Chapter-4, Verse 3

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 4.3

तज्ज्ञस्य पुण्यपापाभ्यां स्पर्शो ह्यन्तर्न जायते। न ह्याकाशस्य धूमेन दृश्यमानाऽपि सङ्गतिः॥३॥

3. Indeed, the heart of one who has comprehended the Self is not touched by virtue and vice, just as the space is uncontaminated by smoke even though apparently it exists in space. 

Dust, smoke, clouds and so on remain hung up in space and yet, because of its greater subtlety, it is not contaminated by the existence of these. In the same way, virtue and vice cannot affect one who has comprehended the Self and has come to identify himself with this all-pervading Consciousness. 

Virtue and vice are the negative and positive vāsanās, which create healthy and unhealthy thought currents, which again become the very propelling force behind all good and bad actions. A Man of Wisdom is one who has withdrawn himself from all material things and as such he is ever beyond even the vāsanās. 

The royal activities and their anxieties, the court and its pleasures, the throne and its responsibilities, all are apparently around the saintly king, but none of them can affect his deep spiritual wisdom, just as space is not contaminated by the dust or smoke that is held suspended in it.