Aṣṭāvakra opens Chapter 12 with a salutation to the sage whose heart is undisturbed in happiness or sorrow, whose mind is ever serene, who seeks nothing — to that sage who has attained perfection. This chapter marks a shift: Janaka, once the questioner, now speaks from realization, and Aṣṭāvakra addresses the signs of one who has stabilized in the truth. The perfection mentioned is not an achievement but the natural state of one free from desire.