100 Verses of Peace
(Vedic text excerpts from the "Astavakra Samhita")
Words found in the   illuminated manuscript  "Unbound Prayers", by artist Carolyn Goodridge

1. Salutation to that which is Bliss itself by nature,
calmness, and effulgence, with the dawning of the knowledge
of which all delusion becomes like a dream.

2. One gets plenty of enjoyments by acquiring all kinds
of worldly objects. Surely one cannot be happy without renouncing all.

3. How can one whose heart's core   scorched by the heat
of the sun of sorrow, arising from duty enjoy happiness
without the continuous shower of the ambrosia of tranquility?

4. This universe is but a state of consciousness.
In reality it is nothing.
The existent and the non-existent do not lose their inherent nature.

5. The Self which is absolute, effortless, immutable,
and spotless is neither far away nor limited.
It is verily ever attained.

6. Those whose vision is unveiled as soon as illusion ceases
and the Self is realized, live with their sorrows dispelled.

7. Knowing all as mere imagination and the Self as
free and eternal, does the wise one act ignorantly like a child?

8. Knowing for certain that one's self is Brahman and
that existence and non-existence are figments,
what does one who is free from desire, know, say, or do?

9. Such thoughts as 'this indeed am I' and 'this I am not'
are annihilated for the yogin who has become
silent by knowing for certain all as the Self.

10. The yogin who has attained tranquility,
has no distraction, no concentration, no increase in knowledge,
no ignorance, and neither pleasure nor pain.


Also See Verses:
11-20 | 21-30 |  31-40 | 41-50  |  51-60 |  61-70  | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-100