Ashtavakra gita
Chapter 1
Verse 1&2
Janaka:
How is knowledge to be acquired? How is liberation to be attained? And how is dispassion to be reached? Tell me this, sir.
Janaka would have felt that something is missing in his life in spite of having huge wealth, fame and pleasures that life can offer. There was yet something to be acquired, attained and reached. He wanted to have knowledge, liberation and dispassion. He must have felt suffering because of ignorance, bondage and passion. So, he asked for the opposites, knowledge, liberation and dispassion.
He was not only a great king of a huge nation, but he was scholarly too. He has studied the Vedic literature and have enough skills and knowledge to rule the kingdom. But, he felt that the knowledge was not sufficient to dispel the darkness in his heart. So, he wanted to acquire knowledge from Ashtavakra who was a liberated sage.
What is the bondage? What made him ask for liberation? He was a king and he had all the freedom to do whatever he wanted to do. He could go wherever he wanted to go. Still, he felt himself to be bound and constrained. He wanted freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom from his habits and patterns.
Everybody wants to be happy and free, but what does not allow one to be happy and free is their own habits and patterns. They are bound by body and mind. Body and mind go through tremendous change every moment influenced by the environment and circumstances. The state of body and mind is fluctuating and this fluctuation causes pain and suffering.
Freedom is freedom from fluctuation.
As an intelligent man, Janaka has noticed that his passions were not letting him to rest and relax. They had put him in never ending chains of actions. He found himself to tormented by his passions and rolling like a football hither and thither pushed and pulled by desires. He has seen that this passion had not taken him anywhere but made him like a restless wanderer and deserted one on the road. He wanted to have the cool comfort of a home within where he could sleep and rest. So, he asked Ashtavakra how to reach the destination called dispassion.
Ashtavakra:
If you are seeking liberation, my son, shun the objects of the senses like poison. Practise tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment and truthfulness like nectar.
The mind seeking satisfaction in objects is the cause of misery. What we hear, touch, feel, see and smell have the potential to bind us with them. They give us a little bit of pleasure but take away the precious gift within, the joy. They elude our mind and clouds the intellect. They are poison to our intelligence. Son, shun the object of the senses like poison.
Practice tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment and truthfulness like nectar.
Tolerance: Not grumbling or complaining or have bitterness when life brings unpleasant experiences in front of you. This ability to withstand the pain with calmness is tolerance. Pain, hurt and discomfort are inevitable in this world. Navigating through the pains and pleasures without resentment or bitterness is tolerance.
Sincerity: Whatever we are doing, doing with honesty is sincerity. Saying one thing and doing another thing is not sincerity. Do it completely and do it honestly. This is sincerity.
Compassion: Daya is the word used for compassion. Daya is not only towards others, but towards oneself.
A good doctor would remain calm, collective and detached while treating his patients, otherwise, he will not help the patient. When he himself gets infected, he must maintain the same calmness and detachment and look at the disease from distance and treat it. Often, we are compassionate towards others faults, but quite uncomfortable with our own faults. We punish ourselves severely.
Not shaken by the dirt, filth and tears of others as well as one's own dirt and filth is compassion.
Contentment: Contentment is a state of needlessness. Contentment is the understanding that the objects of the world cannot fulfill me. Contentment means not to be hungry for pleasure. Contentment is absence of hopes and expectations.
Truth: Truth is what is right now. Ashtavakra says Janaka to practice Truth. What we see in forms are all changing. That which changes with time is false. What is that which does not change in time? The one who is watching all the changes is not changing. Watching the falseness honestly is the practice Ashtavakra suggests by the word Truth.
Chapter 1
Verse 1&2
Janaka:
How is knowledge to be acquired? How is liberation to be attained? And how is dispassion to be reached? Tell me this, sir.
Janaka would have felt that something is missing in his life in spite of having huge wealth, fame and pleasures that life can offer. There was yet something to be acquired, attained and reached. He wanted to have knowledge, liberation and dispassion. He must have felt suffering because of ignorance, bondage and passion. So, he asked for the opposites, knowledge, liberation and dispassion.
He was not only a great king of a huge nation, but he was scholarly too. He has studied the Vedic literature and have enough skills and knowledge to rule the kingdom. But, he felt that the knowledge was not sufficient to dispel the darkness in his heart. So, he wanted to acquire knowledge from Ashtavakra who was a liberated sage.
What is the bondage? What made him ask for liberation? He was a king and he had all the freedom to do whatever he wanted to do. He could go wherever he wanted to go. Still, he felt himself to be bound and constrained. He wanted freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom from his habits and patterns.
Everybody wants to be happy and free, but what does not allow one to be happy and free is their own habits and patterns. They are bound by body and mind. Body and mind go through tremendous change every moment influenced by the environment and circumstances. The state of body and mind is fluctuating and this fluctuation causes pain and suffering.
Freedom is freedom from fluctuation.
As an intelligent man, Janaka has noticed that his passions were not letting him to rest and relax. They had put him in never ending chains of actions. He found himself to tormented by his passions and rolling like a football hither and thither pushed and pulled by desires. He has seen that this passion had not taken him anywhere but made him like a restless wanderer and deserted one on the road. He wanted to have the cool comfort of a home within where he could sleep and rest. So, he asked Ashtavakra how to reach the destination called dispassion.
Ashtavakra:
If you are seeking liberation, my son, shun the objects of the senses like poison. Practise tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment and truthfulness like nectar.
The mind seeking satisfaction in objects is the cause of misery. What we hear, touch, feel, see and smell have the potential to bind us with them. They give us a little bit of pleasure but take away the precious gift within, the joy. They elude our mind and clouds the intellect. They are poison to our intelligence. Son, shun the object of the senses like poison.
Practice tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment and truthfulness like nectar.
Tolerance: Not grumbling or complaining or have bitterness when life brings unpleasant experiences in front of you. This ability to withstand the pain with calmness is tolerance. Pain, hurt and discomfort are inevitable in this world. Navigating through the pains and pleasures without resentment or bitterness is tolerance.
Sincerity: Whatever we are doing, doing with honesty is sincerity. Saying one thing and doing another thing is not sincerity. Do it completely and do it honestly. This is sincerity.
Compassion: Daya is the word used for compassion. Daya is not only towards others, but towards oneself.
A good doctor would remain calm, collective and detached while treating his patients, otherwise, he will not help the patient. When he himself gets infected, he must maintain the same calmness and detachment and look at the disease from distance and treat it. Often, we are compassionate towards others faults, but quite uncomfortable with our own faults. We punish ourselves severely.
Not shaken by the dirt, filth and tears of others as well as one's own dirt and filth is compassion.
Contentment: Contentment is a state of needlessness. Contentment is the understanding that the objects of the world cannot fulfill me. Contentment means not to be hungry for pleasure. Contentment is absence of hopes and expectations.
Truth: Truth is what is right now. Ashtavakra says Janaka to practice Truth. What we see in forms are all changing. That which changes with time is false. What is that which does not change in time? The one who is watching all the changes is not changing. Watching the falseness honestly is the practice Ashtavakra suggests by the word Truth.
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