Ashtavakra said:
1. Knowing the Self to be indestructible and one by nature, how is it that thou, having attained wisdom, art still concerned with the acquisition of wealth?
2. A craving for the objects of the senses rises out of the illusion caused by ignorance of the real nature of the Self. Just as the illusion of silver in the mother-of-pearl causes an attachment for it.
3. Why should one who knows his Self to be That in which universes rise and fall like waves in the sea, run hither and thither like a suffering creature?
4. Having heard that his Self is pure Consciousness, and of surpassing attraction, why is he still attached to lust which gives rise to increased body consciousness?
5. How strange that the Sage who knows all beings to be in the Self, and the Self to be in all beings, should still continue to harbor the sense of possession.
6. It is strange that one who is established in the great truth of non-duality, and is desirous of liberation, should allow himself to be weakened by the practice of amorous pastimes.
7. Lust is radically opposed to Knowledge. How strange that one who is physically enfeebled and has reached the end of his life, is still eager for sensual enjoyment.
8. How strange that he who is indifferent to the objects of this world and the next, who discriminates between the eternal and the passing, and who yearns for emancipation, should still fear the loss of individuality, occasioned by release.
9. The wise man who is serene within, ever perceives the absolute Self, and is neither pleased nor angry when abused and tormented.
10. The Mahatma regards the actions of his body as not different from those of another body. Whether praised or blamed, he abides in the Self, undisturbed.
11. He who has realized the Universe as mere phenomenon, and has lost all real interest therein, does not fear the approach of death.
12. He whose mind is desireless even in disappointment, and who is fully satisfied with the Knowledge of the Self, he is verily incomparable.
13. Knowing the object of perception to be naught by nature, that steady-minded one neither accepts this nor rejects that.
14. Having given up all attachment to external objects and transcended the influence of the pairs of opposites, the Sage, free from desire, does not feel pleasure or pain in anything he experiences.