aṣṭāvakra gītā is a 20-chapter Advaitic dialogue that keeps returning to one essential correction: you are the awareness that knows experience, not the body-mind that experiences. The work moves quickly because it speaks from the standpoint of freedom. Yet its aim is not to make you careless; it is to make you honest.
The previous chapters have steadily prepared the ground for Chapter 8's crisp definitions. Chapter 1 points janaka to the witness (sākṣī) and warns against attachment to viṣayas. Chapter 2 expresses recognition through metaphors like rope-snake and wave-ocean. Chapter 3 diagnoses the remaining knots of desire and identity, and Chapter 4 describes the texture of lived freedom.
Seen as a whole, Chapter 8 is a diagnostic tool you can use daily. It says: observe your mind - not to judge it, but to see what is actually happening. When the mind is busy with wanting, worrying, holding, pushing away, and reacting, that very movement is bondage.
aṣṭāvakra uvācha ॥
tadā bandhō yadā chittaṃ kiñchid vāñChati śōchati ।
kiñchin muñchati gṛhṇāti kiñchiddhṛṣyati kupyati ॥ 8-1॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
Ashtavakra said: When the mind desires or grieves, when it clings or pushes away, when it becomes excited or angry - that is bondage.
tadā muktiryadā chittaṃ na vāñChati na śōchati ।
na muñchati na gṛhṇāti na hṛṣyati na kupyati ॥ 8-2॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
When the mind does not crave or grieve, does not cling or push away, does not get thrilled or angry - that is liberation.
tadā bandhō yadā chittaṃ saktaṃ kāsvapi dṛṣṭiṣu ।
tadā mōkṣō yadā chittamasaktaṃ sarvadṛṣṭiṣu ॥ 8-3॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
When the mind clings to some perceptions, that is bondage. When the mind is unattached toward all perceptions, that is liberation.
yadā nāhaṃ tadā mōkṣō yadāhaṃ bandhanaṃ tadā ।
matvēti hēlayā kiñchinmā gṛhāṇa vimuñcha mā ॥ 8-4॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
When there is no ego-sense "I", there is liberation; when there is "I", there is bondage. Understanding this, lightly: do not grasp anything, and do not reject anything.
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