which Indra and all the gods hanker after and yet remain unhappy.
Janaka
ह्यन्तर्न जायते ।न ह्याकाशस्य ॥ ४-३॥
The heart of one who has known That is not touched by virtue and vice, just as the sky is not touched by smoke, even though it appears to be.
Janaka
। ॥ ४-४॥
Who can prohibit that great-souled one who has known this entire universe to be the Self alone, from living as he pleases?
Janaka
। ॥ ४-५॥
Of the four kinds of created beings from Brahma down to the clump of grass, it is the wise one alone who is truly capable of renouncing desire and aversion.
Janaka
। तत्स न ॥ ४-६॥
Rare is the man who knows the Self as one without a second and as the lord of the universe. He does what he knows to be worth doing and has no fear from any quarter.
Chapter 5 · Four Ways to Self-Realization
Ashtavakra
न किं । लयं ॥ ५-१॥
You have no contact with anything whatsoever. Therefore, pure as you are, what do you want to renounce? Destroy the complex and even thus enter into the state of Dissolution.
Ashtavakra
। ज्ञात्वैकमात्मानमेवमेव लयं ॥ ५-२॥
The universe rises from you like bubbles from the sea. Thus, having known the Atman to be one, even thus enter into the state of Dissolution.
Ashtavakra
नास्त्यमले । लयं ॥ ५-३॥
The universe, though manifest to the senses, does not truly exist in you who are pure — for it is unreal, like the snake in the rope. Thus verily do you enter into the state of Dissolution.
Ashtavakra
। सन्नेवमेव लयं ॥ ५-४॥
You are perfect and equanimous in misery and happiness, in hope and despair, in life and death. Being thus, even thus do you attain the state of Dissolution.
Chapter 6 · The Higher Knowledge
Janaka
जनक उवाच ॥आकाशवदनन्तोऽहं । तथैतस्य न न ॥ ६-१॥
Boundless as space am I. The phenomenal world is like a jar. This is Knowledge. So it has neither to be renounced nor accepted nor destroyed.
Janaka
स । तथैतस्य न न ॥ ६-२॥
That I am like the ocean and the phenomenal universe is like the wave. This is Knowledge. So it has neither to be renounced nor accepted nor destroyed.
Janaka
अहं स रूप्यवद् । तथैतस्य न न ॥ ६-३॥
That I am like mother-of-pearl; and the world-projection is like silver. This is Knowledge. So it has neither to be renounced nor accepted nor destroyed.
Janaka
अहं सर्वभूतान्यथो । तथैतस्य न न ॥ ६-४॥
I am indeed in all beings and all beings are in me. This is Knowledge. So it has neither to be renounced nor accepted nor destroyed.
Chapter 7 · Disciple's Realization
Janaka
। न ममास्त्यसहिष्णुता ॥ ७-१॥
In me, the boundless ocean, the ark of the universe moves hither and thither impelled by the wind of its own nature. I am not impatient.
Janaka
। वास्तमायातु न च ॥ ७-२॥
In me, the limitless ocean, let the wave of the world rise or vanish of itself. I neither increase nor decrease thereby.
Janaka
। एतदेवाहमास्थितः ॥ ७-३॥
In me, the boundless ocean, is the imagination of the universe. I am highly tranquil and formless. In this alone do I abide.
Janaka
नात्मा ।इत्यसक्तोऽस्पृहः एतदेवाहमास्थितः ॥ ७-४॥
The Self is not in the objects, nor are the objects in That which is infinite and stainless. Thus, unattached, desireless, and tranquil — in this alone do I abide.
Janaka
। कथं ॥ ७-५॥
Oh! I am truly pure Consciousness alone. The world is like a juggler's show. How then, and where, can there be any thought of rejection and acceptance in me?
Chapter 8 · Bondage and Liberation
Ashtavakra
किञ्चिद् ।किञ्चिन् किञ्चिद्धृष्यति ॥ ८-१॥
It is bondage when the mind desires or grieves at anything, rejects or accepts anything, feels happy or angry at anything.
Ashtavakra
न न ।न न न न ॥ ८-२॥
Liberation is attained when the mind does not desire or grieve, reject or accept, feel happy or angry.
Ashtavakra
कास्वपि । ॥ ८-३॥
It is bondage when the mind is attached to any particular sense-organ. It is liberation when the mind is not attached to any of the sense-organs.
Ashtavakra
नाहं ।मत्वेति किञ्चिन्मा ॥ ८-४॥
When there is no 'I', there is liberation; when there is 'I', there is bondage. Considering thus, easily refrain from accepting or rejecting anything.
Chapter 9 · Detachment
Ashtavakra
च । ॥ ९-१॥
Duties done and not done as well as the pairs of opposites — when do they cease and for whom? Knowing thus, be intent on renunciation and desireless through complete indifference to the world.
Ashtavakra
। च बुभुत्सोपशमं ॥ ९-२॥
Rare indeed, my child, is that blessed person whose desire for life, enjoyment and learning have been extinguished by observing the ways of men.
Ashtavakra
। ॥ ९-३॥
A wise man becomes quiet by realizing that all this is vitiated by the threefold misery and is transient, unsubstantial, contemptible and worthy to be rejected.
Ashtavakra
। ॥ ९-४॥
What is that time or that age in which the pairs of opposites do not exist for men? One who, quitting those, is content with what comes of itself attains perfection.
Ashtavakra
। को न ॥ ९-५॥
What man is there who, having observed the diversity of opinions among the great seers, saints and Yogis, and become completely indifferent to learning, does not attain quietude?
