संत साहित्य · Aṣṭāvakra · Verse by verse
Chapter 17 — The True Knower
Verse by verse
अष्टावक्र उवाच॥
तेन ज्ञानफलं प्राप्तं योगाभ्यासफलं तथा।
तृप्तः स्वच्छेन्द्रियो नित्यं एकाकी रमते तु यः॥१७- १॥
aṣṭāvakra uvāca||
tena jñānaphalam prāptam yogābhyāsaphalam tathā|
tṛptaḥ svacchendriyo nityam ekākī ramate tu yaḥ||17- 1||
Ashtavakra said: He has attained both the fruit of knowledge and the fruit of practicing yoga, who — content, with clear senses, ever alone — delights in himself.
Contentment and inward delight, not any additional attainment, are themselves the proof that both jñāna (knowledge) and yoga (practice) have already borne their fruit.
Stop measuring your spiritual progress by milestones achieved and check instead whether you can simply sit content and alone for ten minutes without needing anything.
न कदाचिज्जगत्यस्मिन् तत्त्वज्ञा हन्त खिद्यति।
यत एकेन तेनेदं पूर्णं ब्रह्माण्डमण्डलम्॥१७- २॥
na kadācijjagatyasmin tattvajñā hanta khidyati|
yata ekena tenedam pūrṇam brahmāṇḍamaṇḍalam||17- 2||
The knower of truth is never troubled in this world, because by that one alone this entire sphere of the universe is filled and complete.
Since the tattvajña (knower of reality) recognizes the same fullness underlying every apparent gap or lack, nothing in the world can register to him as genuinely missing.
When you feel something is missing from your life, ask whether the sense of lack is about the situation or about forgetting your own completeness.
न जातु विषयाः केऽपि स्वारामं हर्षयन्त्यमी।
सल्लकीपल्लवप्रीतमिवेभं निंबपल्लवाः॥१७- ३॥
na jātu viṣayāḥ ke'pi svārāmam harṣayantyamī|
sallakīpallavaprītamivebham nimbapallavāḥ||17- 3||
Sense-objects never truly delight the one who delights in himself — just as neem leaves never please an elephant devoted to sallakī leaves.
Someone genuinely resting as svārāma (self-delighting) simply has no appetite left for external pleasures to satisfy, the way a creature with one true taste is indifferent to a substitute it was never craving.
If a pleasure you used to chase no longer tempts you, don't force yourself back to it out of habit — trust that your taste has actually changed.
यस्तु भोगेषु भुक्तेषु न भवत्यधिवासिता।
अभुक्तेषु निराकांक्षी तदृशो भवदुर्लभः॥१७- ४॥
yastu bhogeṣu bhukteṣu na bhavatyadhivāsitā|
abhukteṣu nirākāmkṣī tadṛśo bhavadurlabhaḥ||17- 4||
One who, when pleasures are enjoyed, is left with no lingering residue from them, and who has no longing for pleasures not yet enjoyed — such a person is rare in this world.
The rare mark of freedom isn't avoiding pleasure but experiencing it without it leaving adhivāsitā (a lingering scent, an attachment-residue) behind, and without craving what hasn't happened yet.
After a good meal or a good day, notice whether you're already grasping for the next one — try letting the enjoyment end cleanly instead.
बुभुक्षुरिह संसारे मुमुक्षुरपि दृश्यते।
भोगमोक्षनिराकांक्षी विरलो हि महाशयः॥१७- ५॥
bubhukṣuriha samsāre mumukṣurapi dṛśyate|
bhogamokṣanirākāmkṣī viralo hi mahāśayaḥ||17- 5||
In this world one sees people who hunger for enjoyment, and even people who hunger for liberation. But the great soul free of longing for both enjoyment and liberation is rare indeed.
Wanting mokṣa (liberation) is still a form of wanting, structurally identical to wanting pleasure; the rarer position has dropped the wanting itself, not just redirected it toward a loftier object.
Notice if your spiritual seeking has the same anxious, grasping quality as your ordinary ambitions — the object changed, but the grasping might not have.
धर्मार्थकाममोक्षेषु जीविते मरणे तथा।
कस्याप्युदारचित्तस्य हेयोपादेयता न हि॥१७- ६॥
dharmārthakāmamokṣeṣu jīvite maraṇe tathā|
kasyāpyudāracittasya heyopādeyatā na hi||17- 6||
For some rare, magnanimous person, there is no notion of rejecting or accepting regarding duty, wealth, pleasure, liberation, or even life and death.
Udāra-citta (a truly expansive mind) has stopped sorting even the biggest categories — including living and dying — into preferred and unpreferred, because that whole framework of preference has simply gone quiet.
Notice how much energy goes into preferring outcomes even in categories you claim not to care about, like health, money, or reputation.
वांछा न विश्वविलये न द्वेषस्तस्य च स्थितौ।
यथा जीविकया तस्माद् धन्य आस्ते यथा सुखम्॥१७- ७॥
vāmchā na viśvavilaye na dveṣastasya ca sthitau|
yathā jīvikayā tasmād dhanya āste yathā sukham||17- 7||
He has no wish for the dissolution of the universe, nor aversion to its continuing; therefore that fortunate one lives on however his livelihood comes, however happiness comes.
