අෂ්ටාවක්ර ගීතා is a 20-chapter dialogue of direct අද්වෛත 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 ජනක's questions about ජ්ඤාන, මුක්ති, and වෛරාග්ය by warning against compulsive attachment to විෂයs 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. තෘෂ්ණා (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.
අෂ්ටාවක්ර උවාච ॥
විහාය වෛරිණං කාමමර්ථං චානර්ථසංකුලම් ।
ධර්මමප්යේතයෝර්හේතුං සර්වත්රානාදරං කුරු ॥ 10-1॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
Ashtavakra said: Abandon craving, the enemy, and abandon wealth that is entangled with harm. Even ධර්ම, when treated as a means for craving and wealth, do not treat as your ultimate. Practice non-importance toward these everywhere.
ස්වප්නේංද්රජාලවත් පශ්ය දිනානි ත්රීණි පංච වා ।
මිත්රක්ෂේත්රධනාගාරදාරදායාදිසංපදඃ ॥ 10-2॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
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.
යත්ර යත්ර භවේත්තෘෂ්ණා සංසාරං විද්ධි තත්ර වෛ ।
ප්රෞඪවෛරාග්යමාශ්රිත්ය වීතතෘෂ්ණඃ සුඛී භව ॥ 10-3॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
Wherever craving arises, know that bondage is there. Taking refuge in mature dispassion, be free of craving and be at ease.
තෘෂ්ණාමාත්රාත්මකෝ බංධස්තන්නාශෝ මෝක්ෂ උච්යතේ ।
භවාසංසක්තිමාත්රේණ ප්රාප්තිතුෂ්ටිර්මුහුර්මුහුඃ ॥ 10-4॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
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.
ත්වමේකශ්චේතනඃ ශුද්ධෝ ජඩං විශ්වමසත්තථා ।
අවිද්යාපි න කිංචිත්සා කා බුභුත්සා තථාපි තේ ॥ 10-5॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
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.
රාජ්යං සුතාඃ කලත්රාණි ශරීරාණි සුඛානි ච ।
සංසක්තස්යාපි නෂ්ටානි තව ජන්මනි ජන්මනි ॥ 10-6॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
Kingdoms, children, spouses, bodies, and pleasures - even when you were attached to them - have been lost by you, birth after birth.
අලමර්ථේන කාමේන සුකෘතේනාපි කර්මණා ।
ඒභ්යඃ සංසාරකාංතාරේ න විශ්රාංතමභූන් මනඃ ॥ 10-7॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
Enough of wealth and pleasure, and even of merit-making action. In this wilderness of saMsAra, the mind has found no rest from these.
කෘතං න කති ජන්මානි කායේන මනසා ගිරා ।
දුඃඛමායාසදං කර්ම තදද්යාප්යුපරම්යතාම් ॥ 10-8॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
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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