Chapter-4, Verse 5

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 4.5

आब्रह्मस्तम्बपर्यन्ते भूतग्रामे चतुर्विधे। विज्ञस्यैव हि सामर्थ्य मिच्छानिच्छाविवर्जने॥५॥

5. Of the four categories of existence, from Brahmā down to a grass blade, it is the wise one alone who has the capacity to renounce desires and aversions. 

According to the Upaniṣads, the total world of beings dwelling in the surface of this globe, falls under four types : 

Jarāyuja or Garbhaja – Those that are born from the womb;

Aṇḍaja – Those that are born from eggs; 

Svedaja – Those that are born from warm vapour or sweat; and

Udbhijja – Those that are born of seeds or sprouting up. 

All these together indicate the entire world of beings that exists here amidst us. In order to indicate the entire cosmos, Janaka amplifies his statement and says, ‘From the Creator down to a grass blade’. In short, in the entire cosmos of created beings, the Man of Realisation alone is the sole being who has in him the unique capacity to renounce all his desires and aversions. 

These two feelings represent the entire activities of the mind, and represent the Point 1-C where all impressions first land in the Heart of Man as per Heartfulness Yogic Philosophy. 

The Man of Perfection alone is the one who has gone beyond his mind and hence this uniqueness in him. There is no ego in him and, therefore, he does not react to the external world, in terms of likes and dislikes or in terms of desires and aversions. 

Our mind is coloured by our perceptions and therefore, loaded down with their own vāsanās. The mind lives its days in self-created bondages. The liberated one is he who has renounced the world of perceptions, meaning who has risen above his mind and has apprehended the Self. 

This is the burden of a mantra in Mahopaniṣad: ‘In case you depend upon the world of perceptions, then your mind is bound. In case your mind has fully renounced the world of perceptions, then your mind is liberated.’