Chapter-20, Verse 01

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 20.1

जनक उवाच ।

क्व भूतानि क्व देहो वा क्वेन्द्रियाणि क्व वा मनः ।

क्व शून्यं क्व च नैराश्यं मत्स्वरूपे निरञ्जने ॥ १ ॥

Janaka said:

Where are the elements, where is the body, where are the organs, where is the mind? Where is the void, where is the despair, in my pure and immaculate nature? || 1 ||

This verse expresses the Realization of Janaka, the king of Mithila, who attained the state of liberation by the teachings of Ashtavakra, a sage of Advaita Vedanta. Janaka declares that he is not the body, the mind, or the senses, which are composed of the five elements and are subject to change and decay. He is not the void, which is the absence of anything, nor the despair, which is the result of ignorance and attachment. He is the Pure and Immaculate Consciousness, the Witness of everything, the Self of all, the one Reality that is beyond all duality and diversity.

- It shows how Janaka rejects the identification with the gross and subtle aspects of the phenomenal world, which are impermanent and illusory, and affirms his identity with the eternal and unchanging reality, which is the substratum of all existence.

- It examines the negation of the void and the despair. It demonstrates how Janaka transcends the nihilistic and pessimistic views of life, which are based on the false assumption of the reality of the phenomenal world, and realizes his true nature as the blissful and immaculate consciousness, which is the source of all Joy and Peace.

For context, here are similar verses from other Vedic texts that convey the same message of non-duality and Self-Realization:

- Yoga Vasistha 6.2.34: 

न मे देहो न मे देही न मे विषयसङ्गतिः ।

अहं चिदाकाशश्चेति निश्चितं मे सदा मतिः ॥

I have no body, nor am I embodied, nor do I have any attachment to the objects of the senses. I am the consciousness-space, this is my firm and constant conviction. 

This emphasizes the detachment from the body and the world, and the identification with the Pure Consciousness, which is Infinite and all-pervading.

- Vivekachudamani 574: 

अहं नित्योऽहमेकोऽहं ज्योतिरूपोऽहमच्युतः ।

अहं शुद्धोऽहमानन्दोऽहं विज्ञानघनोऽहम् ॥

I am eternal, I am One, I am the form of light, I am Immutable. I am Pure, I am Bliss, I am the mass of Consciousness. 

This is a verse from the Vivekachudamani, a treatise on Advaita Vedanta by the philosopher Adi Shankara. It summarizes the attributes of the Self, which are contrasted with the attributes of the not-self, such as change, multiplicity, darkness, decay, impurity, sorrow, and ignorance.