1.
Janak said, ‘My revered Guru, you have the capacity to enlighten me. What is the method for obtaining Gnan? By what method will I get mukti (liberation form the cycle of rebirth)? Please Grace me by telling me these things.
2.
Ashtavakra said, ‘My dear King! If you want mukti, give up the vishaya (objects of the senses) as though they were visha (poison). And, bring into your life the qualities of kshamaa (forgiveness), saralataa (straightforwardness), dayaa (compassion), santosha (contentment) and satya (truthfulness), as though they were amrita (the elixir that bestows immortality).
3.
You are not the prithivee (earth), nor jala (water), nor agni (fire), nor vaayu (wind), nor aakaasha (space; ether). If you want to be the saakshee (witness) of all these, know that you are the chit-svaroopa (the form of consciousness).
4.
If you separate your gross physical body, and establish your Self in the chit-swarup Atma (if you give up identifying with that, which is not the Atma), you will at once become free of all bondage. You will become sukhi and shaanta (perfectly contented and tranquil).
5.
You are not of any varna (the four classes of Brahmin-the scholar, Kshatriya-the warrior, Vaishya-the trader, and Shudra-the laborer). You are not of any aashrama (stages of life like the Brahmchari-celibate student, Grihastha-married householder, Vanaprasthi-retired person who turns towards spirituality, or Sanyasi-a Monk). Nor are you drishya (something perceived by the senses). You are the asanga (unconnected to anything), niraakaara (formless), vishva-saakshee (witness of the whole world). Therefore, become sukhi.
6.
You are ananta (endless). Dharma-adharma (Dharma, and that which is contrary to Dharma), and sukha-dukha (happiness and sorrow) are only related to your mind, not to you. You are neither a kartaa (doer) nor the bhoktaa (the one who has the experiences). Your essence is nitya-mukta (eternal – liberated).
7.
You are the one and only drashtaa (the one who sees) of the whole world that is the drishya (seen). And, you are always and totally mukta. Your bondage is only that you consider the drashta to be separate from your Self; because the drashta will become that, which is seen, if it is separate from the one who sees.
8.
The ego is the great serpent that makes you believe, ‘I am the karta.’ You have been stung by this serpent. Take a sip of the faith of the amrita, ‘I am not the karta,’ and become sukhi.
9.
To think, ‘I am one and I am pure knowledge,’ is a decision. It is a fire with which you should burn the forest of agnaana (ignorance; lack of Gnan about the Tattva). This will make your life free of sorrow. Do this, and become sukhi.
10.
The Atma is the adhishthaana (substratum), on which this whole world is imagined the way a coiled snake is imagined in a coiled rope. The bodha svaroopa (the form of knowledge) that is aananda-paramaananda (bliss-supreme bliss) is you. Therefore, move about with sukha.
11.
The chitta (mental inclination; thought) that has the subtle ego, ‘I am mukta,’ is mukta; and the chitta that has the subtle ego, ‘I am baddha (bound) is bound.’ The proverb, ‘Jaisee mati vaisee gati’ (you are what you think) is true.
12.
The Atma is the sakshi, vibhu (all-pervading), poorna (complete in itself), adviteeya (non-dual), mukta (liberated) che`tan (conscious), nishkriya (inactive), asanga (unattached), nispriha (desireless), and shaanta (tranquil). It seems to be sansaaree (of the interactive world); the one who does, experiences, comes and goes, because of bhram (wrong understanding).
13.
It is a bhram to think, ‘I (the karta and bhokta) am the jeeva (Atma attached to a body; an individual), the chidaabhaasa (an illusion of the pure consciousness). Let go of this wrong belief. Let go of the perceived external and internal differences. Experiencing your Self as the adviteeya bodha-svaroopa (the form of knowledge) and kootastha (unchanging; unaffected Atma).
14.
My son! You have been caught in the snare of de`haabhimaana (the subtle ego of believing yourself to be the body), since time immemorial. ‘I am the bodha-swarup’ is a sword made of Gnan. Use this to cut away the false belief, and be sukhi. (That, which is removed by Gnan is mithyaa – it is a relative truth; therefore the bondage is mithya.)
15.
You are asanga (unattached), akriya (inactive), svayam—prakaasha (self-effulgent), and therefore, svatah-shuddha (naturally pure). Your bondage is that you do an anushthaana (religious ritual with a specific purpose) of Samadhi. (The swarup is the Self is the substratum of everything. It is self-established. It is not something to be procured or attained.)
16.
This entire drishya prapancha (the interactive world that is seen) is filled with you (the way cloth is filled with the warp and woof of thread), and is actually you. You are the shuddha-buddha (pure-enlightened) swarup of the world. Don’t be kshudra-chitta (consider yourself small).
17.
Don’t depend on any other, don’t be vikrita (distorted) in any way. Don’t bother about the drishya padaartha (seen objects). Let what happens happen. Keep your antahkaran (fourfold mind; subtle body) calm. Let nobody guess the depth of your buddhi (intellect; thinking). Let your buddhi be focused on the ananta (infinite). Don’t allow anything to agitate you. Have nishthaa (faith) only in the chit-svaroopa (the form that is pure consciousness), not in the actions of the vritti (mental inclinations; thoughts).
18.
Understand that an object which is related to a form (whether it is imagined or experienced by the senses) is mithya (because form itself is mithya – it is a relative truth – so any object that has a form will definitely be mithya). If the snake that is imagined in a coiled rope is mithya, the rope in which the snake perceived, is the substratum; it is not the support of the snake. That, which is free of form and anything related to a form, is achala (unmoving; steady).
19.
Just as the form seen in a mirror is nothing but the mirror, inside or outside, the body, too, is only the Paramatma inside and outside. (It is a mere perception, like the reflection in a mirror. The world and this body are perceptions in the unchanging Sacchidananda – Sat = pure existence, Chit = pure consciousness, Ananda = pure bliss – that is the Atma-Tattva.
20.
Just as the all-encompassing space is inside and outside a pot, the Brahman is inside and outside everything that is seen. The Brahman is not affected by space, time and matter. It is free of the differences of sajaateeya (of the same group), vijaateeya (of another group) and svagata (within itself). (Just as a pot has no significant existence in the view of infinite space, the perceived objects have no significance in the Brahman.)