AVG 9.6

Chapter 9 (On Detachment and Equanimity) Verse 6
कृत्वा मूर्तिपरिज्ञानं चैतन्यस्य न किं गुरुः ।
निर्वेदसमतायुक्त्या यस्तारयति संसृतेः ॥ ९-६॥

PURPORT:
They, who having gained awareness by their
union with equanimity and appropriate
detachment towards objects of the
phenomenal world and who help channel
others around them toward tranquility,
are they not the true spiritual guides?

TRANSLITERATION:
कृत्वा मूर्तिपरिज्ञानम् चैतन्यस्य न किम् गुरुः ।
kṛtvā mūrtiparijñānam caitanyasya na kim guruḥ ।
निर्वेदसमता युक्त्या यः तारयति संसृतेः ॥ ९-६॥
nirvedasamatā yuktyā yaḥ tārayati saṃsṛteḥ ॥ 9-6॥

MEANING:
kṛtvā (कृत्वा) = having done/having gained
mūrtiparijñānam (मूर्तिपरिज्ञानम्) = realization of the true nature of form and shape (compound of mūrti (मूर्ति) meaning 'anything which has definite shape or limits' and parijñānam (परिज्ञानम्)  meaning 'to use ones discriminative powers and thorough knowledge gained')
caitanyasya (चैतन्यस्य) = of awareness/of consciousness
na (न) = not
kim (किम्) = what (used here in an interrogative sense)
guruḥ (गुरुः) = spiritual preceptor/guide/teacher।
nirvedasamatā (निर्वेदसमता) = by detachment and equanimity (compound of nirveda (निर्वेद) literally meaning 'indifference' but in this context can be construed as 'detached' and samatā (समता)  meaning 'impartiality/evenness/equanimity')
yuktyā (युक्त्या) = yoked/joined; please note that the Sanskrit word nirvedasamatāyuktyā (निर्वेदसमतायुक्त्या) means 'to be joined together with equanimity and appropriate detachment [towards the objects of the world]')
yaḥ (यः) = who
tārayati (तारयति) = to liberate from/cross over
saṃsṛteḥ (संसृतेः) = cycle of aimless drifting, wandering or mundane existence (for those who subscribe to reincarnation, the meaning is purported to refer to the supposed transmigration at death of the soul/self of a human being or animal into a new body of the same or a different species; but, in this treatment, that particular construct is not being subscribed, but instead, one may still understand this word to refer to the cyclic process that involves our constituent atoms uncoupling themselves after our brief sentient sojourn on this planet and reconstituting themselves into other varied sentient and non-sentient forms - a form of reincarnation that we can comprehend and relate to) ॥ 9-6॥

COMMENT:
There is an interesting juxtaposition noticed between the sentiment expressed in the previous verse (the fact that varieties of spiritual experience collated by disparate strands of human groups ultimately express the same fundamental truths), and this verse that talks about the defining characteristic of a preceptor who is able to lead the seeker to a better understanding - Ashtavakra mentions that the teacher who might be considered fit to mentor and channel will be that one who has attained a measure of awareness by the discriminative process of arriving at the truth by themselves - rather than the approach where teachers study the spiritual hand-me-downs, memorize stanzas of religious poetry, don a semblance of knowledge and proceed to preach. Ashtavakra indirectly cautions us against these purported godmen who have little realization of awareness of their own selves yet have a storehouse of rote religious information at their fingertips to suit any occasion presented to them by the seeker.
In this sense many of us who have seen aspects of the peaceful awareness that is within our fundamental selves fear to open up because we tend to harbor the mistaken belief that we have something intrinsic to defend and to protect - some cherished ideal that culture and indoctrination has passed onto us that our ego looks to for the sake of continuity as well as permanence.
The process of awakening and awareness is the process of opening up so wide and leaving oneself so exposed that we stop the innate motivation to defend beliefs and protect dogmatic assertions that we have been led to understand. We become what is as it is understood from an absolute awareness perspective rather than become what is as the individual is personified. This opening up happens sans boundaries, walls or other narrow domestic structures erected by the fog of extraneous and erroneous conditioning.
In essence, Ashtavakra informs us that the right preceptor to lead the seeker will be that one who has had this sort of a liberated understanding of themselves where there is no pressure nor compulsion to defend nor to hold on.