Chapter-18, Verse 15

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 18.15:

येन विश्वमिदं दृष्टं स नास्तीति करोतु वै ।निर्वासनः किं कुरुते पश्यन्नपि न पश्यति ॥ १५ ॥

He by whom all this is seen may well make out he doesn't exist, but what is the desireless one to do? Even in seeing he does not see. 

The verse is addressed to the one who has realized the Supreme Truth of non-duality, that there is no difference between the Self and the Absolute Reality. Such a person is called a jivanmukta, or a liberated soul, who is free from all bondage and ignorance.

The verse suggests that the jivanmukta, who sees the world as an illusion, may also negate his own existence as a separate entity, since he is not different from the Reality that pervades all. However, this is not a problem for him, because he has no desire or attachment to anything, not even to his own Self. He is content and peaceful in his own Nature, which is Pure Consciousness.

The verse also implies that the jivanmukta, who sees the world as an illusion, does not really see it as such, because he is not affected by it. He is not deluded by the appearance of names and forms, nor does he identify with them. He is a Witness of everything, but he is not involved in anything. He is beyond the duality of seer and seen, subject and object, knower and known.

Similar verses from Vedic texts iare:

- Yogavashishta 6.2.34:

यदा चित्तं तदा विश्वं यदा नास्ति तदा न हि ।

अतो विश्वं न विद्याते नास्ति चित्तं तथा विदुः ॥

When there is mind, there is the world; when there is no mind, there is no world. Therefore, know that the world does not exist; nor does the mind, so the wise say. 

- Yogavashishta 6.2.178:

नाहं देहो न देहेऽस्मि नाहं जीवो न जीवकः ।

नाहं विश्वं न विश्वेऽहं नाहं शून्यं न शून्यकः ॥

I am not the body, nor am I in the body; I am not the life, nor am I the living one; I am not the world, nor am I in the world; I am not the void, nor am I the voidness.

- Mandukya Karika 2.32:

न निरोधो न चोत्पत्तिर्न बद्धो न च साधकः । न मुमुक्षुर्न वै मुक्त इत्येषा परमार्थता ॥

There is no dissolution, nor creation; there is no one bound, nor any seeker; there is no one desirous of liberation, nor any liberated one. This is the Ultimate Truth.