Ashtavakra Gita

देहाभिमानपाशेन चिरं बद्धोऽसि पुत्रक । बोधोऽहं ज्ञानखंगेन तन्निष्कृत्य सुखी भव ॥

dehābhimānapāśena ciraṃ baddho'si putraka bodho'haṃ jñānakhaḍgena tanniṣkṛtya sukhī bhava

O son, you have become habitual of thinking “I am body” since long. Experience the Self and by this sword of knowledge cut that bondage and be happy.

~ Chapter…

वाग्मिप्राज्ञामहोद्योगं जनं मूकजडालसं।

शून्या दृष्टिर्वृथा चेष्टा विकलानीन्द्रियाणि च ।

न स्पृहा न विरक्तिर्वा क्षीणसंसारसागरे ॥ 17.९ ॥

śūnyā dṛṣṭirvṛthā ceṣṭā vikalānīndriyāṇi ca

Questioner (Q): Is ego pride? What is enlightenment?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Ego is the ‘I’-feeling that causes you suffering.

Pride causes you suffering, but it is not merely pride that causes you suffering: even the opposite of pride causes you suffering. Taking yourself as too big will cause suffering, but

निराधारा ग्रहव्यग्रा मूढाः संसारपोषकाः ।

एतस्यानर्थमूलस्य मूलच्छेदः कृतो बुधैः ॥ 18.३८ ॥

nirādhārā grahavyagrā mūḍhāḥ saṃsārapoṣakāḥ

निर्वासनं हरिं दृष्ट्वा तूष्णीं विषयदन्तिनः ।

पलायन्ते न शक्तास्ते सेवन्ते कृतचाटवः ॥ 18.४६ ॥

nirvāsanaṃ hariṃ dṛṣṭvā tūṣṇīṃ viṣayadantinaḥ

नाहं देहो न मे देहो बोधोऽहमिति निश्चयी।

कैवल्यं इव संप्राप्तो न स्मरत्यकृतं कृतम्॥ ११.६ ॥

nāhaṃ deho na me deho bodho'hamiti niścayī

अलमर्थेन कामेन सुकृतेनापि कर्मणा ।

एभ्यः संसारकान्तारे न विश्रान्तमभून्मनः ॥ 10.७ ॥

alamarthena kāmena sukṛtenāpi karmaṇā

कूटस्थं बोधमद्वैतमात्मानं परिभावय ।आभासोऽहं भ्रमं मुक्त्वा भावं बाह्यमथान्तरम् ॥ १-१३॥

kūṭasthaṃ bodhamadvaitamātmānaṃ paribhāvaya ।ābhāso’haṃ bhramaṃ muktvā bhāvaṃ bāhyamathāntaram ॥ 1-13॥

ज्ञः सचिन्तोऽपि निश्चिन्तः सेन्द्रियोऽपि निरिन्द्रियः।सुबुद्धिरपि निर्बुद्धिः साहंकारोऽनहङ्कृतिः॥ ॥१८- ९५॥

jñaḥ sacinto’pi niścintaḥ sendriyo’pi nirindriyaḥ ।subuddhirapi nirbuddhiḥ sāhaṅkāro’nahaṅkṛtiḥ ॥ 18-95॥

समदुःखसुखः पूर्ण आशानैराश्ययोः समः ।समजीवितमृत्युः सन्नेवमेव लयं व्रज ॥ ५-४॥

samaduḥkhasukhaḥ pūrṇa āśānairāśyayoḥ samaḥ ।samajīvitamṛtyuḥ sannevameva layaṃ vraja ॥ 5-4॥

निराधारा ग्रहव्यग्रा मूढाः संसारपोषकाः ।एतस्यानर्थमूलस्य मूलच्छेदः कृतो बुधैः ॥ १८–३८॥

nirādhārā grahavyagrā mūḍhāḥ saṃsārapoṣakāḥ ।etasyānarthamūlasya mūlacchedaḥ kṛto budhaiḥ ॥ 18-38॥

समाध्यासादिविक्षिप्तौ व्यवहारः समाधये ।एवं विलोक्य नियमं एवमेवाहमास्थितः ॥ १२-३॥

samādhyāsādivikṣiptau vyavahāraḥ samādhaye ।evaṃ vilokya niyamaṃ evamevāhamāsthitaḥ ॥ 12-3॥

वाग्मिप्राज्ञामहोद्योगं जनं मूकजडालसम् ।करोति तत्त्वबोधोऽयमतस्त्यक्तो बुभुक्षभिः ॥ १५-३॥

vāgmiprājñāmahodyogaṃ janaṃ mūkajaḍālasam ।karoti tattvabodho’yamatastyakto bubhukṣabhiḥ ॥ 15-3॥

Acharya Prashant: Two excerpts are with us.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.”

The thought ‘I am the doer’ is the bite of the poisonous snake.

To know ‘I do nothing’ is the wisdom of faith. Be joyful.

