Chapter-18, Verse 31

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 18.31

निर्ध्यातुं चेष्टितुं वापि यच्चित्तं न प्रवर्तते ।

निर्निमित्तमिदं किन्तु निर्ध्यायति विचेष्टते ॥ ३१ ॥

The mind of the Realized One does not engage itself either in meditation or in activity. It becomes meditative and active without any motive spontaneously.

The verse describes the state of a person who has Realized his True Nature as Pure Awareness, the Witness of everything. He does not have any attachment, desire, or motive for meditation or action. He is free from the sense of doership and enjoyership. He is not affected by the dualities of pleasure and pain, righteousness and unrighteousness, or success and failure.

The verse also implies that meditation and action are not opposed to each other, but are both expressions of the same Awareness. The Realized person does not meditate or act with a specific goal or object in mind, but rather with a spontaneous and natural flow of Consciousness. He does not seek anything outside himself, nor does he renounce anything. He is content and peaceful in himself, and in harmony with the world.

The verse also suggests that the way to attain Realization is to cultivate the same attitude of non-attachment, non-doership, and non-objectification in meditation and action. One should not meditate or act with a sense of effort, strain, or expectation, but rather with a relaxed and effortless Awareness. One should not identify with the body, mind, or ego, but rather with the Witness of these. One should not cling to any concept, image, or form, but rather to the formless and infinite Awareness.

The verse can be compared with similar verses from Vedic texts for context. These are:

- Yogavashishta 6.2.8:

यदा नास्ति मनो देहे न चास्ति देहे मनसः । तदा निर्विकल्पो भवति निर्विकारो निरञ्जनः ॥

When there is no mind in the body, and no body in the mind, then one becomes free from all distinctions, modifications, and impurities.

This verse from Yogavashishta, a text that contains the teachings of Sage Vasistha to prince Rama, also describes the State of Realization as one of non-duality, non-identification, and non-differentiation. It also emphasizes the transcendence of the mind and the body, which are the sources of ignorance and bondage.

- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.3.32:

यत्र नान्यत्पश्यति नान्यच्छृणोति नान्यद्विजानाति स भूमा । अथ यत्रान्यत्पश्यति नान्यच्छृणोति नान्यद्विजानाति तदल्पम् ॥

Where one sees nothing else, hears nothing else, knows nothing else, that is the Infinite. But where one sees something else, hears something else, knows something else, that is the finite.

This verse from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the oldest and most authoritative Upanishads, contrasts the State of Realization with the state of bondage. It also defines the Infinite as the state of non-duality, non-diversity, and non-difference, and the finite as the state of duality, diversity, and difference.

- Bhagavad Gita 5.8-9:

नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् ।

पश्यञ्श्रृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपन्श्वसन् ॥ प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि ।

इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥

I do nothing at all, thus would the knower of Reality think. Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing, speaking, letting go, seizing, opening and closing the eyes, convinced that it is the senses that move among the sense-objects.

These verses from Bhagavad Gita, a text that contains the teachings of Lord Krishna to Arjuna, also express the attitude of non-doership, non-attachment, and non-involvement in the Realized person. They also illustrate the detachment of the Witness from the activities of the senses and the sense-objects.