Janaka asked, “Oh Lord, how does one attain liberation, and how is non-attachment attained? Please tell me this.”
Ashtavakra replied, “Oh beloved, if you want liberation, then renounce the passions as poison and take forgiveness and innocence, compassion, contentment and truth as nectar.
You are neither earth nor air nor fire nor water nor ether.
To attain liberation, know yourself as the witnessing consciousness of all these. If you separate yourself from the physical body and rest in consciousness, then this very moment you will be happy, at peace, and free of bondage.
You are not a Brahmin or other caste. You are not in any of the four stages of life.
You are not perceived by the eyes or other senses.
Unattached and without form, you are the witness of the whole universe.
Know this and be happy.
Oh expansive one, religion and atheism, happiness and misery, order of the mind – they are not for you.
You are neither the doer nor the enjoyer.
You have always been liberated.”