Ashtavakra Gita

सुखे दुःखे नरे नायाॆं संपत्सु विपत्सुच ।

विशेषो नैव धीरस्य सर्वत्र समदर्शिनः।।

अष्टावक्र गीता ।।१७-१५।।

Question: Ashtavakra Gita, chapter 16 verse 1:

“Son! Even if you read many scriptures many times, or you listen to them, yet you will not attain to your nature until and unless you forget all of them.”

There is no aggression nor compassion, no pride nor humility, no wonder nor confusion for the man whose days of samsara are over.

Ashtavakra Gita (Chapter 17, Shlok 6)

Acharya Prashant (AP):

तवैवाज्ञानतो विश्वं त्वमेकः परमार्थतः।त्वत्तोऽन्यो नास्ति संसारी नासंसारी च कश्चन॥

It is through your ignorance alone that the universe appears to exist. In reality you are the One. Other than you there is no individual self or supreme Self.

prakṛtyā śūnyacitto yaḥ pramādād bhāvabhāvanaḥnidrito bodhita iva kṣīṇasaṁsmaraṇo hi saḥ.

(Ashtavakra Gita 14.1)

Translation: He indeed has his recollections of worldly life extinguished – who becomes void-minded spontaneously, who thinks of sense objects only by chance, and who is, as it were, awake though physically asleep.

निःसंगो निष्क्रियोऽसि त्वं स्वप्रकाशो निरंजनः। अयमेव हि ते बन्धः समाधिमनुतिष्ठति॥१-१५॥

~ अष्टावक्र गीता

Translation: You are now and forever free, luminous, transparent, and still. The practice of meditation keeps one in bondage.

आचक्ष्व शृणु वा तात नानाशास्त्राण्यनेकशः। तथापि न तव स्वास्थ्यं सर्वविस्मरणाद् ऋते॥

– अष्टावक्र गीता (अध्याय-१६ सूत्र-१)

śuddhamadvayamātmānaṁ bhāvayanti kubuddhayaḥna tu jānanti saṁmohādyāvajjīvamanirvṛtāḥ-Ashtavakra Gita(18-43)

Translation: The stupid one thinks of himself, and lives in the confusion of concepts.The wise one knows himself and lives in the joy of clarity.

यदि देहं पृथक् कृत्य चिति विश्राम्य तिष्ठसि।

अधुनैव सुखी शान्तो बन्धमुक्तो भविष्यसि॥

– अष्टावक्र गीता (१.४)

समोऽहं सर्वभूतेषु न मे द्वेष्योऽस्ति न प्रिय:।

ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या मयि ते तेषु चाप्यहम्।।29।।

samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣhu na me dveṣhyo ’sti na priyaḥ

A guide to handling difficult periods, adapting to unexpected changes, learning from experiences, seeking support, and continuing forward with confidence and patience.

