AVG 3.7

Chapter 3 (Challenging The Seekers Understanding): Verse 7
उद्भूतं ज्ञानदुर्मित्रमवधार्यातिदुर्बलः ।
आश्चर्यं काममाकाङ्क्षेत् कालमन्तमनुश्रितः ॥ ३-७॥

PURPORT:
It is indeed bewildering that knowing
desire to be contrary to awareness,
one who is extremely feeble and
approaching the end of one’s days,
should still pine for physical possessions.

TRANSLITERATION:
उद्भूतम् ज्ञानदुर्मित्रम् अवधार्य अतिदुर्बलः ।
udbhūtam jñānadurmitram avadhārya atidurbalaḥ ।
आश्चर्यम् कामम् अकाङ्क्षेत् कालम् अन्तम् अनुश्रितः ॥ ३-७॥
āścaryam kāmam akāṅkṣet kālam antam anuśritaḥ ॥ 3-7॥

MEANING:
udbhūtam (उद्भूतम्) = produced/come forth
jñānadurmitram  (ज्ञानदुर्मित्रम्) = antagonistic to knowledge/not a friend of learning and intelligence
avadhārya  (अवधार्य) = to be ascertained or known/knowing for certain
atidurbalaḥ  (अतिदुर्बलः) = extremely feeble/acutely weak।
āścaryam (आश्चर्यम्) = astonishment/surprise/bewilderment
kāmam  (कामम्) = sensual gratification (in this context, I want to read this word more as one’s attachment to physical possessions and not just from a sexual perspective as the word is commonly connoted within Sanskrit)
akāṅkṣet  (अकाङ्क्षेत्) = should desire with longing/pining for
kālam  (कालम्) = days/time
antam  (अन्तम्) = last/end
anuśritaḥ  (अनुश्रितः) = impending/approaching/imminent॥ 3-7॥

COMMENT:
These beautiful lines talk about that juncture where a seeker fully cognizant that s(he) will pass on from this universe, possessively clings to objects of attachments and selfdom thoughts that allow for the seekers ego to continue to consolidate and dominate. While death to the ancients came on suddenly and without warning, the prospect of death in most cases to prevailing generations is a factor that is clear and present within their lives - just that most of us choose to ignore the same as the ego will still continue to dominate until the very end (in a certain sense, the prevailing generations have a better chance at planning for the dissolution of the ego before the oncoming end than our erstwhile generations).
There seems to be two distinct spiritual directions a seeker approaching their end-days might take - the way of ego transcendence or the way of ego preponderance. To briefly expand, the latter is what Ashtavakra directly refers to within these verses - where the force of the ego and the thoughts and actions thereof is so all-empowering that even with the distinct knowledge that the end is near, one refuses to give up those modes of attachments and diversions that have always proven to fuel and prop the ego. As an extension, Ashtavakra might indirectly be leading us down the alternate path that the seeker may strive to cultivate – the path of ego transcendence - where the seeker lives out life in a manner where the deeds, actions, legacies and work of the seeker serve as a path forward to the people left behind with little regard for the signature of the seekers ego to be overlayed on such deeds, actions, work and thoughts. As someone once wisely said: we do not really possess anything that is called an ‘ego’, we are only possessed by the idea that we have one.