In today's era, every person is sad and worried for some reason or the other. Many people are worried about their future, while many people are worried about their home and family. That means every person is worried about things related to his life. Anxiety is an emotion due to which a person is unable to control himself. To get relief from this worry and sorrow, very special things have been mentioned in Ashtavakra Geeta. It is told in Ashtavakra Geeta that sorrow and worry do not happen to the person, rather these are only the feelings of the person's mind, from which one can easily get freedom.
There are many such texts in Sanatan Dharma, by reading which a person can overcome the emotions of his mind. With this one can overcome the challenges of life. Similarly, Ashtavakra Geeta is also a book which tells a person the solutions to deal with many problems of life. Ashtavakra Geeta has 21 chapters and 302 verses. The things told by sage Ashtavakra are mentioned in this book. Now the question arises that what has Rishi Ashtavakra said about sorrow and worry.
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Worry and sadness are just feelings
People often say, I am sad or I am worried. Regarding this, Ashtavakra said that a person never becomes sad, rather these are only momentary emotions of the person. Sage Ashtavakra once spoke about this to King Janak of Mithila. Then Ashtavakra had said that whatever comes and goes in the world is not you. Sadness comes, worry comes, happiness also comes. This means that sorrow and happiness are feelings of the mind. When a person feels sad, his conscience or consciousness is not sad. The soul of a person only sits within this mind and observes.
Dharmadharmau happiness and sorrow, manasani na te vibho.
Neither a doer nor an enjoyer, always a free resident.
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The meaning of this verse is that righteousness-unrighteousness, happiness-sorrow, all these are feelings of the mind. It's not all individuals. A person is neither a doer nor an enjoyer. You are always free from these feelings.
Through this verse, Ashtavakra ji explained to King Janak that there is a difference between the person being worried and the worry going on in the person's mind. A person often associates his emotions with himself. Then Ashtavakra breaks this connection. That is, the way clouds come in the sky, thunder, rain and go away, but the sky neither gets wet nor gets spoiled. Similarly, sadness and worry come in a person's mind, but this does not cause any change in the person's consciousness.
path to freedom from suffering
It is told in the book Ashtavakra Geeta that a person is neither sky, nor fire, nor air nor water. One can only see all this. Similarly the person is not happy or sad. He sees the happiness or sadness of his own mind, not that he himself is sad.
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If a person wants freedom from his suffering, he should understand body, mind and consciousness separately. The body of a person is momentary, which is here today and will not be there tomorrow, whereas the soul or consciousness of a person is immortal, which is free from all the bondages of the world. Similarly, a person should be free from momentary feelings of happiness and sorrow. The teachings of Ashtavakra Granth do not teach us that a person should deny his feelings. Instead, one should feel one's emotions fully, but should not get trapped in those emotions.