Ashtavakra Gita · Verse 7.5 · Janaka speaks
Oh! I am truly pure Consciousness alone. The world is like a juggler's show. How then, and where, can there be any thought of rejection and acceptance in me?
Word by word
अहो
aho
oh!, verily, what wonder
interjection/exclamation
चिन्मात्रम्
cinmātram
pure Consciousness alone
compound noun/adjective, neuter, nominative singular (cit + mātra)
Cinmātra (pure consciousness alone) is one of the most compact Advaita definitions of the Self. Cit = pure consciousness/awareness; mātra = only/alone. The Self is nothing but undiluted, undivided, self-luminous consciousness — not body, not mind, not world. This is the mahāvākya-level realization of the chapter.
एव
eva
truly, alone
emphatic particle
अहम्
aham
I am
pronoun, first person, nominative singular
इन्द्रजालोपमम्
indrajālopamam
resembling a juggler's show
compound adjective, neuter, nominative singular (indrajāla + upama)
Indrajāla (juggler's show/magical illusion) — indra = lord, jāla = net/web; literally 'Indra's net' but used to mean a conjurer's trick or magical display. A standard Advaita simile: the world appears vivid and real but is a superimposition on pure consciousness, with no independent substance. Cf. the translation's footnote: 'false and illusory, having no existence even when it is visible.'
जगत्
jagat
world, universe
noun, neuter, nominative singular
इति
iti
thus, this being so
quotative particle
मम
mama
my, in me
pronoun, first person, genitive singular
कथम्
katham
how
interrogative adverb
कुत्र
kutra
where
interrogative adverb
हेयोपादेयकल्पना
heyo-pādeyakalpanā
thought of rejection and acceptance
compound noun, feminine, nominative singular (heya + upādeya + kalpanā)
Heya-upādeya-kalpanā (the conceptualization of what is to be rejected [heya] and what is to be accepted/adopted [upādeya]) — represents the fundamental dualistic operation of the conditioned mind seeking liberation. The jñānī, recognizing all as pure consciousness, transcends this division entirely. This verse is the culminating statement of Chapter 7: once one knows oneself as cinmātra, the very framework of spiritual practice (reject this, embrace that) becomes meaningless.