Chapter-1, Verse 17

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 1.17

निरपेक्षो निर्विकारो निर्भरः शीतलाशयः। अगाधबुद्धिरक्षुब्धो भव चिन्मात्रवासनः॥१७॥ 

17. You are unconditioned, changeless, dense, of profound intelligence, serene and unperturbed. Desire Consciousness alone. 

As Pure Consciousness you depend upon nothing (nirapekṣaḥ) you are unconditioned. Everywhere, at all times, you are full and so the term used here is ‘dense’ (nirbharaḥ). As a contrast to the burning passions that constantly agitate the egocentric life, the infinite Self in Its supreme peace and perfection is ever serene – ‘of cool disposition’ (śītalāśayaḥ).

This great spiritual centre, Consciousness, is indicated by some Masters by explaining the conditions under which the Self can be experienced. Very often this technique is employed in the Upaniṣads, wherein an adjectival noun, indicating the Self, can in itself be a discourse upon an exercise in Realizing the Self. Here the Self is declared as ‘profound Intelligence – serene and unperturbed’ (agādha buddhiḥ akṣubdhaḥ) meaning, when the intellect is devoid of all its thought disturbances, the Self, as Pure Consciousness, comes to manifest in a clear and direct experience. 

The common advice of all Masters to the seekers is one and the same: ‘Desire this Consciousness alone.’ (bhava cinmātra vāsanaḥ). As our desires, so our thoughts; as our thoughts so our experiences. Desires of world of objects shall create sensuous thoughts and we shall come to experience the world of plurality. Ardently desire for a direct apprehension of the Pure Consciousness alone; our thoughts shall be of the divine Self only and we shall come to experience the great grand Reality of the universe and the life therein.