Chapter-16, Verse 1

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 16.1

अष्टावक्र उवाच ।

आचक्ष्व शृणु वा तात नानाशास्त्राण्यनेकशः । तथापि न तव स्वास्थ्यं सर्वविस्मरणादृते ॥ १ ॥

Ashtavakra said

O son, you may recite or listen to countless scriptures by many, but you will not be well without forgetting everything.|| 1 ||

Ashtavakra tells Janak that merely studying or hearing the various scriptures that teach different paths of knowledge, action, devotion, etc. will not lead him to the State of Realization of his True Self. He advises him to forget everything that he has learned or heard, and to focus on his own direct experience of the Reality that transcends all words.

This verse implies that the scriptures are not the ultimate source of Knowledge, but only pointers to the truth that lies beyond them. They are useful as long as they help one to inquire into one's own nature and to remove the ignorance that covers it. But if one becomes attached to them or identifies with them, they become obstacles to Self-Realization. Therefore, one should not be satisfied with mere intellectual understanding of the scriptures, but should strive to attain the state of Silence and Stillness that reveals one's True Self.

This verse also suggests that the Self-Realization is not dependent on any external factors, such as time, place, teacher, scripture, etc. It is an inner awakening that can happen at any moment, if one is ready and willing to let go of all attachments and preconceptions. As Babuji used to say, one can achieve it in a moment, in the time it takes for one to shake his head from left to right! It is not a result of any effort or practice, but a spontaneous recognition of one's own essence that is always present and pure. It is not a gain or a loss, but a rediscovery of one's original nature that is always blissful and free.

- Bhagavad Gita 12.2-4:

मुनिर्यस्य वचसि श्रुतौ च प्रतिष्ठितं प्रतिष्ठितं मनसि यस्य मुनिर्यस्य । न तस्य प्रतिमा अस्ति यस्य नाम महद्-यशः हिरण्य-गर्भो ’न्तर-मृतो ’क्षरात् परतः परतः ॥

He whose mind is fixed on My personal form, always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith, is considered by Me to be most perfect. But those who fully worship the unmanifested, that which lies beyond the perception of the senses, the all-pervading, inconceivable, unchanging, fixed and immovable - the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth - by controlling the various senses and being equally disposed to everyone, such persons, engaged in the welfare of all, at last achieve Me.

- Katha Upanishad 1.2.23:

नायमात्मा प्रवचनेन लभ्यो न मेधया न बहुना श्रुतेन । यमेवैष वृणुते तेन लभ्यस्तस्यैष आत्मा विवृणुते तनूं स्वाम् ॥

This Self cannot be attained by instruction, nor by intellectual power, nor even by much hearing. He is to be attained only by the one whom He chooses. To such a one He reveals His own Form.