ASHTAVAKRA GITA - SONG OF SELF - REALISATION

by Chinmayananda

One whose identity has been firmly established in the higher Consciousness, he, thereafter, with his body, mind and intellect only ‘plays the sport of life’. To play is natural for a child, and if you ask children at play why they are playing, they are at a loss how to answer such a ridiculous question? Play (līlā) cannot be any longer a play if it is played for a purpose to achieve a profit. Sport is a natural explosion of one's inherent energy free and spontaneous. Play itself is its own fulfilment. It is in this spirit that a Man of Perfection exists in all fields of his endeavour, apparently functioning as any other man in the world. The difference between a worldly man of passions and a God-man of inner peace is not in the type of actions they perform but in the conscious understanding with which they enter their fields of actions.

No intelligent man will sit on the seashore and complain at the rising and the disappearing of the waves; he knows that this is the inherent nature of the waves. No one will complain at the rising and the setting of the sun each day, because all of us know that this is the inherent nature of the sun. Similarly, a student of philosophy comes to understand with certitude that, like bubbles in the waters, everything in the universe must constantly keep on changing.

So long as one is ill, one should strictly follow the medicines prescribed and obey the dietetic regulation laid down by his doctor. But when the illness has left and full health has come back, the individual pursues his normal habits of healthy living. Similarly, the disciplines of life, laid down by the kindly Masters, are all meant essentially for the rediscovery of mental equipoise in the agitated bosom of the one who is groping in the darkness of ‘ignorance’.

When through sādhanā a seeker comes to a stage when all sādhanās drop off in his own achieved experience of the infinite Self, he is a unique individual, who though bodily lives amidst us, has already become the universal Reality. The experience of the Higher, in him, is spontaneous, effortless, natural. Nothing more can be said of him. He is verily a God living amidst us. He alone is the blessed one! He alone is the blessed one!!

Understanding fully that nothing whatsoever is really done by the Self, I do whatever presents itself to be done and so, I live in true happiness.

Tāmasika people must undertake vigorous programmes of work, prompted by extreme selfish motives, in order to generate in them the dynamism of rajas. The rājasika sādhakas should learn to act vigorously, in a spirit of selfless dedication, in order to generate the brilliance of ‘sattva’ in their bosom. Again, the fully developed sāttvika students, in alert and vigilant moments of ‘actionless action’ must heave themselves to reach the larger awakening into the higher Consciousness in them.

Chapter – 14 Tranquillity Introduction This section consists of only four verses and can be considered as a sacred ‘Psalm on Peace’, wherein the infinite peace of the transcendental state is invoked and glorified.

The outer worldly objects, by themselves, cannot bring any agitation and fever to the mind. It is our desire to possess and enjoy the sense objects that lends to the objects the power and the strength to tyrannise us. When the desires have ended, the mind suffers no more any feverish excitements, and can have none of its terrifying deliriums. The mind becomes calm and serenely happy.

The body made of the five great elements must necessarily go back to the elements. While the body exists, it functions under its predominant qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas. The body has manifested in order to supply us with our required experiences of the outer and inner worlds. The ego possesses the body and through it the ego enjoys the world. In all these patterns of existence, the Self, as the pure Consciousness, is the ‘Illuminator’ of them all. The eternal Self never came, never played, never ended. It was, is and shall ever be. That supreme Truth is your real nature. Then why should you mourn over the death of your body? Should the ocean feel miserable for all the waves that have died?

In you, who are the infinite ocean (of Consciousness), let the waves of the universe spontaneously rise and disappear. There can be no gain or loss to you.

To one who has slept, there can be no more any ‘attempt to sleep’. To the sleeper there is no more any anxiety to sleep, he is already asleep. Similarly, once you have realised that ‘You are indeed the Self, ever free’ thereafter, to think, to contemplate or to meditate upon the nature of the Self, would be to recrystallise your ego and disturb your Experience Divine, with the flutterings of your mind. In short, to give up meditation through meditation is the highest meditation! There is no greater meditation than the meditationless-meditation. It is infinite fulfilment. It is the end of the way and the last leap into the goal. Here yoga ends. The dream of the ego has rolled away. The Self, as the Self, revels in the Self. The meditator has become the meditated. Man has stepped onto the throne of God!

When he thus fulfils the desire, there is a burst of peace and joy and a foolish individual attributes this sense of satisfaction experienced in him to the ‘object’ gained! Viewed more scientifically, it would become easily clear that by the fulfilment of a desire the mind has become calm and our real spiritual nature is no more veiled by the thought curtain that was raised by the mind in agitation.

If hundred people desire one and the same object, it is evidently clear that ninety-nine of them will have to end in disappointment. This daily struggle, artificially created by the total stupidity of the entire community, has been glorified in the modern secular age, by a glamorous term ‘healthy, competitive life’. Those who stand apart and with their peaceful bosom, watch the maddening cruelty of this meaningless struggle, they are compelled to call the modern life of self-exhausting competitions as a ‘rat race in a trap’. In whatever way we may glorify this way of life, in essence, it is but the glorification of a tragedy!!

From the standpoint of a sweating labourer, who is working in the midday sun, a doctor in his comfortable air-conditioned operation theatre is an idler! And the Chief Justice of the country, who is working only for five days of the week and perhaps four hours a day, is an escapist getting exorbitant pay for almost no work at all!! From the standpoint of the noisy politician or a busy commercial agent or a restless social worker, a scientist or a philosopher may appear to be an idler! The subtler the field of investigation, the more the intellect and the mind has to function in single pointed concentration and the body then seems to relax with no apparent activity outside. From the gross viewpoint of the thoughtless majority, all such physical relaxations are labelled as idleness. Thus viewed, a mystic meditator, at the seat of his meditation experiencing the infinite tranquillity or the transcendental state, should certainly be considered as the ‘master idler’.

One who is attached to the world, wants to renounce it in order to avoid its miseries; but one without attachment is free from sorrow and does not feel miserable even in the world.

With his bosom emptied of the monstrous ego sense, he lives fully in his inner happiness, under all conditions and circumstances. A wise man, thus abiding in his Self, is unattached to the world of objects and beings. Even in hell he cannot be miserable; the Bliss in him is infinite.

if there is a vague sense of possession of the body and even a dim anxiety for its security and comfort, the consequent sense of limitations, fattens the ‘ego’ and the experience transcendental gets clouded off immediately!

Aṣṭāvakra declares that when one has the ego sense and the self-conceit towards Liberation – ‘I am liberated’ – or when one has a sense of possession even towards his body – ‘this is my body’ – such an individual is neither a jñānī nor a yogin. As he has not freed himself from his sense of ‘I-ness’ and ‘my-ness’, he should get necessarily tossed about, by his own likes and dislikes, in a world of restless miseries.

Aṣṭāvakra here exclaims that even if you get direct instructions and guidance from the Trinity themselves, yet, the student cannot awake to the higher plane of Godhood unless he, himself, cuts off his attachments to his past memories.

The four different 'goals' in life, indicated by the Hindu ṛṣis as wayside halting places enroute the pilgrimage to the ultimate Self, are all disciplines for the ego to lift itself from its present state of consciousness onto the infinite plane of God-consciousness. So long as the ego persists, duties pertaining to these four ‘goals’ of life are to be certainly respected and followed faithfully, as they can prepare the ego for its final merger

Such a sage is not anxious any longer for the dissolution of the universe; he has no aversion towards its play of plurality. The Man of Truth has awakened from all his illusions. Yet from our viewpoint he is still a member of the community with a physical body and should not, at least, his body have the bare necessities of existence – food, clothing and shelter? Aṣṭāvakra explains that a Man of Perfection lives in his own world of perfect Bliss and his body continues its existence living upon whatever comes to him unasked. Such a Master, though he lives with us, is no more a native of this world.

It is not external behaviour, but the state of his inner Consciousness that distinguishes a Man of Knowledge from an ordinary worldly sensuous being.

The intellect ‘abuses and praises’. The mind ‘rejoices and feels angry’. The body ‘receives and gives’. None of these activities are his. As the Self, in his divine presence, his equipments function and in them the wise man is not in the least involved nor is he responsible for his own spontaneous actions.

The noble-minded one is not perturbed and remains self-poised at the sight of a woman full of passion, as well as of approaching death. He is, indeed, liberated.

When the great courtesan beautifully dressed in muslin and pearls, carrying fruits in a plate, at dead of night approached the temple where Buddha was resting for the day, and knocked at the door, the Lord of compassion woke up, opened the door and met the lusty girl who had reached to tempt the young brilliant man in Buddha. Unperturbed, the man of peace, smilingly approached her, touched her feet and with head bent in humble reverence, said: ‘Mother, how can your son serve you?’ With tears falling from her eyes she fell prostrate, apologised and returned to her nearby residence. In time she became one of the greatest workers in the Master’s camp. Here is the example of the serene tranquillity of the mind of the Liberated in life. For such a mind, death has no ferocity; love no enchantment. Power has no satisfaction; wealth has no charm for the true Man of Wisdom.

