Chapter-16, Verse 10

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 16.10:

यस्याभिमानो मोक्षेऽपि देहेऽपि ममता तथा ।

न च ज्ञानी न वा योगी केवलं दुःखभागसौ ॥ १० ॥

He who is proud about even liberation or his own body, and feels them his own, is neither a seer or a yogi. He is still just a sufferer.

- The first line of the verse describes the attitude of a person who is attached to his ego and identifies himself with his body and his achievements. Such a person thinks that he has attained liberation or that he owns his body, and thus becomes proud and possessive of them. He does not Realize that both liberation and body are not his True Nature, but are only temporary and illusory phenomena.

- The second line of the verse states that such a person is neither a jñānī nor a yogī. A jñānī is one who has Realized the Supreme Knowledge of the Self, which is beyond all duality and distinction. A yogī is one who has attained the union of the individual soul with the universal soul, which is the ultimate goal of yoga. Both jñānī and yogī are free from ego and attachment, and are established in their True Nature, which is Pure Consciousness and Bliss.

- The third line of the verse concludes that such a person is only a duḥkhabhāga, or a partaker of misery. He is still bound by ignorance and delusion, and suffers from the effects of his actions and desires. He has not attained the state of peace and happiness, which is the essence of liberation. He is still in the cycle of birth and death, which is the source of all sorrow.

There are many verses from other Vedic texts that convey similar messages. 

- The Bhagavad Gita (2.71) says:

विहाय कामान्यः सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति निःस्पृहः ।

निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः स शान्तिमधिगच्छति ॥

He who renounces all desires and moves about without longing, without the sense of mine and without egoism — he attains peace.

- The Mundaka Upanishad (3.2.9) says:

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 by much hearing.

He is to be attained only by the one whom He chooses. To such a one the Self reveals His own form.

- The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (2.40) says:

शौचात्स्वाङ्गजुघुप्सा परैरसंसर्गः ॥

From purity arises a disinclination for contact with one’s own body and for association with others.

This verse implies that one who is pure in mind and body becomes detached from his own physical existence and from the worldly affairs. He does not identify himself with his body or with his relations, but seeks the solitude and silence of the self. He is not proud or attached to anything, but is content and serene in his own nature.