aṣṭāvakra gītā is a 20-chapter dialogue of direct advaita 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 janaka's questions about jñāna, mukti, and vairāgya by warning against compulsive attachment to viṣayas 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. tṛṣṇā (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.
aṣṭāvakra uvācha ॥
vihāya vairiṇaṃ kāmamarthaṃ chānarthasaṅkulam ।
dharmamapyētayōrhētuṃ sarvatrānādaraṃ kuru ॥ 10-1॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
Ashtavakra said: Abandon craving, the enemy, and abandon wealth that is entangled with harm. Even dharma, when treated as a means for craving and wealth, do not treat as your ultimate. Practice non-importance toward these everywhere.
svapnēndrajālavat paśya dināni trīṇi pañcha vā ।
mitrakṣētradhanāgāradāradāyādisampadaḥ ॥ 10-2॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
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.
yatra yatra bhavēttṛṣṇā saṃsāraṃ viddhi tatra vai ।
prauḍhavairāgyamāśritya vītatṛṣṇaḥ sukhī bhava ॥ 10-3॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
Wherever craving arises, know that bondage is there. Taking refuge in mature dispassion, be free of craving and be at ease.
tṛṣṇāmātrātmakō bandhastannāśō mōkṣa uchyatē ।
bhavāsaṃsaktimātrēṇa prāptituṣṭirmuhurmuhuḥ ॥ 10-4॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
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.
tvamēkaśchētanaḥ śuddhō jaḍaṃ viśvamasattathā ।
avidyāpi na kiñchitsā kā bubhutsā tathāpi tē ॥ 10-5॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
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.
rājyaṃ sutāḥ kalatrāṇi śarīrāṇi sukhāni cha ।
saṃsaktasyāpi naṣṭāni tava janmani janmani ॥ 10-6॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
Kingdoms, children, spouses, bodies, and pleasures - even when you were attached to them - have been lost by you, birth after birth.
alamarthēna kāmēna sukṛtēnāpi karmaṇā ।
ēbhyaḥ saṃsārakāntārē na viśrāntamabhūn manaḥ ॥ 10-7॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
Enough of wealth and pleasure, and even of merit-making action. In this wilderness of saMsAra, the mind has found no rest from these.
kṛtaṃ na kati janmāni kāyēna manasā girā ।
duḥkhamāyāsadaṃ karma tadadyāpyuparamyatām ॥ 10-8॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
In how many lifetimes have you not done exhausting, pain-giving actions by body, mind, and speech? Let that compulsive labor stop, even now.
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