Ashtavakra Samhita Chapter 10 Verse 4 - Having desire is but bondage only
Summary: Having desire is but bondage only. Moksha is said to be its destruction. By the state of detachment only, you will attain constant joy. Ashtavakra reaffirmed that desire is the root cause of bondage and suffering and suggested detachment as its direct, practical solution to attain liberation and lasting joy. This approach makes liberation from desires a tangible goal on the spiritual path, with all other practices becoming secondary to this singular goal. Therefore, those who strive for liberation should...
Verse 04
trishnaamaatraatmako bandhastannaasho moksha uchyate
bhavaasansaktimaatrena praaptitushtirmuhurmuhuh
Translation
Having desire is but bondage only. Moksha is said to be its destruction. By the state of detachment only, you will attain constant joy.
Ashtavakra reaffirmed that desire is the root cause of bondage and suffering and suggested detachment as its direct, practical solution to attain liberation and lasting joy. This approach makes liberation from desires a tangible goal on the spiritual path, with all other practices becoming secondary to this singular goal. Therefore, those who strive for liberation should focus on overcoming their desires, knowing that as long as they have them, they cannot hope to be truly free from samara or suffering.
Desires bind the jivas to the world and worldly things, such as material possessions, relationships, and societal status, promoting dependence and attachment to them and preventing them from knowing themselves and becoming free. Due to desires and attachment, the embodied Self is caught in the whirl of Samsara. Because of them, he remains constantly distracted from the reality of himself and his potential to be permanently and independently happy and free. Desires and attachments are responsible for this predicament. They limit our thinking, involve us with the world, subject us to attractions and aversion, and induce modifications of the mind, making us restless, unstable, ignorant, and deluded.
Moksha, the ultimate goal, is a state of absolute freedom. It is a state where we are free from everything that controls, modifies, and influences our thinking and actions. The freedom that comes with detachment is profound, as it liberates us from the need to be something, to achieve something, to possess something, to realize something, to change or control something, or to prove something. It is the right way to establish freedom from the world and its conditioning and value system in contrast to the ego’s desperate methods to prevail and preserve its limited independence and identities through desire-ridden actions, which only leads to further dependence, more desires, and more suffering. Moksha, on the other hand, signifies this ultimate liberation not only from desires and attachments but also from births and deaths. It is attained when we shift our attention from the world, withdraw from it, detach ourselves from it, and establish our minds in that Supreme Reality of the Self, which is complete, perfect, excellent, and which does not depend upon anything for peace, happiness, or joy.
Thus, what is required is a change in perspective, attention, priorities, thinking, and approach. We must cut off the bonds we develop with the world and with the people and things. When we suppress desires and cultivate detachment, we develop contentment (Tushti). We will be happy with whatever exists or does not exist, whatever happens or does not happen, and what we have or do not have. We do not react or respond to the presence or absence of anything. We will not respond to praise or criticism. We become equal to the dualities of life and to every event and situation that life manifests. It is the state of sameness (samsiddhi), which the Bhagavadgita identifies as the supreme state of yoga or liberation. It is also the state of freedom from desire-ridden actions (naishkarmya siddhi).