Who Are You Really?

Janaka: "O sage, I have studied the scriptures, performed the rituals, ruled my kingdom with dharma, yet something remains unfulfilled. Tell me—how is knowledge to be acquired? How is liberation to be attained? And how is detachment to be reached?"

Ashtavakra: "You ask three questions as if they were three separate things. But I tell you, O King—they are one. And that one is not acquired at all."

Janaka: "Not acquired? Then how—"

Ashtavakra: "Listen. If you wish liberation, shun the objects of the senses like poison. Cultivate tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment, and truthfulness as nectar."

Janaka: "These I have heard before. The scriptures speak of practices, of paths—"

Ashtavakra: "The scriptures speak to those who do not yet see. I speak to you directly. You are not earth, not water, not fire, not air, not space. For liberation, know yourself as the witness of all these—as pure awareness itself."

Janaka: "The witness? But I feel myself to be this body, this mind that thinks and doubts—"

Ashtavakra: "That feeling is the only bondage. If you distinguish yourself from the body and rest in awareness, this very instant you will be happy, peaceful, and free from bondage."

Janaka: "This very instant?"

Ashtavakra: "This very instant. Not tomorrow. Not after more practice. Not after the body dies. Now. You do not belong to the brahmin or any other caste. You do not belong to any ashrama or stage of life. You are not perceived by the eyes. Unattached and formless, you are the witness of the entire universe. Know this and be happy."

Janaka: "But the world appears so real, so solid—"

Ashtavakra: "Does a dream appear less real while you are dreaming? Yet upon waking, where has it gone? The world appears in you, as you, because of you. You are not in the world—the world is in you."

Janaka: "Then who am I, truly?"

Ashtavakra: "Now you ask the only question worth asking. But I will not give you an answer to memorize. I point: You are that in which all this appears, by which all this is known, and as which all this exists. Find out for yourself if this is true."