අෂ්ටාවක්ර ගීතා is a 20-chapter dialogue of direct අද්වෛත, moving from questions to recognition to the quiet stabilization of freedom. Its repeated teaching is simple: you are the awareness that knows experience, not the body-mind that is experienced. The aim is not to build a new spiritual identity, but to dissolve the old habit of identification that produces fear, craving, and inner struggle.
In the previous chapters, this recognition has been approached from many angles. Chapter 1 points to the witness (සාක්ෂී) and warns against compulsive attachment to විෂයs. Chapters 2-4 describe recognition and its lived texture. Chapters 5-9 emphasize ලය and the dropping of grasping and renouncing, and Chapter 10 presses dispassion further by calling තෘෂ්ණා the essence of bondage.
Seen as a whole, Chapter 12 is a chapter of "resting as is." It shows the aftermath of clarity: aversion to noisy busyness, fading attraction to sensory distraction, and the dropping of the constant inner project of achieving a special state. The refrain is not laziness; it is the taste of freedom that comes when the mind stops bargaining with reality and stops trying to turn spirituality into another achievement.
ජනක උවාච ॥
කායකෘත්යාසහඃ පූර්වං තතෝ වාග්විස්තරාසහඃ ।
අථ චිංතාසහස්තස්මාද් ඒවමේවාහමාස්ථිතඃ ॥ 12-1॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
Janaka said: Earlier I grew weary of bodily busyness; then I grew weary of excessive speech; then I grew weary of constant thinking. Therefore, in this way, I abide.
ප්රීත්යභාවේන ශබ්දාදේරදෘශ්යත්වේන චාත්මනඃ ।
වික්ෂේපෛකාග්රහෘදය ඒවමේවාහමාස්ථිතඃ ॥ 12-2॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
Because there is no attraction to sound and other sense-objects, and because the Self is not a visible object, my mind is free from both distraction and forced concentration. Thus I abide.
සමාධ්යාසාදිවික්ෂිප්තෞ ව්යවහාරඃ සමාධයේ ।
ඒවං විලෝක්ය නියමමේවමේවාහමාස්ථිතඃ ॥ 12-3॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
When one becomes distracted even by samAdhi and such pursuits, one turns to worldly activity for the sake of settling. Seeing this pattern, I abide as I am.
හේයෝපාදේයවිරහාද් ඒවං හර්ෂවිෂාදයෝඃ ।
අභාවාදද්ය හේ බ්රහ්මන්න් ඒවමේවාහමාස්ථිතඃ ॥ 12-4॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
Because the inner habit of "reject this / accept that" has dropped, and because elation and dejection have faded, O Brahman, today I abide thus.
ආශ්රමානාශ්රමං ධ්යානං චිත්තස්වීකෘතවර්ජනම් ।
විකල්පං මම වීක්ෂ්යෛතෛරේවමේවාහමාස්ථිතඃ ॥ 12-5॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
Seeing as imagination the alternatives of ashrama or no ashrama, meditation, and taking or rejecting mental discipline, I abide thus.
කර්මානුෂ්ඨානමජ්ඤානාද් යථෛවෝපරමස්තථා ।
බුධ්වා සම්යගිදං තත්ත්වමේවමේවාහමාස්ථිතඃ ॥ 12-6॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
Seeing that compulsive action arises from ignorance and that it naturally ceases when ignorance is understood, and understanding this truth rightly, I abide thus.
අචිංත්යං චිංත්යමානෝऽපි චිංතාරූපං භජත්යසෞ ।
ත්යක්ත්වා තද්භාවනං තස්මාද් ඒවමේවාහමාස්ථිතඃ ॥ 12-7॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
Even the unthinkable, when it is thought about, becomes only a thought-form. Therefore, giving up that kind of contemplation, I abide thus.
ඒවමේව කෘතං යේන ස කෘතාර්ථෝ භවේදසෞ ।
ඒවමේව ස්වභාවෝ යඃ ස කෘතාර්ථෝ භවේදසෞ ॥ 12-8॥
Translation (භාවාර්ථ):
The one by whom this is done is fulfilled; and the one whose natural state is like this is fulfilled.
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