Vairagya

Sage Ashtavakra gives a very clear idea about the terms like jnyan (knowledge), renunciation (vairagya), liberation, emancipation (mukti, moksha) . These terms have deeper meaning and connotation (antarartha) and will open our eyes. We have altogether different notions about these things. For instance, vairagya does not mean totally rejecting life,  going to forest in search of solitude. So also, Knowledge does not mean just possessing information, These terms are explained here in the following:

   King Janaka of Videha asks Sage Ashtavakra about the ways and means of acquiring Knowledge (jnyan), attaining Liberation (mukti), and the possibility of Renunciation (vairagya) in life (Verse 1). Here again, there is neither a so-called King Janaka, nor there is a country known as 'Videha'. Any person who is established in his 'Self' is a King and his body is 'videha' (sans body consciousness) since such a learned person is not consciously aware of the gross physical body and he is established in his higher Self. All are Janakas (jnyani) in this sense of the term.

  This takes us to the question of true knowledge that redeems us from our mundane existence. it is an endowment, a gift of God that we have the discriminating power to distinguish between the 'Self' and  the 'not-Self', the higher knowledge, para vidya.  But, we are busy with the outer world since the day one, we arrived on this earth, and opened our eyes. The sense organs are all 'out-going' and we do not exercise control over them. We acquire all sorts of information, knowledge about the names- nouns and pronouns, adjectives, verb and adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections and feel proud about our acquisition of mundane things. All these external objects are the cause of our bondage! Knowledge concerning material objects do not help in any way to attain salvation. The only way to liberation is to withdraw from this sensuous world.

  Sage Ashtavakra says, "Knowledge of the Self  (Atma-jnyan) is the only true knowledge" and, it is the only knowledge that helps the embodied jivatman to get permanent release from bondage. Here, the bondage arises from ignorance; the ignorant jiva thinks only of the physical body as the self and hence suffers pain and pleasure. 

(to be contd.)