AVG 8.3

Chapter 8 (Reflections on Bondage and Liberation) Verse 3
तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं सक्तं कास्वपि दृष्टिषु ।
तदा मोक्षो यदा चित्तमसक्तं सर्वदृष्टिषु ॥ ८-३॥

PURPORT:
That is the state of bondage when awareness
is attached to any one particular sensory organ
and the things that seem perceived thereof.
That is the state of liberation when awareness
does not cling to things that seem to be
perceived by any one of our sensory organs.

TRANSLITERATION:
तदा बन्धः यदा चित्तम् सक्तम् कासु अपि दृष्टिषु ।
tadā bandhaḥ yadā cittam saktam kāsu api dṛṣṭiṣu ।
तदा मोक्षः यदा चित्तम् असक्तम् सर्वदृष्टिषु ॥ ८-३॥
tadā mokṣaḥ yadā cittam asaktam sarvadṛṣṭiṣu ॥ 8-3॥

MEANING:
tadā (तदा) = then
bandhaḥ (बन्धः) = bondage/clinging
yadā (यदा) = when
cittam (चित्तम्) = mind
saktam (सक्तम्) = attachment/fondness
kāsu (कासु) = to anything/to anyone
api (अपि) = at all
dṛṣṭiṣu (दृष्टिषु) = perceiving via the sense-organs (dṛṣṭi (दृष्टि) directly relates to the faculty of seeing via the eyes and the word dṛṣṭiṣu (दृष्टिषु) by extension is any instrument of perception – any sensory organ)।
tadā (तदा) = then
mokṣaḥ (मोक्षः) = liberation
yadā (यदा) = when
cittam (चित्तम्) = mind
asaktam (असक्तम्) = detached/non-attachment/unattached
sarvadṛṣṭiṣu (सर्वदृष्टिषु) = in all the sense perceptions (compound of sarva (सर्व) menaing ‘all’ and dṛṣṭiṣu (दृष्टिषु); please see note on dṛṣṭiṣu (दृष्टिषु) above) ॥ 8-3॥

COMMENT:
While the first two verses of this chapter dealt with the concepts of liberation and bondage associated with the identification with and the disassociation from modifications and fluctuations of our internal mental processes and thoughts, this beautiful verse portrays identification with and disassociation from external objects as perceived by our sense organs.
Ashtavakra mentions that the state of bondage is that state where the mind is fixated on thoughts and our attempts to imbue those thoughts and their attendant perceptions with a mark of permanence and rigidity within our psyche. Similarly, the flip side of the coin is also true; in the sense that the state of liberation is that station within ones seeking where the mind is detached from recurring thoughts and all of the perceived inputs and all attempts to assign fixity to the same (by the underlying ego) is thwarted by the understanding that perceived phenomena and associated thoughts are fundamentally impermanent, lack any underlying essence and are conditionally dependent manifestations that are themselves impermanent.
In this sense, it is fundamental to understand the origination of thoughts and what constitutes thought. The moment the reader had finished reading the above line was when that particular thought sprung into the readers mind and a series of dependent thoughts and questions were automatically generated in the readers mind. The reader experienced a reaction within their mind based upon the prior conditioning of the reader. In this sense, the pattern of fluctuations intrinsically generated by the reader (in reading that sentence) within their minds are unconsciously channeled by past conditioning to appropriately meet new experiences and fold those experiences into pre-conceived templates. This will result in one of two outcomes - either a strengthening of the original patterns of memory stored within the brain resulting in strengthened conditioning of prior choices/prejudices or, conversely, will result in the attenuation of the mental patterns resulting in a weakening of conditioned responses and a (potential for) melting away of ones biases.  This happens every second of our waking selves and our dream selves. I cautiously and humbly aver that the only time this push-pull between the ossification-attenuation within ourselves fades away is when one goes into deep sleep.
Extending this line of reasoning, it can be said that there is no 'thinker' thinking up all of these thoughts. In fact, the thinker of thoughts itself is just one of the thoughts that spring up from the same set of individual instances of subjective, conscious experience described above. There is no separate thinker - the only truth is that there are these thoughts that autonomously arise within our subconscious or arise in reaction to meeting new experiences patterned and molded based upon prior conditioning.
A state of choiceless witnessing and observing of the phenomenal world where one is able to witness the genesis, persistence and the cessation of thoughts as they flow through our minds results in a measure of liberation where one does not feel anxiety, rejection, acceptance, joy or irritation at outcomes - this is the simple, yet profound import of these beautiful lines.