Chapter 13 · Verse 1

अष्टावक्र उवाच

aṣṭāvakra uvāca

The sage who is free from desire, ever content, whose mind is ever serene, who has renounced all effort — that sage has attained liberation. Aṣṭāvakra opens Chapter 13 by describing the happy sage. The renunciation of effort is crucial: the sage does not strive to become happy but rests in the happiness that is the nature of the Self. Effort belongs to the one who imagines himself incomplete.