1.
Where is the need to make offerings or prostrations?
Or to practice worship with flowers and leaves?
Why practice meditation and the repetition of mantras?
The worshipper and Shiva are one and the same.
2.
I’m not only free of bondage and liberation;
I’m not only free of purity and impurity;
I’m not only free of union and separation;
I’m Freedom itself; I’m everywhere, like space.
3.
Some say, “The phenomenal world is real”;
Others say, “The world is unreal.”
Such arguments as these have no meaning to me;
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
4.
I have no faults, nor am I faultless.
I have no beginning, nor am I beginningless.
I’m not undivided, nor am I divided.
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
5.
In me, ignorance and knowledge never arise;
I never allow myself to experience those states.
How, then, could I speak of not knowing or knowing?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
6.
I’m not bound to righteousness; I’m not bound to sin.
I’m neither bound to bondage, nor to liberation;
Neither of these affects me at all.
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
7.
“Inferior” and “superior” have no meaning to me.
I have no enemies, nor have I any friends;
How, then, could I speak of “the good” or “the evil”?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
8.
I’m neither the worshipper nor the object of worship.
I give no words of instruction, nor do I perform any actions.
My nature is Consciousness; how, then, could I speak?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
9.
There’s nothing that pervades, and nothing that’s pervaded;
There is neither manifestation nor de-manifestation.
How, then, could I speak of “the Void” or its opposite?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
10.
Truly, I am neither a perceiver nor an object of perception;
I am not a cause, nor am I an effect.
How, then, shall I say that I’m “the knower” or “the known”?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
11.
There’s no superimposer and nothing superimposed;
I am neither “the knower” nor “the object of knowledge.”
How, then, could I speak of creation or dissolution?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
12.
I have no body, nor am I without bodies;
I have neither intellect, nor mind, nor senses.
How, then, could I speak of attraction or repulsion?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
13.
One can’t even speak of something separate from the Self;
One cannot speak of what doesn’t exist.
How, then, can I speak, friend, of “similar” or “dissimilar”?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
14.
I’m neither free of, nor bound by, the senses;
I follow no rules of “should” or “shouldn’t.”
How, then, can I speak, friend, of “success” or of “failure”?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
15.
I’ve never been either formless or with form;
I’ve never had a beginning, middle, or end.
How, then, can I speak, friend, of “youth” or of “old-age”?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
16.
I’ve never experienced death or deathlessness, nor evil or good;
None of these opposites exist in me, my child.
How, then, can I speak of “impurity” or “purity”?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
17.
I never experience sleeping, waking, or the deep yogic trance;
To me, there is neither night-time nor day.
How, then, can I speak of the four states of the mind?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
18.
Know well that I’m unaffected by the appearance or disappearance of the world;
To me, there is neither maya nor its absence.
How, then, can I speak of the performance of right actions?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
19.
Know well that, in samadhi, all things are One;
Know also that I’m unaffected by the attainment or non-attainment of samadhi.
How, then, can I speak of union or separation?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
20.
I’m not unlearned, nor am I learned;
I don’t remain silent, nor do I say anything.
How, then, can I speak of true or false doctrines?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
21.
I have no father or mother; I have no family or caste;
I’ve never known birth, and I’ve never known death.
How, then, can I speak of affection or attachment?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
22.
My awareness of the Self is constant; I never abandon it;
So I’m never affected by darkness or light.
How, then, can I speak of my morning or evening prayers?
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
23.
Know, without any doubt, that I’m limitless.
Know, without any doubt, that I’m changeless.
Know, without any doubt, that no stains can touch me.
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
24.
Those who possess strong determination renounce meditation;
They renounce all their good works as well as their bad.
The nectar of renunciation they drink to their fill.
My nature is Freedom; there’s no maya to me.
25.
In that state where one knows nothing at all,
This versified knowledge doesn’t even exist.
So, now, while I’m in the state of samarasa,
I, the Avadhut, have spoken of the supreme Absolute.