Janaka said:
1: Instruction on Self-Realization
1.1
Master,
how is Knowledge to be achieved, detachment acquired,
liberation attained?
Ashtavakra said:
1.2
To be free,
shun the experiences of the senses
like poison.
Turn your attention to
forgiveness, sincerity, kindness, simplicity, truth.
1.3
You are not earth, water, fire or air. Nor are you empty space. Liberation is to know yourself
as Awareness alone—
the Witness of these.
1.4
Abide in Awareness
with no illusion of person.
You will be instantly free and at peace.
1.5
You have no caste or duties.
You are invisible, unattached, formless. You are the Witness of all things.
Be happy.
1.6
Right and wrong, pleasure and pain, exist in mind only.
They are not your concern.
You neither do nor enjoy.
You are free.
1.7
You are the Solitary Witness
of All That Is,
forever free.
Your only bondage is not seeing This.
1.8
The thought: “I am the doer”
is the bite of a poisonous snake. To know: “I do nothing”
is the wisdom of faith.
Be happy.
1.9
A single understanding:
“I am the One Awareness,” consumes all suffering
in the fire of an instant.
Be happy.
1.10
You are unbounded Awareness— Bliss, Supreme Bliss–
in which the universe appears
like the mirage of a snake in a rope. Be happy.
1.11
It is true what they say:
“You are what you think.”
If you think you are bound you are bound. If you think you are free you are free.
1.12
You are Self—the Solitary Witness. You are perfect, all-pervading, One. You are free, desireless, forever still. The universe is but a seeming in You.
1.13
Meditate on this: “I am Awareness alone–Unity itself.” Give up the idea that you are separate, a person,
that there is within and without.
Ashtavakra Gita
