Aṣṭāvakra begins not with metaphysics but with practical instruction. Before any inquiry into the nature of Ātman can bear fruit, one must first shed the “sickness” (roga) of treating objects as real possessions. The path he outlines — love (maitrī), equanimity (sāmya), understanding (prajñā), honesty (ārjava), and simplicity (sādhusīla) — are not merely ethical virtues but prerequisites for the radical non-dual realization that follows. Without these foundations, the mind remains entangled in saṃsāra and cannot grasp what Aṣṭāvakra is about to reveal.