Ashtavakra
न किं । ॥ ९-६॥
He who gains a knowledge of the true nature of Pure Consciousness by means of complete indifference to the world and equanimity, and thereby saves others from transmigration — is he not truly the spiritual guide?
Ashtavakra
। ॥ ९-७॥
Look upon the modifications of the elements as nothing in reality but the primary elements themselves, and you will at once be free from bondage and abide in your true self.
Ashtavakra
। तथा ॥ ९-८॥
Desire alone is the world. Do you therefore renounce all those desires. The renunciation of the world follows from the renunciation of desire. Now you may live wherever you are.
Chapter 10 · Quietude
Ashtavakra
चानर्थसङ्कुलम् । ॥ १०-१॥
Be indifferent to everything having given up Kama (desire) the enemy, Artha (worldly prosperity) which is attended with mischief, as well as Dharma (good works) which is the cause of these two.
Ashtavakra
त्रīणि । ॥ १०-२॥
Look upon friends, lands, wealth, houses, wives, presents and such other good fortunes as a dream or a juggler's show, lasting three or five days.
Ashtavakra
। ॥ १०-३॥
Know that wherever there is desire, there is the world. Betaking yourself to firm non-attachment, go beyond desire and be happy.
Ashtavakra
। ॥ १०-४॥
Bondage consists only in desire, and its destruction is said to be liberation. By non-attachment to the world alone is attained constant joy of the realization of the Self.
Ashtavakra
जडं । न ॥ १०-५॥
You are One, Pure Consciousness. The universe is inert and unreal. Ignorance too is nothing. What then can there be for you to desire to know?
Ashtavakra
च । ॥ १०-६॥
Kingdom, sons, wives, bodies and pleasures have been lost to you birth after birth, even though you were attached to them.
Ashtavakra
। न ॥ १०-७॥
Enough of prosperity, desire and pious deed. The mind has not found repose in any of these in the dreary forest of the world.
Ashtavakra
न । तदद्याप्युपरम्यताम् ॥ १०-८॥
For how many births have you not done hard and painful work with your body, mind and speech! Therefore, cease at least today.
Chapter 11 · Wisdom
Ashtavakra
स्वभावादिति । ॥ ११-१॥
One who has realized that existence, destruction and change are in the nature of things, easily finds repose, being unperturbed and free from pain.
Ashtavakra
नेहान्य । क्वापि न ॥ ११-२॥
Knowing for certain that Ishwara is the creator of all and that there is none else here, one becomes peaceful with all his desires set at rest within and is not attached to anything whatsoever.
Ashtavakra
दैवादेवेति । न न ॥ ११-३॥
Knowing for certain that adversity and prosperity come in their own time through fate, one is ever contented, has all his senses in control, and does not desire or grieve.
Ashtavakra
दैवादेवेति । न ॥ ११-४॥
Knowing for certain that happiness and misery, birth and death are due to fate, one comes to see that it is not possible to accomplish the desired things, becomes inwardly inactive, and is not attached even while engaged in action.
Ashtavakra
नान्यथेहेति । ॥ ११-५॥
One who has realized that care alone breeds misery in this world and nothing else, becomes free from it, and is happy, peaceful, and rid of desires everywhere.
Ashtavakra
न । न स्मरत्यकृतं ॥ ११-६॥
I am not the body nor is the body mine — I am Intelligence itself. One who has realized this for certain does not remember what has been done or left undone, as though having attained the state of absolute liberation.
Ashtavakra
। ॥ ११-७॥
It is verily I from Brahma down to the clump of grass — one who knows this for certain becomes free from the conflict of thought, pure and peaceful, and turns away from both what is attained and what is not attained.
Ashtavakra
न किञ्चिदिति । न किञ्चिदिव ॥ ११-८॥
One who knows for certain that this manifold and wonderful universe is nothing, becomes desireless and Pure Luminous Intelligence, and finds peace as if nothing at all exists.
Chapter 12 · Disciple's Realization
Janaka
ततो । ॥ १२-१॥
First I became intolerant of physical action, then of extensive speech, and then of thought. Thus verily do I therefore abide.
Janaka
चात्मनः । ॥ १२-२॥
Having no attachment for sound and all perceived objects, and the Self also not being an object of perception, my mind is free from distraction and one-pointed. Thus verily do I abide.
Janaka
।एवं ॥ १२-३॥
Effort is made for concentration when there is distraction of mind owing to superimposition and such causes. Seeing this to be the rule, thus verily do I abide.
Janaka
हेयोपादेयविरहाद् एवं ।अभावादद्य हे ब्रह्मन्न् ॥ १२-४॥
Being devoid of the sense of the rejectable and the acceptable, and having no joy and sorrow, thus, O Brahman, do I abide today.
Janaka
आश्रमानाश्रमं । ॥ १२-५॥
Stage of life or no stage of life, meditation, renunciation of the objects accepted by the mind — finding all these causing distractions to me, thus verily do I abide.
Janaka
। सम्यगिदं ॥ १२-६॥
Cessation from action is as much an outcome of ignorance as the performance thereof. Knowing this truth fully, thus verily do I abide.
Janaka
भजत्यसौ । ॥ १२-७॥
Thinking on the Unthinkable, one betakes oneself only to a form of thought. Therefore, giving up that [mode of] contemplation, thus verily do I abide.
Janaka
स भवेदसौ । स भवेदसौ ॥ १२-८॥
Blessed is the man by whom this has been accomplished. Blessed is he who is of such a nature by birth.