ಅಷ್ಟಾವಕ್ರ ಗೀತಾ is a 20-chapter dialogue of direct ಅದ್ವೈತ that keeps cutting through the same illusion: taking the body-mind to be the Self. It does not try to decorate life with new beliefs; it tries to remove the deeper misunderstanding that makes life feel like a constant struggle for security.
So far the dialogue has moved through a clear arc. Chapter 1 answers ಜನಕ's questions about ಜ್ಞಾನ, ಮುಕ್ತಿ, and ವೈರಾಗ್ಯ by warning against compulsive attachment to ವಿಷಯs while pointing to the witness. Chapters 2-4 express recognition and then mature it into lived freedom.
Seen as a whole, Chapter 10 is a chapter of "enough." It repeats a single medicine: recognize what has never truly satisfied, stop fueling it, and let the mind rest. ತೃಷ್ಣಾ (craving-thirst) is named as the essence of bondage, and the chapter says that rest comes not by rearranging the world again, but by ending the compulsion that keeps you rearranging.
ಅಷ್ಟಾವಕ್ರ ಉವಾಚ ॥
ವಿಹಾಯ ವೈರಿಣಂ ಕಾಮಮರ್ಥಂ ಚಾನರ್ಥಸಂಕುಲಮ್ ।
ಧರ್ಮಮಪ್ಯೇತಯೋರ್ಹೇತುಂ ಸರ್ವತ್ರಾನಾದರಂ ಕುರು ॥ 10-1॥
Translation (ಭಾವಾರ್ಥ):
Ashtavakra said: Abandon craving, the enemy, and abandon wealth that is entangled with harm. Even ಧರ್ಮ, when treated as a means for craving and wealth, do not treat as your ultimate. Practice non-importance toward these everywhere.
ಸ್ವಪ್ನೇಂದ್ರಜಾಲವತ್ ಪಶ್ಯ ದಿನಾನಿ ತ್ರೀಣಿ ಪಂಚ ವಾ ।
ಮಿತ್ರಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಧನಾಗಾರದಾರದಾಯಾದಿಸಂಪದಃ ॥ 10-2॥
Translation (ಭಾವಾರ್ಥ):
See possessions and supports as dreamlike or like a magic show - lasting only a few days (three, five, or so). Friends, land, wealth, houses, spouses, heirs, and related prosperities are not lasting refuges.
ಯತ್ರ ಯತ್ರ ಭವೇತ್ತೃಷ್ಣಾ ಸಂಸಾರಂ ವಿದ್ಧಿ ತತ್ರ ವೈ ।
ಪ್ರೌಢವೈರಾಗ್ಯಮಾಶ್ರಿತ್ಯ ವೀತತೃಷ್ಣಃ ಸುಖೀ ಭವ ॥ 10-3॥
Translation (ಭಾವಾರ್ಥ):
Wherever craving arises, know that bondage is there. Taking refuge in mature dispassion, be free of craving and be at ease.
ತೃಷ್ಣಾಮಾತ್ರಾತ್ಮಕೋ ಬಂಧಸ್ತನ್ನಾಶೋ ಮೋಕ್ಷ ಉಚ್ಯತೇ ।
ಭವಾಸಂಸಕ್ತಿಮಾತ್ರೇಣ ಪ್ರಾಪ್ತಿತುಷ್ಟಿರ್ಮುಹುರ್ಮುಹುಃ ॥ 10-4॥
Translation (ಭಾವಾರ್ಥ):
Bondage is nothing but craving; the ending of that craving is called liberation. Merely by non-attachment to worldly becoming, contentment with what comes arises again and again.
ತ್ವಮೇಕಶ್ಚೇತನಃ ಶುದ್ಧೋ ಜಡಂ ವಿಶ್ವಮಸತ್ತಥಾ ।
ಅವಿದ್ಯಾಪಿ ನ ಕಿಂಚಿತ್ಸಾ ಕಾ ಬುಭುತ್ಸಾ ತಥಾಪಿ ತೇ ॥ 10-5॥
Translation (ಭಾವಾರ್ಥ):
You alone are pure consciousness; the world is inert and has no independent reality. Even ignorance is nothing - then what is there to know? Yet even so, you still have the urge to know.
ರಾಜ್ಯಂ ಸುತಾಃ ಕಲತ್ರಾಣಿ ಶರೀರಾಣಿ ಸುಖಾನಿ ಚ ।
ಸಂಸಕ್ತಸ್ಯಾಪಿ ನಷ್ಟಾನಿ ತವ ಜನ್ಮನಿ ಜನ್ಮನಿ ॥ 10-6॥
Translation (ಭಾವಾರ್ಥ):
Kingdoms, children, spouses, bodies, and pleasures - even when you were attached to them - have been lost by you, birth after birth.
ಅಲಮರ್ಥೇನ ಕಾಮೇನ ಸುಕೃತೇನಾಪಿ ಕರ್ಮಣಾ ।
ಏಭ್ಯಃ ಸಂಸಾರಕಾಂತಾರೇ ನ ವಿಶ್ರಾಂತಮಭೂನ್ ಮನಃ ॥ 10-7॥
Translation (ಭಾವಾರ್ಥ):
Enough of wealth and pleasure, and even of merit-making action. In this wilderness of saMsAra, the mind has found no rest from these.
ಕೃತಂ ನ ಕತಿ ಜನ್ಮಾನಿ ಕಾಯೇನ ಮನಸಾ ಗಿರಾ ।
ದುಃಖಮಾಯಾಸದಂ ಕರ್ಮ ತದದ್ಯಾಪ್ಯುಪರಮ್ಯತಾಮ್ ॥ 10-8॥
Translation (ಭಾವಾರ್ಥ):
In how many lifetimes have you not done exhausting, pain-giving actions by body, mind, and speech? Let that compulsive labor stop, even now.
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