संत साहित्य · Aṣṭāvakra · Verse by verse
Chapter 8 — Bondage and Freedom
Verse by verse
अष्टावक्र उवाच॥
तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं किन्चिद् वांछति शोचति।
किंचिन् मुंचति गृण्हाति किंचिद् दृष्यति कुप्यति॥८- १॥
aṣṭāvakra uvāca||
tadā bandho yadā cittam kincid vāmchati śocati|
kimcin mumcati gṛṇhāti kimcid dṛṣyati kupyati||8- 1||
Aṣṭāvakra said: Bondage is when the mind desires or grieves over something, releases or grasps something, rejoices or is angered by something.
Bondage isn't a place or a circumstance — it's the mind's habitual movement of wanting, grieving, clinging, releasing, delighting, and raging over whatever crosses its path; the movement itself is the chain.
Notice, next time you're upset, that it's not the event but your mind's grabbing at or pushing away the event that hurts.
तदा मुक्तिर्यदा चित्तं न वांछति न शोचति।
न मुंचति न गृण्हाति न हृष्यति न कुप्यति॥८- २॥
tadā muktiryadā cittam na vāmchati na śocati|
na mumcati na gṛṇhāti na hṛṣyati na kupyati||8- 2||
Liberation is when the mind neither desires nor grieves, neither releases nor grasps, neither rejoices nor is angered.
Freedom (mukti) is simply the cessation of that same reactive movement — not a special state added on top of experience, but experience minus the mind's compulsive for-and-against.
Try getting through one difficult conversation today responding to what's said without the usual want-or-reject reflex underneath it.
तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं सक्तं काश्वपि दृष्टिषु।
तदा मोक्षो यदा चित्तमसक्तं सर्वदृष्टिषु॥८- ३॥
tadā bandho yadā cittam saktam kāśvapi dṛṣṭiṣu|
tadā mokṣo yadā cittamasaktam sarvadṛṣṭiṣu||8- 3||
Bondage is when the mind is attached to any particular view; liberation is when the mind is unattached to all views.
Bondage is the mind fixing itself to any single viewpoint (dṛṣṭi) as "the" reality; liberation is holding all viewpoints loosely, attached to none.
When you're sure you're right in an argument, loosen your grip on that certainty for just a moment and see what's still true.
यदा नाहं तदा मोक्षो यदाहं बन्धनं तदा।
मत्वेति हेलया किंचिन्मा गृहाण विमुंच मा॥८- ४॥
yadā nāham tadā mokṣo yadāham bandhanam tadā|
matveti helayā kimcinmā gṛhāṇa vimumca mā||8- 4||
When there is no 'I,' that is liberation; when there is 'I,' that is bondage. Knowing this, take nothing up, cast nothing away, playfully.
The sense of a separate "I" (ahaṃkāra, the ego-self) is itself the bondage; its absence is liberation — once this is understood, there is nothing left to strain toward or push away, only easy, unforced living.
Catch the moment "I" inserts itself into a plan or a worry today, and just let that insertion relax rather than fighting it.