Ashtavkr Samhita : 4

References from : Astavakra Samhita :

Commentator Swami Nityaswarupananda ji, Advaita Ashram, Kolkata.

Edition October 2010.

Important explanations as quoted  in  :

Ch.  3 :  Shloka  1 :

The liberated person realizes at all times and under all conditions that whatever  exists in the universe is nothing but his own self on which the awareness of body, mind and universe has been superimposed.

The man of self-knowledge  lives, moves and has his being in the fullness of self-consciousness. He ever remains unidentified  with the actions performed by his body, mind and senses and is completely free from the sense of egoism. All his actions are therefore merely apparent  and do not in any way detract from the supreme state. He may be in the body but never for a moment, whatever he may do, is he of the body.

The difference between an ignorant man and the man of self-knowledge  lies not in the actions they perform, but in the consciousness with which they perform their actions. In the case of the man of self-knowledge this difference in consciousness is not easily perceived by ordinary people and may pass quite un-recognized by them. Therefore, although the two persons outwardly appear to be the same, they are actually poles apart.

Ch.  3 :  Shloka  3 :

All the fear, misery and want proceed from the conception of the universe as other than our self. As the waves are no other than the sea itself, so the universe is nothing but our own self. Our attaining such knowledge  becomes serene, fearless and self-contained.

Ch.  3 :  Shloka  4 :

Self-knowledge and the lust for sensual objects cannot exist together. He who has known the self, cannot become attached to anything. Lust is coveting the body. It creates and increases body consciousness and is an unclean condition of mind. It CLOUDS spiritual consciousness.

                With Courtesy  and Pranam to SWAMI Ji…..