Chapter-17, Verse 12

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 17.12:

पश्यञ्छृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गृह्णन्वदन्व्रजन् । ईहिताऽनीहितैर्मुक्तो मुक्त एव महाशयः ॥ १२ ॥

Seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, tasting, speaking and walking about; Freed from the good and the bad, the great-souled one is indeed free. || 12 ||

The verse describes the state of a Realized person who is not attached to the sensory experiences of the world, nor to the moral judgments of good and evil. He is a great-souled one (mahāśayaḥ), who has realized his True Nature as the Self (ātman), which is identical with the Supreme Reality (brahman).

The verse implies that the liberated person does not renounce the world or his actions, but rather performs them with detachment and equanimity. He does not seek or avoid anything, but accepts everything as it is. He is not affected by the dualities of pleasure and pain, praise and blame, success and failure, etc. He is free from desire, fear, anger, greed, and other afflictions of the mind.

The verse also suggests that the liberated person does not need any external means or conditions to attain freedom. He is free by his own nature, which is pure consciousness and bliss. He does not depend on any rituals, scriptures, teachers, or gods for his liberation. He has Realized his own Self as the Source of all happiness and peace.

Similar verses from Vedic texts are:

- Īśa Upaniṣad 7

यस्मिन् सर्वाणि भूतानि आत्मैवाभूद् विजानतः । तत्र को मोहः कः शोक एकत्वमनुपश्यतः ॥

In whom all beings have become one with his own Self; What delusion or sorrow can there be for him who sees Oneness? 

- Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.3.15

न कर्मणा न प्रजया धनेन त्यागेनैके अमृतत्वमानशुः । परेण नाकं निहितं गुहायां विभ्राजते यद्यतयो विशन्ति ॥

Not by action, nor by offspring, nor by wealth, but by renunciation alone some attained immortality.

That which is hidden in the highest place shines forth for those who enter it.

- Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.5.19

सर्वं हि सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वम् । सर्वं हि सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वं सर्वम् ॥

All this is all this, all this is all this, all this is all this, all this is all this, all this is all this. All this is all this, all this is all this, all this is all this, all this is all this.