Aṣṭāvakra opens Chapter 10, the chapter on renunciation, with a direct instruction: abandon desire, the root of suffering, and behold all things with equanimity. In the supreme truth there is neither birth nor death, for birth and death pertain only to the body, not to the Ātman. This sets the tone for the chapter: the renunciation demanded is not merely outward but the inward release of craving itself.