Chapter-18, Verse 10

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 18.10:

न विक्षेपो न चैकाग्र्यं नातिबोधो न मूढता । न सुखं न च वा दुःखमुपशान्तस्य योगिनः ॥ १० ॥

For the Yogi who has found peace, there is no distraction or one-pointedness, no Higher Knowledge or ignorance, no pleasure and no pain.

The yogi who has found peace is the one who has Realized his True Nature as the Pure Awareness, the Witness of everything, and who is free from all attachments and desires.

For such a Yogi, there is no distinction between distraction and one-pointedness, because he is not affected by the fluctuations of the mind. He is neither restless nor focused on any object, but remains in his own Self.

For such a Yogi, there is no distinction between Higher Knowledge and ignorance, because he has transcended both. He is neither enlightened nor deluded, but knows himself as the Source of all Knowledge.

For such a Yogi, there is no distinction between pleasure and pain, because he is not influenced by the dualities of the world. He is neither happy nor unhappy, but enjoys his own Bliss.

This verse expresses the state of supreme detachment and equanimity that is attained by the Yogi who has realized the truth of non-duality. He is beyond all concepts and categories, and abides in his own Self, which is peace itself.

Similar verses from other Vedic texts that convey the same message of non-duality and peace are:

- From the Yoga Vasistha:

यत्र नास्ति विकल्पोऽयं न च विकल्पवान् भवेत् । तत्र नास्ति विकल्पोऽयं न च विकल्पवान् भवेत् ॥

Where there is no this (the world), nor one who thinks of this; There there is no this, nor one who thinks of this.

- From the Avadhuta Gita:

न मे देहो न ते देहो न देहोऽस्ति कुत्रचित् । अहं चेतन एवाहं त्वं चेतन एव चेतनः ॥

I have no body, nor have you a body, nor is there any body anywhere. I am Consciousness only, you are Consciousness only, Consciousness is Consciousness.

- From the Mandukya Upanishad:

नान्तःप्रज्ञं न बहिष्प्रज्ञं नोभयतःप्रज्ञं न प्रज्ञानघनं न प्रज्ञं नाप्रज्ञम् ।

अदृष्टमव्यवहार्यमग्राह्यमलक्षणं अचिन्त्यमव्यपदेश्यमेकात्मप्रत्ययसारं प्रपञ्चोपशमं शान्तं शिवमद्वैतं चतुर्थं मन्यन्ते स आत्मा स विज्ञेयः ॥

Not inwardly conscious, not outwardly conscious, not both-wise conscious, not a mass of Consciousness, not conscious, not unconscious; Unseen, with which there can be no dealing, ungraspable, having no distinctive mark, unthinkable, that cannot be designated, the essence of the assurance of which is the state of being one with the Self, the cessation of development, tranquil, benign, without a second, such they think is the Fourth State. That is the Self. That should be discerned.