அஷ்டாவக்ர கீ³தா is a 20-chapter dialogue of direct அத்³வைத 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 ஜனக's questions about ஜ்ஞான, முக்தி, and வைராக்³ய by warning against compulsive attachment to விஷயs 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. த்ருஷ்ணா (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.
அஷ்டாவக்ர உவாச ॥
விஹாய வைரிணம் காமமர்த²ம் சானர்த²ஸங்குலம் ।
த⁴ர்மமப்யேதயோர்ஹேதும் ஸர்வத்ரானாத³ரம் குரு ॥ 1௦-1॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
Ashtavakra said: Abandon craving, the enemy, and abandon wealth that is entangled with harm. Even த⁴ர்ம, when treated as a means for craving and wealth, do not treat as your ultimate. Practice non-importance toward these everywhere.
ஸ்வப்னேந்த்³ரஜாலவத் பஶ்ய தி³னானி த்ரீணி பஞ்ச வா ।
மித்ரக்ஷேத்ரத⁴னாகா³ரதா³ரதா³யாதி³ஸம்பத:³ ॥ 1௦-2॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
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.
யத்ர யத்ர ப⁴வேத்த்ருஷ்ணா ஸம்ஸாரம் வித்³தி⁴ தத்ர வை ।
ப்ரௌட⁴வைராக்³யமாஶ்ரித்ய வீதத்ருஷ்ண: ஸுகீ² ப⁴வ ॥ 1௦-3॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
Wherever craving arises, know that bondage is there. Taking refuge in mature dispassion, be free of craving and be at ease.
த்ருஷ்ணாமாத்ராத்மகோ ப³ந்த⁴ஸ்தன்னாஶோ மோக்ஷ உச்யதே ।
ப⁴வாஸம்ஸக்திமாத்ரேண ப்ராப்திதுஷ்டிர்முஹுர்முஹு: ॥ 1௦-4॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
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.
த்வமேகஶ்சேதன: ஶுத்³தோ⁴ ஜட³ம் விஶ்வமஸத்ததா² ।
அவித்³யாபி ந கிஞ்சித்ஸா கா பு³பு⁴த்ஸா ததா²பி தே ॥ 1௦-5॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
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.
ராஜ்யம் ஸுதா: கலத்ராணி ஶரீராணி ஸுகா²னி ச ।
ஸம்ஸக்தஸ்யாபி நஷ்டானி தவ ஜன்மனி ஜன்மனி ॥ 1௦-6॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
Kingdoms, children, spouses, bodies, and pleasures - even when you were attached to them - have been lost by you, birth after birth.
அலமர்தே²ன காமேன ஸுக்ருதேனாபி கர்மணா ।
ஏப்⁴ய: ஸம்ஸாரகாந்தாரே ந விஶ்ராந்தமபூ⁴ன் மன: ॥ 1௦-7॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
Enough of wealth and pleasure, and even of merit-making action. In this wilderness of saMsAra, the mind has found no rest from these.
க்ருதம் ந கதி ஜன்மானி காயேன மனஸா கி³ரா ।
து³:க²மாயாஸத³ம் கர்ம தத³த்³யாப்யுபரம்யதாம் ॥ 1௦-8॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
In how many lifetimes have you not done exhausting, pain-giving actions by body, mind, and speech? Let that compulsive labor stop, even now.
Browse Related Categories:
