Background
Janaka asks Ashtavakra- How do we obtain jnAna (Knowledge/wisdom)..?
- How will we become muktir (free from desires/worries)..?
- How do we arrive at vairagyam (indifferent to pulls and pressures)..?
Ashtavakra explains in this way.
- Being patient and Candid/sincere are necessity for gaining more and more knowledge (jnAna).
- Being kind and contended are needed to be free from desires (mukti).
- Being Truthful is needed to be indifferent from pulls and pressures (vairagya).
Hence the characteristics of Ksama (Patience), arjva (sincerity/candidness), dayA (kindness), toSa (Contentment) and Satyam (Truthfulness) have to be accepted like ‘nectar'.
These characteristics all arise from our thoughts. How do we develop these characteristics then..?
Sloka 1.3
na pṛthvī na jalaṁ nāgnirna vāyurdyaurna vā bhavān
eṣāṁ sākṣiṇamātmānaṁ cidrūpaṁ viddhi muktaye
You are neither prthvi nor jalam nor agni nor vayu nor dyaus. For becoming free (muktaye), Know/Understand/realize (viddhi) the 'cit-rupam', the 'thought-form', of the witness/observer of the Atman.
'You' are neither earth, fire, water, air or ether. To become free, realize/understand your 'thoughts' are the observers/witness of the Atman.
Sloka 1.4
yadi dehaṁ pṛthak kṛtya citi viśrāmya tiṣṭhasi
adhunaiva sukhī śānto bandhamukto bhaviṣyasi
If/Once body separated (prthak krtya), thoughts remain/situated at rest/peace (visramya tisthasi). Right then (adhunaiva), they become happy (sukhi santo) and will become free (bhavisyasi) of bondages. (bandhamukta)
Once the physical form/body is separated out, thoughts remain at peace immediately, will become happy, will be free of bondages.
Sloka 1.5
na tvaṁ viprādiko varṇo nāśramī nākṣagocaraḥ
asaṅgo'si nirākāro viśvasākṣī sukhī bhava
'You' neither belong to a 'varna', nor 'asrama', nor the dwelling place of senses. You will be unattached, vacant/formless observers of the Universe ever happy.
Sloka 1.6
dharmādharmau sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ mānasāni na te vibho
na kartāsi na bhoktāsi mukta evāsi sarvadā
dharma, adharma, duhkham sukham are derived from the manas (mAnasAni), not (na) those (te) the lord/the great (vibho). Neither the doer, nor the enjoyer, become free from everything.
Meaning
The characteristics of Ksama (Patience), arjva (sincerity/candidness), dayA (kindness), toSa (Contentment) and Satyam (Truthfulness) have to be accepted like ‘nectar' to acquire mukti (free from desires), jnAna (knowledge/wisdom) and vairAgyam (determination).All these characteristics arise from our thoughts.
'You' are neither earth, fire, water, air or ether. To become free, realize/understand your 'thoughts' are the observers/witness of the Atman.
As long as our thoughts are operating around our physical world, we are bound. Once our thoughts move away from the physical world, our thoughts become free and happy.
When our thoughts are around the physical world, we consider ourselves belonging to varna, asrama, as dwelling place of senses etc. But once our thoughts move away from the physical world, they become unattached, vacant observers of the Universe, ever happy.
Our thoughts bring in the concepts of dharma, adharma, pleasure and pain, as long as our thoughts operate around the physical world. These concepts are not the greatest (they are not the Lord).
When thoughts become the observers/witness of the Universe, we become neither the doers, nor the enjoyers, free from everything,
More to come..
-TBT
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