aṣṭāvakra gītā is a 20-chapter dialogue of direct advaita, and by this point it is no longer trying to "convince" the intellect; it is trying to mature the heart. The teaching keeps returning to the same non-dual recognition - you are the awareness that knows experience - but it approaches it through different angles so that residual attachments, fears, and habits lose their grip.
In the previous chapters, the dialogue has already moved from inquiry to lived steadiness. Chapter 1 combines ethical stabilizers with the witness standpoint (sākṣī). Chapter 2 expresses recognition through metaphors like rope-snake and wave-ocean, loosening fear and ownership. Chapter 3 exposes subtle forms of craving and identity even after insight, and Chapter 4 describes freedom as the absence of inner compulsion.
Seen as a whole, Chapter 9 is a chapter of ripening. It begins by questioning the promise of dualities like "doing vs not-doing" and "success vs failure", and it shows how a blessed maturity can arise simply by watching how people live. It then gives a clear contemplative lens: everything is impermanent and mixed with suffering, so clinging is irrational.
aṣṭāvakra uvācha ॥
kṛtākṛtē cha dvandvāni kadā śāntāni kasya vā ।
ēvaṃ jñātvēha nirvēdād bhava tyāgaparō'vratī ॥ 9-1॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
Ashtavakra said: In action and inaction, and in all dualities - when are they ever fully pacified, and for whom? Knowing this, become steady in renunciation through mature disillusionment.
kasyāpi tāta dhanyasya lōkachēṣṭāvalōkanāt ।
jīvitēchChā bubhukṣā cha bubhutsōpaśamaṃ gatāḥ ॥ 9-2॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
For some blessed person, dear one, simply by observing how people live, the craving to cling to life, the hunger for more, and even restless curiosity become quiet.
anityaṃ sarvamēvēdaṃ tāpatritayadūṣitam ।
asāraṃ ninditaṃ hēyamiti niśchitya śāmyati ॥ 9-3॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
Knowing firmly that everything here is impermanent, mixed with threefold suffering, insubstantial, and not worthy of clinging, one becomes peaceful.
kō'sau kālō vayaḥ kiṃ vā yatra dvandvāni nō nṛṇām ।
tānyupēkṣya yathāprāptavartī siddhimavāpnuyāt ॥ 9-4॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
What time or age is there in which human beings are free of dualities? Overlooking them and living with what comes, one attains fulfillment.
nānā mataṃ maharṣīṇāṃ sādhūnāṃ yōgināṃ tathā ।
dṛṣṭvā nirvēdamāpannaḥ kō na śāmyati mānavaḥ ॥ 9-5॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
Seeing the many views of sages, saints, and yogis, who would not grow disillusioned and become calm?
kṛtvā mūrtiparijñānaṃ chaitanyasya na kiṃ guruḥ ।
nirvēdasamatāyuktyā yastārayati saṃsṛtēḥ ॥ 9-6॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
When one has directly recognized the nature of consciousness, what is not a teacher? Through dispassion, evenness, and clear reasoning, one crosses beyond the cycle of wandering.
paśya bhūtavikārāṃstvaṃ bhūtamātrān yathārthataḥ ।
tatkṣaṇād bandhanirmuktaḥ svarūpasthō bhaviṣyasi ॥ 9-7॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
See the changes of the elements as mere elements, as they truly are. From that very moment, you will be freed from bondage and established in your own nature.
vāsanā ēva saṃsāra iti sarvā vimuñcha tāḥ ।
tattyāgō vāsanātyāgātsthitiradya yathā tathā ॥ 9-8॥
Translation (bhāvārtha):
Latent tendencies alone are the cycle of bondage. Release them all. Real renunciation is the dropping of tendencies; then you abide today, as you are.
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