संत साहित्य · Aṣṭāvakra · Verse by verse
Chapter 11 — Wisdom and Stillness
Verse by verse
अष्टावक्र उवाच॥
भावाभावविकारश्च स्वभावादिति निश्चयी।
निर्विकारो गतक्लेशः सुखेनैवोपशाम्यति॥११- १॥
aṣṭāvakra uvāca||
bhāvābhāvavikāraśca svabhāvāditi niścayī|
nirvikāro gatakleśaḥ sukhenaivopaśāmyati||11- 1||
Aṣṭāvakra said: One who is certain that the arising, ceasing, and changing of all things happens by their own nature becomes free of change, free of affliction, and rests in peace easily.
Once you're certain that everything's arising and passing away happens simply by its own inherent nature (svabhāva), not because of your effort or failure, you stop being personally disturbed by change and settle into ease.
When plans fall apart today, remind yourself things unfold by their own nature, not as a verdict on you.
ईश्वरः सर्वनिर्माता नेहान्य इति निश्चयी।
अन्तर्गलितसर्वाशः शान्तः क्वापि न सज्जते॥११- २॥
īśvaraḥ sarvanirmātā nehānya iti niścayī|
antargalitasarvāśaḥ śāntaḥ kvāpi na sajjate||11- 2||
One who is certain that God alone is the maker of everything, and there is no other agent here, with all desires dissolved within, at peace, clings to nothing anywhere.
Recognizing that a single intelligence (Īśvara, here the ultimate reality/consciousness) is doing everything, with no separate "you" as an independent agent, dissolves personal craving from the inside and leaves nothing left to grasp at.
The next time you take too much personal credit or blame for an outcome, remember how much of it was never actually yours to control.
आपदः संपदः काले दैवादेवेति निश्चयी।
तृप्तः स्वस्थेन्द्रियो नित्यं न वान्छति न शोचति॥११- ३॥
āpadaḥ sampadaḥ kāle daivādeveti niścayī|
tṛptaḥ svasthendriyo nityam na vānchati na śocati||11- 3||
One who is certain that misfortunes and fortunes come in their time by fate alone, remains ever content, with senses at rest, neither desiring nor grieving.
Seeing clearly that both misfortune and fortune arrive on their own schedule, driven by forces beyond personal control (daiva), produces a steady contentment that neither craves more nor mourns loss.
When bad luck hits today, treat it as weather, not as a personal referendum.
सुखदुःखे जन्ममृत्यू दैवादेवेति निश्चयी।
साध्यादर्शी निरायासः कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते॥११- ४॥
sukhaduḥkhe janmamṛtyū daivādeveti niścayī|
sādhyādarśī nirāyāsaḥ kurvannapi na lipyate||11- 4||
One who is certain that pleasure and pain, birth and death, come by fate alone, seeing no personal goal to be achieved, acts effortlessly and, even while acting, is not tainted by it.
Understanding that pleasure, pain, birth, and death are all simply given rather than personally achieved frees action from the anxious sense of "I must make this happen" — one can still act, vigorously even, without the residue of ownership sticking to it.
Do your work today as fully as you can, but drop the private scorecard tracking whether you personally "earned" the result.
चिन्तया जायते दुःखं नान्यथेहेति निश्चयी।
तया हीनः सुखी शान्तः सर्वत्र गलितस्पृहः॥११- ५॥
cintayā jāyate duḥkham nānyatheheti niścayī|
tayā hīnaḥ sukhī śāntaḥ sarvatra galitaspṛhaḥ||11- 5||
One who is certain that suffering is born from anxious thought and from nothing else, freed from it, becomes happy, at peace, with all longing dissolved everywhere.
All suffering traces back to anxious, spinning thought (cintā) and nothing else — recognizing this precisely, one lets that thought-pattern go, and happiness and peace follow automatically, with craving dissolving everywhere it used to grip.
Trace your next bout of suffering back to the specific worried thought fueling it, and see if the pain survives without that thought running.
नाहं देहो न मे देहो बोधोऽहमिति निश्चयी।
कैवल्यं इव संप्राप्तो न स्मरत्यकृतं कृतम्॥११- ६॥
nāham deho na me deho bodho'hamiti niścayī|
kaivalyam iva samprāpto na smaratyakṛtam kṛtam||11- 6||
One who is certain 'I am not the body, nor is the body mine — I am awareness' attains, as it were, absolute freedom, and no longer remembers what was done and what was left undone.
Being certain "I am not this body, nor does this body belong to me — I am awareness (bodha) itself" brings something like absolute completeness (kaivalya), where the mind no longer even keeps score of what it has or hasn't accomplished.
Stop reviewing your day's accomplishments and failures tonight as though they define you — they happened to the body-mind, not to what's aware of it.
आब्रह्मस्तंबपर्यन्तं अहमेवेति निश्चयी।
निर्विकल्पः शुचिः शान्तः प्राप्ताप्राप्तविनिर्वृतः॥११- ७॥
ābrahmastambaparyantam ahameveti niścayī|
nirvikalpaḥ śuciḥ śāntaḥ prāptāprāptavinirvṛtaḥ||11- 7||
One who is certain 'I alone am all this, from Brahmā down to a blade of grass,' becomes free of mental constructs, pure, at peace, released from the distinction of attained and unattained.
Recognizing "I alone am everything, from the creator down to the smallest blade of grass" dissolves all conceptual division (nirvikalpa), leaving one pure, peaceful, and indifferent to whether anything was gained or missed.
Look at whatever you feel you're still missing in life and try, just for a moment, identifying with the whole field that includes both the lack and the one who lacks.
नाश्चर्यमिदं विश्वं न किंचिदिति निश्चयी।
निर्वासनः स्फूर्तिमात्रो न किंचिदिव शाम्यति॥११- ८॥
nāścaryamidam viśvam na kimciditi niścayī|
nirvāsanaḥ sphūrtimātro na kimcidiva śāmyati||11- 8||
One who is certain that this astonishing world is nothing at all, free of latent desire, remaining as pure radiance alone, comes to rest as if being nothing.
Being certain that this astonishing world amounts, in the end, to nothing substantial at all, one lets go of every latent craving and rests as pure presence (sphūrti) — settled, as if being nothing whatsoever, and untroubled by that.
Let today's most dazzling temptation or worry be seen for what it is — a vivid nothing — and let your grip on it go slack.