The outer objects, by themselves, cannot disturb an individual nor can the mind by itself create any restlessness. Only when the mind comes in contact with the world of objects and reacts, then alone storms are raised in the bosom. The mind reacts, because of the vāsanās in the mind. Man of Perfection is one who has emptied his mind of all its memories of the past vāsanās. The serene, tranquil mind of the Liberated can no longer react with the world around, it has become a true instrument to act with.

Living in the Self, as the Self, the sage is never involved in his physical, psychological and intellectual contacts with the world around. His body-mind equipment may function in the world in its unchaste impulses, but he, as Consciousness, is only an indifferent witness of it all.

one liberated in life is to be considered as God in action.

The inertia (tamas) veils the intellect and then the mind becomes agitated (rajas) with its projections and imaginations. Pure ‘non-apprehension’ of the Reality is created by ‘tamas’ and the ‘misapprehensions’ are produced by the ‘rajas’. When these two factors are controlled through sādhanā, the ‘sattva’ predominates in the mind and makes it more and more contemplative. In the zenith of meditation, when even the last traces of ‘rajas’ and ‘tamas’ are ended, there the pure sāttvika mind transcends itself and merges with the infinite Consciousness. Māyā is crossed here. Avidyā is ended.

Even the most potential man of achievement must have been a helpless bundle of living limbs when he was in his mother's womb. Limited by the shells of the mind and intellect, the infinitely divine and omnipotent Reality lives today as a helpless ego chained to our bosom! To release this individuality out of its entanglements is to hatch it out of its shell of time and space. It thereafter lives in the realisation of its true infinite nature.

Any discourse upon the nature of this Reality can only be a futile attempt on the part of the Teacher, because the student will never be able to intellectually apprehend That which lies beyond the compass of his intellect's understanding. And yet, the intellectual students, naturally demand an explanation, a discourse, an exhaustive description, a comprehensive definition, a lucid exposition of the goal, because the intellectual man cannot subscribe himself enthusiastically to a path of life, without knowing its declared purpose, its

One whose inner equipment has been scorched by the heat of the sun of sorrow arising from his deeds, where can he enjoy happiness, except in the continuous ambrosial shower of desirelessness?

Tranquillity of the mind and inner peace are the rewards of wisdom and right understanding.

Those whose understanding (vision) is fully unveiled, they shine free from misery. As soon as their illusion ceases, the Self is realised.

As an ego, he is preoccupied with his own miseries and his understanding is clouded by ‘tamas’ and shattered by ‘rajas’. When these two moods of the mind are sublimated, contemplativeness increases in mind and the contemplative mind, during moments of its meditation cannot avoid discovering its own illusion and eternal Reality behind them all.

Having known with certitude that the Self is Brahman, and the existence and non-existence are mere imaginations, what can one, who is desireless, know, say or do?

Such thoughts as ‘this is That,’ ‘I am That,’ and ‘I am not this’ are extinguished for the yogin who has become quiet, knowing with certitude that everything is Self only.

The Liberated in life has transcended his mind-intellect equipment and, therefore, in his serenity there is no fluctuation of knowledge, or feeling, that might come to disturb him ever. ‘Distractions’ are the experiences of agitations in the mind. ‘Concentration’ is practised as a discipline of the intellect over the distracted and wild mind. Brilliancy of knowledge or dullness or ignorance are all bright and dull conditions of the intellect. Pleasure and pain are the experiences in the mind.

He experiences what Christ describes as, ‘The Peace, that passeth all understanding’.

upon living his own chosen profession. To a Man of Perfection there is no choosing; he never plans or demands; he just lives. He seems to work in any field that comes to him unasked; he lives upon that whatever comes to him by chance! Under all conditions and circumstances, in all companies, everywhere, at all times, he is supremely serene and blissful in his greater identification with the infinite Reality.

The body was initiated as a resultant of the past deeds. It has arrived in this world to experience not only the rewards of his past noble life but also pay for the bad deeds of the past, in terms of exhausting strifes, sorrowful circumstances, miserable diseases, and so on. But a Liberated in life, with equal enthusiasm plunges joyously into all such actions that reach him and his body vigorously functions, wherein he is no ‘doer’, but only an indifferent ‘observer’, a patient ‘witness’.

