Chapter-18, Verse 16

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 18.16

येन दृष्टं परं ब्रह्म सोऽहं ब्रह्मेति चिन्तयेत्। किं चिन्तयति निश्चिन्तो यो न पश्यति॥१८- १६॥

He by whom the Supreme Brahman is seen may think 'I am Brahman', but what is he to think who is without thought, and who sees no duality.॥16॥

The first line of the verse implies that the one who has realized the Supreme Reality of Brahman, the Absolute and Infinite Consciousness, may identify himself with Brahman and affirm his non-dual nature. This is the state of jivanmukta, or the liberated while living, who has transcended the ego and the sense of individuality.

The second line of the verse poses a rhetorical question that challenges the notion of thinking itself as a means of liberation. The one who is without thought, or nishchinta, is the one who has gone beyond the mind and its modifications, and who rests in the Pure Awareness of his own Self. He does not see any duality or difference between himself and Brahman, or between Brahman and the world. He is the paramahamsa, or the Supreme swan, who has attained the highest state of nirvana, or cessation of all suffering.

The verse thus suggests that there are two levels of Realization of Brahman: one that is based on the intellectual conviction and affirmation of one's identity with Brahman, and the other that is based on the direct and intuitive experience of Brahman as one's own Self. The former is a preliminary stage that leads to the latter, which is the ultimate goal of all seekers of Truth.

Similar verses from Vedic texts are:

- Mandukya Upanishad 2:

अयमात्मा ब्रह्म 

This Self is Brahman.

- Kena Upanishad 2.3:

नाहं मन्ये सुवेदेति नो न वेदेति वेद च 

I do not think that I know it well, nor do I think that I do not know it; he among us who knows it, knows it; he does not know it, who thinks he knows it.

- Kena Upanishad 1.3:

न तत्र चक्षुर्गच्छति न वाग्गच्छति नो मनः। न विद्मो न विजानीमो यथैतदनुशिष्यात्॥

There the eye goes not, nor speech, nor mind. We do not know, we do not understand, how that can be taught.

- Yogavashishta 6.2.178:

निर्विकल्पं मनो यस्य निर्विकारं च चेतनम्। स ब्रह्मवित् स ब्रह्मवित् स ब्रह्मवित् स ब्रह्मवित्॥

He whose mind is free from all activities, and whose Consciousness is free from all changes, he knows Brahman, he knows Brahman, he knows Brahman, he knows Brahman.