Even wanting the world to end is still a preference; genuine peace has no stake either way in whether things continue or stop, and simply takes life as it arrives.
Stop fantasizing about everything falling apart or staying exactly the same — just meet today's circumstances as they actually show up.
कृतार्थोऽनेन ज्ञानेनेत्येवं गलितधीः कृती।
पश्यन् शृण्वन् स्पृशन् जिघ्रन्न् अश्नन्नस्ते यथा सुखम्॥१७- ८॥
kṛtārtho'nena jñānenetyevam galitadhīḥ kṛtī|
paśyan śṛṇvan spṛśan jighrann aśnannaste yathā sukham||17- 8||
'I am fulfilled by this knowledge' — even that thought has dissolved in him; the accomplished one lives happily as it comes, seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting.
Even the satisfaction of thinking 'I've got it, I understand now' is one more subtle claim of ownership that eventually falls away, leaving only ordinary sensing carried on without commentary.
Watch for the quiet pride of 'I finally understand this spiritual thing' — that very thought is worth letting go of too.
शून्या दृष्टिर्वृथा चेष्टा विकलानीन्द्रियाणि च।
न स्पृहा न विरक्तिर्वा क्षीणसंसारसागरे॥१७- ९॥
śūnyā dṛṣṭirvṛthā ceṣṭā vikalānīndriyāṇi ca|
na spṛhā na viraktirvā kṣīṇasamsārasāgare||17- 9||
His gaze is empty, his actions purposeless, his senses unengaged; there is neither longing nor aversion left in him whose ocean of worldly existence has run dry.
When saṃsāra (worldly striving) has genuinely exhausted itself, even looking and acting lose their usual charge of wanting something, leaving activity without inner motive.
Notice the difference between doing a routine task on autopilot out of habit versus doing it with no hidden agenda at all — aim for the second.
न जगर्ति न निद्राति नोन्मीलति न मीलति।
अहो परदशा क्वापि वर्तते मुक्तचेतसः॥१७- १०॥
na jagarti na nidrāti nonmīlati na mīlati|
aho paradaśā kvāpi vartate muktacetasaḥ||17- 10||
He neither wakes nor sleeps, neither opens nor closes his eyes. Ah, the freed-minded one dwells somewhere in a state beyond all ordinary states!
The four familiar states — waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and their transitions — are all categories of the mind; muktacetas (the freed mind) rests in something these categories were never built to describe.
Don't expect a deep sense of freedom to feel like any emotion you already have a name for — it may not fit your usual categories of a good day or a bad day at all.
सर्वत्र दृश्यते स्वस्थः सर्वत्र विमलाशयः।
समस्तवासना मुक्तो मुक्तः सर्वत्र राजते॥१७- ११॥
sarvatra dṛśyate svasthaḥ sarvatra vimalāśayaḥ|
samastavāsanā mukto muktaḥ sarvatra rājate||17- 11||
He is seen everywhere as self-abiding, everywhere of pure intention; free from every latent tendency, the liberated one shines wherever he is.
Because vāsanā (deep conditioning) has dropped away entirely, this person carries no context-dependent mask — the same clarity shows up whether at home, at work, or among strangers.
Notice how much you change your behavior depending on who's watching, and try letting the same simple honesty show up in every room.
पश्यन् शृण्वन् स्पृशन् जिघ्रन्न् अश्नन् गृण्हन् वदन् व्रजन्।
ईहितानीहितैर्मुक्तो मुक्त एव महाशयः॥१७- १२॥
paśyan śṛṇvan spṛśan jighrann aśnan gṛṇhan vadan vrajan|
īhitānīhitairmukto mukta eva mahāśayaḥ||17- 12||
Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, grasping, speaking, walking — free from both intended and unintended actions, the great soul is truly free.
Ordinary life-activity continues unchanged, but it's no longer split into 'things I meant to do' and 'things that just happened to me' — both categories dissolve into simple, unclaimed activity.
Stop dividing your day into planned achievements and accidental interruptions — try treating both as equally just what happened.
न निन्दति न च स्तौति न हृष्यति न कुप्यति।
न ददाति न गृण्हाति मुक्तः सर्वत्र नीरसः॥१७- १३॥
na nindati na ca stauti na hṛṣyati na kupyati|
na dadāti na gṛṇhāti muktaḥ sarvatra nīrasaḥ||17- 13||
He neither blames nor praises, neither rejoices nor grows angry, neither gives nor takes; the liberated one is everywhere without personal relish.
Nīrasa (without flavor, without a personal stake) here isn't numbness but the absence of the ego's usual grip that turns events into wins, losses, insults, or favors.
Before you rush to praise or blame someone today, notice the small thrill your ego gets from delivering the verdict — and try withholding it.