16. He, who sees the supreme Brahman, meditates upon ‘I am Brahman’. He who has transcended all thoughts and when he sees ‘no second’, what should he meditate upon? In the verse here, Aṣṭāvakra points out the subtle distinction between the two higher states in meditation. At the earlier stage the student, as a result of his deep study and long reflection, becomes intellectually convinced of the one infinite immutable Reality which is the substratum for the illusory play of names and forms that constitute the universe. Here, the student ‘sees the supreme Brahman’ meaning, he intellectually conceives the Existence and understands the nature of the supreme Reality. At this stage the student should strive to meditate on, ‘I am Brahman’ (aham brahmāsmi). Through this meditation and continuous assertion ‘I am Brahman’ he achieves his total detachment from his equipments and discovers his identity with the infinite Self. This stage is defined as ‘samādhi with thought’ (savikalpa samādhi). As a result of this spiritual practice and long self-discipline, the ego ends, the illusory world of perceptions cease and the seeker awakes to become the sage of direct spiritual experience. He transcends his intellect and its thoughts and experiences the one without a second. Having thus reached this state of Consciousness, wherein he has discovered his perfect identity with the Brahman, Aṣṭāvakra asks very pertinently: ‘Upon what should he meditate?’ Until we sleep, we can try to sleep, but h...

19. He, who transcends existence and non-existence, who is wise, contented, free from desires, does nothing, even if he be acting vigorously in the eyes of the world.

When a child is at play, we cannot call it ‘a work’ though the child expresses its intelligence and exhausts its energy. It has nothing to gain by the play nor will the child lose anything by not playing. Its play is but a natural explosion of its energy! Thus ‘works’ the Liberated in life, in any field that comes to him unasked. There is no impulse of desire behind any of his activities.

Meanin of child beautifully defined

The past actions leave deep and powerful vāsanās, which channelise all the thought flow into definite directions, in each individual. These thought channels, that determine the character of an individual, made by the cumulative effects of his entire past, are called saṁskāras. One yogī may spend all his lifetime in quietude, in a solitary cave plunged in samādhi. Another one may move about in the society, like a mad man, miserably clad, careless of his food, sleeping perhaps on the footpath, exposed to the sun and rain! Yet another, may take great programmes for the cultural revival of a country and for the moral rehabilitation of his community! One may found a religion, and another may float a mission! None of them is responsible for any of his actions because there is no doer ego in any one of them. Their actions are determined by their prārabdha and they are never involved in any of their activities. They live in a realm where our praises and abuses cannot even reach them!

Once the ego is transcended, the identifications with the body and the mind have also ended. In the mind alone the sensations of joy and sorrow can arise. These are different modifications of the mind. These disturbances can reach the mind only with reference to a desire fulfilled or a desire flouted. To the Realised saint there are neither ego nor desires and, therefore, his mind is ever tranquil, as thought agitations cannot rise to disturb his bosom.

the Liberated in life ‘lives like one without a body’.

This supreme state is practically described in Yoga-vāsiṣṭha: ‘Later, having reached holy of the holies, this unborn state, his tranquil mind established in It, he never grieves even amidst the greatest calamities.’8

An intelligent man plans his activities and expects to achieve his chosen goal or earn his purpose. He is clear of his motives. He is precise of his intentions. But an unintelligent fool, if he is questioned, due to his foolishness, cannot say for what purpose he is doing a piece of work. He is unconscious of his intentions. He is not intelligent enough to recognise that his activities are to achieve a definite goal of his. If such a fool were to be asked why he has undertaken a certain activity, he is not able to state his motive (atad-vādī)11. The liberated in life, under the force of the prārabdha of his body, spontaneously acts in the world, mainly to establish goodwill among mankind. But if we were to ask him why he is undertaking such endeavours, he has no answer to give, he can only smile. His actions are without any personal motives; they are all programmes of activities expressing through him as ordained by the Lord of the universe. Here the fool is not able to answer because he is far below the average in his mind and intellect. The wise man is not able to answer the same questions because he is so much arisen above the mind-intellect equipment.

On awakening to the blissful Self, he has realised that the world of names and forms that he has experienced was nothing but a figment of his own imagination. He has awakened from the dream of the subject-object world. Even if he now perceives the world, he recognises it as a magic show. He has now become Brahman, ‘he exists as Brahman itself’.