Yesterday I lived bewildered, in illusion. But now I am awake, flawless and serene, beyond the world. From my light the body and the world arise. So all things are mine, or nothing is.

• Ashtavakra Gita

I am the object of all knowledge, Father of the world, its mother, Source of all things, of impure and Pure, of holiness and horror.

I am the goal, the root, the witness, Home and refuge, dearest friend, Creation and annihilation, Everlasting seed and treasure.

I am the radiance of the sun, I Open or withhold the rainclouds, I am Immortality and Death, am being and non-being.

I am the Self, Arjuna, seated in the heart of every creature. I am the origin, the middle, And the end that all must come to.

Those who worship me sincerely with their minds and bodies, giving Up their whole lives in devotion, Find in me their heart’s fulfilment.

Even those who do no know me, If their actions are straightforward, Just, and loving, venerate me With the truest kind of worship.

All your thoughts, all your actions, All your fears and disappointments, Offer them to me, clear-hearted; Know them all as passing visions.

Thus you free yourself from bondage, From both good and evil karma; Through your non attachment, you embody me, in utter freedom.

I am justice: clear, impartial, Favouring no one, hating no one. But in those who have cured themselves of selfishness, I shine with brilliance.

Even murderers and rapists, Tyrants, the most cruel fanatics, Ultimately know redemption Through my love, if they surrender

To my harsh but healing graces. Passing through excruciating Transformations, they find freedom And their hearts find peace within them.

I am always with all beings; I abandon no one. And However great your inner darkness, You are never separate from me.

Let your thoughts flow past you, calmly; Keep me near, at every moment; Trust me with your life, because I Am you, more than you yourself are.”

(Translated by Stephen Mitchell based on The Bhagavad Gita an interlinear translation by Winthrop Sargeant)