AVG 8.4

Chapter 8 (Reflections on Bondage and Liberation) Verse 4
यदा नाहं तदा मोक्षो यदाहं बन्धनं तदा ।
मत्वेति हेलया किञ्चिन्मा गृहाण विमुञ्च मा ॥ ८-४॥

PURPORT:
Where there is no awareness of 'I'
yoked to things that seem perceived,
there is liberation.
When 'I' clings to the perceived,
there is bondage. Considering
thus, instinctively refrain
from accepting or rejecting anything.

TRANSLITERATION:
यदा न अहम् तदा मोक्षः यदा अहम् बन्धनम् तदा ।
yadā na aham tadā mokṣaḥ yadā aham bandhanam tadā ।
मत्वा इति हेलया किञ्चित् मा गृहाण विमुञ्च मा ॥ ८-४॥
matvā iti helayā kiñcit mā gṛhāṇa vimuñca mā ॥ 8-4॥

MEANING:
yadā (यदा) = when
na (न) = not
aham (अहम्) = I
tadā (तदा) = then
mokṣaḥ (मोक्षः) = liberation/emancipation
yadā (यदा) = when
aham (अहम्) = I
bandhanam (बन्धनम्) = bondage/shackling
tadā (तदा) = then ।
matvā (मत्वा) = having thought/thinking that/considering that
iti (इति) = thus
helayā (हेलया) = easily/instinctively
kiñcit (किञ्चित्) = anything
mā (मा) = do not
gṛhāṇa (गृहाण) = accept/gain
vimuñca (विमुञ्च) = reject/forfeit
mā (मा) = do not ॥ 8-4॥

COMMENT:
At the heart of these lines is an examination of craving and yearning and the identification of the individual with the objects of one’s craving. Craving for material forms and non-material phenomena is a clear and an unavoidable aspect of living. In many cases, the time taken to reflect and arrive at a clear understanding on the nature of craving is never attempted and it is only the discomfort that stems from a feeling of deficiency that manifests within the individual. When cravings are realized, then the individual enters a phase of being happy that itself is as impermanent as the original object of ones craving. When the drive to achieve a consummation of the craving is not achieved, then the individual goes through a phase of sadness. The perceived feelings of happiness and sadness are only phases, but many seekers go through cycles of such fluctuations that  the individual may find it difficult to step out of the pattern and examine the reasons for such recurrence. The obvious inquiry that some seekers indulge in will include the finding of ways by which one might break the topsy-turvy nature of yearning and its perceived fulfillment.

Examining craving and yearning through the lens of impermanency, one starts to understand that there is nothing to be done to break this cycle. Absolutely nothing needs to be done. The gnawing doubt of how one might free themselves of craving arises from a craving not to crave. The way forward involves a clearer examination and understanding of craving itself. Craving stems from an innate urge for the individual to find enjoyment. In that sense, craving and enjoyment are coupled to the sense of ‘I’ that Ashtavakra eloquently brings about here. Craving allows for the illusion of self to sustain itself from moment to moment via multiple pathways within the brain. People describe the brain to be inundated with chemicals and the one chemical that seems to stand out insofar as craving is concerned is dopamine - the molecule that seems to drive everything from motivation, addiction, attention, lust and psychosis. The self-model with the appropriate dopamine pathways within the brain has managed to evolve over millennia into a finely tuned machine wherein the release of the dopamine molecules results in a perceived feeling of exhilaration within the individual that is hypnotic, addictive and self-recursive. Since all feelings like happiness, euphoria and exhilaration is by its very nature short lived and impermanent; the self-model continuously searches and scans the environment for desired objects or feelings (the by-product of this search in turn allows for the self-model/ego to assume a level of permanency within the individual). From a cursory examination of the amount of recurrent pleasure that one might hope to obtain from a particular experience, it is seen that one can never hope to derive the same amount of pleasure the second, third or fourth time as compared to the first time that the individual achieves the object of their cravings. This is due to the nature of euphoria itself where it seen that euphoria and its mirror anguish are fundamentally transitory and are fleeting phenomenal states that pass on. Once the seeker understands the underlying futility of euphoria (and provisional nature of anguish in the same vein), the seeker begins to understand the nature of craving.