Ashtavakra said:
1. The pure-hearted man fulfills the supreme purpose of life through the instructions of his Guru, even though they be casually imparted. The worldly-minded man studies and enquires throughout his life, yet remains unenlightened.
2. A distaste for the objects of sense is liberations. Attachment to those objects is bondage. This is wisdom. Now act as thou wilt.
3. Knowledge of the imperishable Essence makes a worldly, active, and eloquent man inactive, silent, and wise. What wonder that the holy Truth is shunned by those still attached to the pleasures of the world!
4. Thou art not the body, nor does the body belong to thee, nor art thou the doer, nor the enjoyer. Thou art Intelligence Itself, ever the Witness and free art thou! Live in bliss!
5. Desire and aversion are attributes of the mind. The mind does not belong to thee. Free from scheming and doubting, know thyself to be the immutable Intelligence and live in bliss.
6. Knowing that thy Self is the Self of all beings, and that all beings abide in the Self, released from egotism and the sense of mine and thine, live in bliss.
7. Thou art that Intelligence in which the worlds rise like waves in the sea. Be freed from the fever of duality, and live in bliss.
8. Have faith, O Darling, be not deluded! Thou art the Lord of the Universe. Thou art Knowledge itself. Thou transcendest Nature. Verily, thou art the Self.
9. The body is moved by the Gunas. It comes, stays, and goes. The Self neither comes nor goes. There is no cause for grief.
10. Let the body last until the end of the world-period, or perish today. Nothing can be added or subtracted from thy Self, which is pure Knowledge.
11. In thy Self, the infinite ocean, the Universe rise and fall of their own accord like waves. Let them rise or fall. They do not touch thee.
12. My Child, thou art pure Intelligence, the world is not distinct from thee. Therefore, the thought of rejecting or accepting anything is meaningless.
13. How can there be birth, action, or even the sense of individuality, in thee who art ever tranquil, and by nature pure Intelligence?
14. In whatever is manifest, thou alone appearest. Bracelets, armlets, and rings made of gold, are not other than gold.
15. Renounce all sense of distinction, such as “I am he”, “I am not this”. Know all to be thine own Self, and free from desires, be happy.
16. The world is the result of ignorance of thine own nature. In reality, thou alone art. There is neither jiva nor Ishvara, nothing other than thyself.
17. He who has fully realized that the Universe is a pure illusion, becomes desireless and Consciousness Itself – such a one abides in peace.
18. In the ocean of the world, One alone was, is, and will be. There is neither bondage nor liberation in thee. Live in perfect happiness, and in the consciousness that all is achieved.
19. Do not disturb thy mind with acquiring or relinquishing anything. Abide in the bliss of thine own nature.
20. Give up meditation. Hold nothing in thy mind. Thou are free, and Bliss Itself. What wilt thou accomplish by thought?