Chapter 16 ॥षोढशोध्याम्॥

आचक्ष्व शृण ुवा तात नानाशास्त्राण्मनके श् ।
तथातऩ न तव स्वास्थ्य ं सवतभवियणाद ्ऋत े॥ १६-१॥
aṣṭāvakra uvāca
ācakṣva śṛṇu vā tāta nānāśāstrāṇyanekaśaḥ
tathāpi na tava svāsthyaṁ sarvavismaraṇād ṛte
Ashtavakra: My son, you may recite or listen to countless
scriptures, but you will not be established within until you can
forget everything.
बोग ं कभ भ सभातध ं वा कुरु तवऻ तथातऩ त े ।
तचत्त ं तनयस्तसवाशभ भत्यथ ं योचतमष्यतत ॥ १६-२॥
bhogaṁ karma samādhiṁ vā kuru vijña tathāpi te
cittaṁ nirastasarvāśamatyarthaṁ rocayiṣyati

You may, as a learned man, indulge in wealth, activity and
meditation, but your mind will still long for that which is the
cessation of desire, and beyond all goals.
आमासात्सकरो दु्खी ननै ं जानातत कश्चन ।
अनने वै ोऩदशे ने धन्य् प्राप्नोतत तनवतृभतभ ॥् १६-३॥
āyāsātsakalo duḥkhī nainaṁ jānāti kaścana
anenaivopadeśena dhanyaḥ prāpnoti nirvṛtim
Everyone is in pain because of their own effort, but no-one
realises it. By just this very instruction, the lucky one attains
tranquillity.
व्याऩाय े तखर्द्यत े मस्त ुतनभषे ोन्मषे मोयतऩ ।
तस्यारस्य धयु ीणस्य सखु ं नन्यस्य कस्यतचत ॥् १६-४॥
vyāpāre khidyate yastu nimeṣonmeṣayorapi
tasyālasya dhurīṇasya sukhaṁ nanyasya kasyacit
Happiness belongs to no-one but that supremely lazy man for
whom even opening and closing his eyes is a bother.

इद ं कृ ततभद ं नतेत द्वंद्वभै िभु ं मदा भन् ।
धभाथभ कभ ाभभोऺषे ुतनयऩऺे ं तदा बवते ॥् १६-५॥
idaṁ kṛtamidaṁ neti dvaṁdvairmuktaṁ yadā manaḥ
dharmārthakāmamokṣeṣu nirapekṣaṁ tadā bhavet
When the mind is freed from such pairs of opposites as, "I have
done this", and "I have not done that", it becomes indifferent to
merit, wealth, sensuality and liberation.
तवयिो तवषमद्वेष्टा यागी तवषमरोरृऩ् ।
ग्रहभोऺतवहीनस्त ुन तवयिो न यागवान ॥् १६-६॥
virakto viṣayadveṣṭā rāgī viṣayalolupaḥ
grahamokṣavihīnastu na virakto na rāgavān
One man is abstemious and averse to the senses, another is
greedy and attached to them, but he who is free from both taking
and rejecting is neither abstemious nor greedy.
हेमोऩादेमता तावत्संसायतवटऩांकुय् ।
स्पहृ ा जीवतत मावद ्व ैतनतवचभ ायदशास्पदभ ॥् १६-७॥
heyopādeyatā tāvatsaṁsāraviṭapāṁkuraḥ
spṛhā jīvati yāvad vai nirvicāradaśāspadam
So long as desire, which is the state of lack of discrimination,
remains, the sense of revulsion and attraction will remain, which
is the root and branch of samsara.
प्रवत्तृ ौ जामत े यागो तनवत्तृभ ौ द्वषे एव तह ।
तनद्वन्द्वभ ो फारवद ्धीभान ए् वभवे व्यवतस्थत् ॥ १६-८॥
pravṛttau jāyate rāgo nirvṛttau dveṣa eva hi
nirdvandvo bālavad dhīmān evameva vyavasthitaḥ
Desire springs from usage, and aversion from abstension, but the
wise man is free from the pairs of opposites like a child, and
becomes established.
हाततुभच्छतत ससं ायं यागी दु्खतजहासमा ।
वीतयागो तह तनदुभ्खस्ततिन्नतऩ न तखर्द्यतत ॥ १६-९॥
hātumicchati saṁsāraṁ rāgī duḥkhajihāsayā
vītarāgo hi nirduḥkhastasminnapi na khidyati

The passionate man wants to be rid of samsara so as to avoid
pain, but the dispassionate man is free from pain and feels no
distress even in it.
मस्यातबभानो भोऺऽे तऩ दहे ऽे तऩ भभता तथा ।
न च ऻानी न वा मोगी केवरं दु्खबागसौ ॥ १६-१०॥
yasyābhimāno mokṣe'pi dehe'pi mamatā tathā
na ca jñānī na vā yogī kevalaṁ duḥkhabhāgasau
He who is proud about even liberation or his own body, and
feels them his own, is neither a seer nor a yogi. He is still just a
sufferer.
हयो मर्द्यऩु दष्टे ा त े हतय् कभरजोऽतऩ वा ।
तथातऩ न तव स्वार्थ् ं सवतभवियणादृत े॥ १६-११॥
haro yadyupadeṣṭā te hariḥ kamalajo'pi vā
tathāpi na tava svāthyaṁ sarvavismaraṇādṛte
If even Shiva, Vishnu or the lotus-born Brahma were your
instructor, until you have forgotten everything you cannot be
established within.