Chapter-5, Verse 2

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 5.2

उदेति भवतो विश्वं वारिधेरिव बुद्बुदः। इति ज्ञात्वैकमात्मानमेवमेव लयं व्रज॥२॥

2. The universe rises from You, like a bubble from the sea, thus comprehend the non-dual Self. In this way, enter into ‘laya’ – the state of dissolution.

‘The sea and the waves or bubbles’ is a very fascinating metaphor that Aṣṭāvakra employs very often all through his song. Here is an exercise in contemplation. Just as the bubbles rising from the sea are all nothing but the waters of the sea, and they rise in different forms, they exist and play about for a time and then disappear to become, in the end, nothing but the waters of the sea, so too, universes spring up from the Self. 

Consistently thus contemplating, quieten the demands and the agitations, passions and restlessness of the equipments. In the hushed silence of such a deep meditation, the undisturbed Consciousness in Its great grand infinitude can then be apprehended. ‘In this way enter into ‘laya’ – the state of dissolution’. Here in the second stage of the dissolution, Aṣṭāvakra indicates that the seeker must dissolve his mind and its desire prompted storms within. 

The assertion ‘I am the infinite Self’ is a daring one and the heroic in heart, protected by his deep understanding of the scriptural texts alone can undertake to walk this majestic path of meditation as described in Vedānta. 

The implication to the assertion ‘I am the Self’, is declared in a verse in Yogavāsiṣṭha: 

brahmendra viṣṇu varuṇāḥ yadyat kartuṁ samudyatāḥ, tadahaṁ cid vapuḥ sarvaṁ karomītyeva bhāvayet.  Yogavāsiṣṭha-6.121.8

‘Maintain the attitude that whatever the Creator, Indra, Viṣṇu and Varuṇa can achieve and accomplish, that I, the pure Consciousness can indeed achieve.’

This is not a blasphemy; this is pure spiritual might! This state cannot be reached all of a sudden; this is to be achieved in slow and steady stages as indicated in the Bhagavad Gītā:

śanaiḥ śanairuparamed buddhyā dhṛti-gṛhītayā, ātma saṁsthaṁ manaḥ kṛtvā na kiñcid-api cintayet. 

Bhagavad Gītā-6.25

‘Little by little, let him attain quietude by the intellect held in firmness; having made the mind established in the Self, let him not think of anything.’