அஷ்டாவக்ர கீ³தா is a 20-chapter dialogue of direct அத்³வைத that keeps pointing to the same fact: awareness is already free, and bondage is mostly the mind's habit of claiming experiences as "me" and "mine". The verses are brief but sharp; they do not try to decorate life with new beliefs so much as undo the reflex to live from anxiety, craving, and self-image.
Chapter 16 gives a particularly strong medicine: "forget everything." Not in the sense of becoming careless or blank, but in the sense of releasing the mind's compulsion to hold positions - "this is right", "this is mine", "I must become someone", "I must reach a future state." The chapter warns about two subtle traps: (1) turning renunciation into aversion (hating life), and (2) turning liberation into ego (being proud of being "spiritual").
Seen as a whole, Chapter 16 insists that peace is not proportional to how much you have studied, achieved, or practiced. Inner wellbeing (ஸ்வாஸ்த்²ய) comes from dropping the inner project of becoming. When the mind is no longer trying to grasp or reject life, even the big spiritual opposites - த⁴ர்ம and அத⁴ர்ம, ப்ரவ்ருத்தி and நிவ்ருத்தி, "world" and "liberation" - stop being battlefields.
அஷ்டாவக்ர உவாச ॥
ஆசக்ஷ்வ ஶ்ருணு வா தாத நானாஶாஸ்த்ராண்யனேகஶ: ।
ததா²பி ந தவ ஸ்வாஸ்த்²யம் ஸர்வவிஸ்மரணாத்³ருதே ॥ 16-1॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
Ashtavakra said: Speak and listen to countless teachings in many ways, dear one. Even then, you will not find inner wellbeing, except by letting everything be forgotten.
போ⁴க³ம் கர்ம ஸமாதி⁴ம் வா குரு விஜ்ஞ ததா²பி தே ।
சித்தம் நிரஸ்தஸர்வாஶமத்யர்த²ம் ரோசயிஷ்யதி ॥ 16-2॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
Whether you pursue enjoyment, action, or meditation - and even if you come to understand many things - your mind will truly relish peace only when all expectation has been let go.
ஆயாஸாத்ஸகலோ து³:கீ² நைனம் ஜானாதி கஶ்சன ।
அனேனைவோபதே³ஶேன த⁴ன்ய: ப்ராப்னோதி நிர்வ்ருதிம் ॥ 16-3॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
Everyone suffers from strain, yet almost no one recognizes this. By this very instruction alone, the blessed one attains deep repose.
வ்யாபாரே கி²த்³யதே யஸ்து நிமேஷோன்மேஷயோரபி ।
தஸ்யாலஸ்ய து⁴ரீணஸ்ய ஸுக²ம் நான்யஸ்ய கஸ்யசித் ॥ 16-4॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
Even the smallest activity - like blinking - feels tiring to the one who is weary of busyness. Such a master of non-striving alone knows ease; it is not found by anyone else.
இத³ம் க்ருதமித³ம் நேதி த்³வந்த்³வைர்முக்தம் யதா³ மன: ।
த⁴ர்மார்த²காமமோக்ஷேஷு நிரபேக்ஷம் ததா³ ப⁴வேத் ॥ 16-5॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
When the mind is freed from the duality of "this is done / this is not done" and similar opposites, it becomes independent of the usual aims - duty, gain, pleasure, and even liberation.
விரக்தோ விஷயத்³வேஷ்டா ராகீ³ விஷயலோலுப: ।
க்³ரஹமோக்ஷவிஹீனஸ்து ந விரக்தோ ந ராக³வான் ॥ 16-6॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
The one who calls himself dispassionate often ends up hating objects; the attached person runs after them. But the one free of both grasping and pushing away is neither "dispassionate" nor "attached."
ஹேயோபாதே³யதா தாவத்ஸம்ஸாரவிடபாங்குர: ।
ஸ்ப்ருஹா ஜீவதி யாவத்³ வை நிர்விசாரத³ஶாஸ்பத³ம் ॥ 16-7॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
The whole tree of worldly bondage sprouts from the habit of "reject this / take that." That habit lives as long as craving lives. When craving is gone, the mind rests beyond compulsive thinking.
ப்ரவ்ருத்தௌ ஜாயதே ராகோ³ நிர்வ்ருத்தௌ த்³வேஷ ஏவ ஹி ।
நிர்த்³வந்த்³வோ பா³லவத்³ தீ⁴மான் ஏவமேவ வ்யவஸ்தி²த: ॥ 16-8॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
When you throw yourself into engagement, attachment arises; when you throw yourself into withdrawal, aversion arises. The wise one stays free of opposites, simple like a child, established in natural steadiness.
ஹாதுமிச்ச²தி ஸம்ஸாரம் ராகீ³ து³:கஜ²ிஹாஸயா ।
வீதராகோ³ ஹி நிர்து³:க²ஸ்தஸ்மின்னபி ந கி²த்³யதி ॥ 16-9॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
The attachment-driven person wants to abandon the world to escape suffering. But the one free from attachment is already without inner suffering, and is not troubled even if the world continues.
யஸ்யாபி⁴மானோ மோக்ஷேபி தே³ஹேபி மமதா ததா² ।
ந ச ஜ்ஞானீ ந வா யோகீ³ கேவலம் து³:க²பா⁴க³ஸௌ ॥ 16-1௦॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
One who feels pride about liberation, and also feels possessive about the body, is neither a true knower nor a true yogi - only a participant in suffering.
ஹரோ யத்³யுபதே³ஷ்டா தே ஹரி: கமலஜோபி வா ।
ததா²பி ந தவ ஸ்வாஸ்த்²யம் ஸர்வவிஸ்மரணாத்³ருதே ॥ 16-11॥
Translation (பா⁴வார்த²):
Even if Shiva instructs you, or Vishnu, or even Brahma, you will not find inner wellbeing except by letting everything be forgotten.
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