सानुरागां स्त्रियं दृष्ट्वा मृत्युं वा समुपस्थितं।
अविह्वलमनाः स्वस्थो मुक्त एव महाशयः॥१७- १४॥
sānurāgām striyam dṛṣṭvā mṛtyum vā samupasthitam|
avihvalamanāḥ svastho mukta eva mahāśayaḥ||17- 14||
Seeing an alluring woman, or death itself standing before him, his mind remains unshaken, self-abiding — the great soul is truly free.
The two classic tests — overwhelming desire and mortal fear — are named here precisely because they're the strongest hooks the mind has; someone unmoved by both has nothing left the world can grab onto.
Identify your two strongest triggers, whatever they are for you, and notice next time either shows up whether your steadiness actually holds.
सुखे दुःखे नरे नार्यां संपत्सु विपत्सु च।
विशेषो नैव धीरस्य सर्वत्र समदर्शिनः॥१७- १५॥
sukhe duḥkhe nare nāryām sampatsu vipatsu ca|
viśeṣo naiva dhīrasya sarvatra samadarśinaḥ||17- 15||
In pleasure and pain, in man and woman, in prosperity and adversity — there is no difference at all for the steady one who sees all things equally.
Sama-darśana (equal seeing) doesn't mean pretending pain and pleasure feel the same; it means no longer building a different sense of self out of each one.
Notice how your sense of who you are shifts between a good day and a bad one — practice keeping it steady across both.
न हिंसा नैव कारुण्यं नौद्धत्यं न च दीनता।
नाश्चर्यं नैव च क्षोभः क्षीणसंसरणे नरे॥१७- १६॥
na himsā naiva kāruṇyam nauddhatyam na ca dīnatā|
nāścaryam naiva ca kṣobhaḥ kṣīṇasamsaraṇe nare||17- 16||
There is neither cruelty nor compassion, neither arrogance nor humility, neither wonder nor agitation, in the person whose wandering through the world has ceased.
Once saṃsaraṇa (the compulsive cycling of reaction) has stopped, even the more admirable-looking reactions — compassion, humility, awe — are seen as still reactions, and the freed person has simply moved past needing any of them to define his state.
Don't assume that being especially kind or especially humble is the finish line of inner work — even those can still be subtle performances for the mind to maintain.
न मुक्तो विषयद्वेष्टा न वा विषयलोलुपः।
असंसक्तमना नित्यं प्राप्ताप्राप्तमुपाश्नुते॥१७- १७॥
na mukto viṣayadveṣṭā na vā viṣayalolupaḥ|
asamsaktamanā nityam prāptāprāptamupāśnute||17- 17||
The liberated one neither hates sense-objects nor craves them; with a mind that is never entangled, he partakes of whatever comes, attained or unattained.
Asaṃsakta-manas (an unattached mind) treats getting and not-getting as equally fine, so life is simply received as it comes rather than managed toward a preferred outcome.
Practice receiving whatever today actually brings — plans working out or falling through — with the same even hand.
समाधानसमाधानहिताहितविकल्पनाः।
शून्यचित्तो न जानाति कैवल्यमिव संस्थितः॥१७- १८॥
samādhānasamādhānahitāhitavikalpanāḥ|
śūnyacitto na jānāti kaivalyamiva samsthitaḥ||17- 18||
The distinctions of composure and disturbance, of beneficial and harmful, and their competing options — the one whose mind is empty doesn't even register them, abiding as if in utter aloneness.
Kaivalya (absolute aloneness, the self resting purely in itself) is so complete that the mind's usual sorting mechanism — good for me, bad for me — simply has no material left to work with.
Notice how quickly your mind labels a new situation good for you or bad for you — try letting one experience today pass by unlabeled.
निर्ममो निरहंकारो न किंचिदिति निश्चितः।
अन्तर्गलितसर्वाशः कुर्वन्नपि करोति न॥१७- १९॥
nirmamo nirahamkāro na kimciditi niścitaḥ|
antargalitasarvāśaḥ kurvannapi karoti na||17- 19||
Free of possessiveness, free of ego, certain that he is nothing at all, with all inner craving dissolved, even while acting he does not act.
When the sense of being a separate doer has genuinely dissolved, activity still visibly happens through the body, but there's no one left inside claiming authorship of it — akartṛtva (non-doership) in the midst of doing.
The next time you complete something difficult, notice you can let the credit go without also having to fake false modesty about it.
मनःप्रकाशसंमोहस्वप्नजाड्यविवर्जितः।
दशां कामपि संप्राप्तो भवेद् गलितमानसः॥१७- २०॥
manaḥprakāśasammohasvapnajāḍyavivarjitaḥ|
daśām kāmapi samprāpto bhaved galitamānasaḥ||17- 20||
Free from the mind's states of clarity, delusion, dreaming, and dullness, one whose mind has fully dissolved attains a certain indescribable state.
This final verse admits the limit of language itself: whatever remains once even the ordinary categories of mental life — clear, confused, dreaming, dull — have fallen away isn't something the poem can name, only point toward.
Stop expecting a tidy label for the peace you're occasionally glimpsing — let it simply be there without needing to categorize or explain it.