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Questioner: A lot of students that I talk to — it’s the fear of the society, it’s the fear of the unknown, it’s fear of the expectations that they are carrying, that pushes them to become an engineer and then they figure out that probably this is not something that they wanted to be. And that is the reality of a lot of individuals and not just engineers. Probably, here is something that is stopping me from taking a plunge of starting something of myself, right? Fear is something that is stopping somebody who is in a relationship for ten years to take that step to get married. Where does this fear come from? Acharya Prashant: Lack of love, which comes from lack of self-knowledge. You see, when I tie my sense of existence, my very identity, to something that is unreliable, I will have to be afraid. It’s like putting my heart on this table. Now, how can I live in security? The heart is out there on the table, anybody can take it away, anything can happen to it. Or the heart might grow legs and walk away on its own. My very existence has been subjected to something that is not in my control. Something that is definitely going to deceive me at some point, that is fear. My sense of self-worth comes from my monies, my bank account, I will be afraid. That bank account can be closed anytime, anything can happen. My sense of self-worth comes from my physical appearance. I very well know, time will take it away, I will be afraid. Right? Who am I? I am the one who is praised or worshipped by the society. Oh! I will be so afraid, so afraid! You talked of people working for their images, they would be living a cursed life. Because, their heart is out there in the hands of strangers. Their entire identity is tied to their image and the image is in the eyes of other people. So, the image can be distorted or can disappear any moment. Just imagine, how afraid they would be all the time. That’s with the ego. Because, the ego, as I said, is a fundamental sense of incompleteness. Therefore, to complete itself, it just associates itself to anything possible. And the things that you are associating yourself with, they are not reliable. They belong to the world and the world can take them away. They belong to time. They came with time and with time all those things will disappear. And you have tied your identity to those things. Now how can you rest in peace? That’s fear. If you do not have self-knowledge, you will always be afraid. My identity is linked to my husband’s identity. Now the husband has two legs. And the husband has a brain, a mind of his own. If your identity comes from your husband’s name, as happens in India at least, you would always be afraid as a wife. The husband can change his mind any day. You would always be, you know, having one eye on his secretary, and the other eye in his email and mobile phone. What’s he getting into? Who’s texting him? Why is he on the phone so late in the night? Because you are afraid if husband goes away, what happens to you? Your very existence depends on the husband. That’s fear. When you operate from the ego centre and make something very, very important for yourself and that something belongs to the world, it can go away anytime, and you are afraid. And in that fear, there can never be love, never be love. If you are afraid of losing something, you will be very violent towards it. Nobody lets his money go and have a walk down the road. What do you do? You lock up your money. That’s violence. When something starts becoming very meaningful to you, you lock it up. You don’t want it to have freedom. And that’s violence. So, love and fear just cannot go together. If you are dependent on something or somebody, you will be afraid. And that dependence cannot be called love. And that is a confusion, we often get into it. Just because you depend on somebody and somebody depends on you, you start feeling as if it is love, it is not. Questioner: Just like the way political parties think that people love them but it actually is fear. Acharya Prashant: Exactly! Love is a rare quality and rarer in politics. Questioner: So, if I am interested in a particular profession, do I not pursue it wholeheartedly? Do I pursue it wholeheartedly knowing very well that the results can either be zero or one? Acharya Prashant: One has to go into the very nature of interest. Aren’t we interested in cricket? Aren’t we interested in seeing songs in movies? Practically, everybody in India is interested in cricket, nobody in Brazil is. And nobody in India is interested in ice hockey. So, that’s how flimsy the whole thing about interest is. In India, if you don’t get a movie with songs, you say, “I am disinterested.” The movie would bomb. In Hollywood, if you have a movie with songs, that would raise eyebrows, what’s going on? Occasionally, you have an OD song but typically there is no song. So, that is the nature of interest. It is never something of the heart. Love and interest are not the same thing. Interest is something that is given to you by your body, by your environment, by random chance, your circumstances and all these. So that’s how your interests come to you. So, if you are interested in a vocation, first of all, you have to ask yourself, “Just two years back, I was interested in something else and two years before I was interested in that and when I was four years old, I was interested in becoming a fighter pilot. What happened to all those interests?” Today, I smile at those things and just shrug them off, “I don’t want to be a fighter pilot.” What you want to be today? Oh! I want to be an investment banker. What happened to the fighter pilot? You were so interested in that. And how do you know, tomorrow you will not be looking at this I-banker, just the way today you are looking at the fighter pilot. The self of a five-year old appears so naïve and immature when you are twenty-five. How do you know that at thirty-five, you will not look back at this twenty-five year old self and say, “What the hell! How was I taking this fellow so seriously?” So, interest is something that you must look at with healthy contempt. Interest, mind you, can even be induced in you. Interest can be aroused in you. That’s what the entire advertising industry is about. They can make you feel Interested in things that is intrinsically worthless to you. So, of what value is this thing called interest? But, then in today’s world, we place so much premium on this word 'interest.' Do what interests you, this, that. Whereas, it is wisdom to realize that interest is the last thing that you should ever go after. Then people come up and say, “No, should we do things that we are not interested in? No.

सङ्करो नरकायैव कुलघ्नानां कुलस्य च ।। पतन्ति पितरो ह्येषां लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रिया: ।।1.42।।

Overview

We want to reach the end of wanting. We want completion, fulfillment in such a final way that we are left with nothing to want anymore. That’s the destination. Born a human being, you will have to act. Act rightly. Act for the right purpose. Live for the right

Whenever you will give a lot of importance to what others give you, you will be afraid, and then you will want to play safe. Make a list of all that others give you—company, attachment, reputation, and these are the things that are at the core of your fear.

The world is your playground. So don’t be so particular about moving only within your pre-existing circle. If your cause is worth it, show some courage and move out.

If you have a tender and precious sapling in your palm, would you plant it in a desert? No. You will…

Simple living is: when I look at somebody, I do not look at the makeup, I do not look at the brand of the clothes, I do not look at the expression the fellow is wearing; I look at the essence of the person. Direct and simple.

I do not…

“You know what, I lost money in stocks and I still didn’t get a heart attack!” Why must you get a heart attack? It is a small matter. Let it happen. It’s okay. Every day more people lose money in the stock market than what is the number of those…

Even when you are identified with being the winner or the loser, still there is something within you which can neither be a winner nor a loser. It is your fundamental nature. It is your fundamental nature that gets hidden when you are obsessed with winning or losing.

The fact…

The one relationship that is of maximum importance is the one you have with yourself.

Worrying is the other name of hope. When you think negatively about the future, you call it worry. When you think positively about the future, you call it hope. So, worrying is just as equally bad as hoping.

Conserve your energy. Train your thoughts. Discipline your little self. Time is…

In fact, if there is one unpardonable crime, it is bad parenting. You are not even killing someone, you are disfiguring someone and sentencing him to live an entire life. How does that sound? It’s like chopping off somebody’s limbs but ensuring that he lives—and he lives an entire life…

Have you looked at kids playing? If you look at kids playing and if you look at animals playing, you won’t find much difference. In fact, human kids go along very well with animal kids. Later on, when we cover ourselves with a lot of acquired knowledge, with a lot…

Most people never evolve beyond their psychological age of three, four, ten, or twelve years. So they have to be consoled like kids.