Ashtavakra Gita · Verse 8.4 · Ashtavakra speaks

न अहम्

na aham

not I, no ego

negative particle + pronoun, 1st person nominative singular

The absence of the 'I' — the ego or ahaṃkāra — is equated with mokṣa. This is the climax of Chapter 8: all the preceding definitions of bondage and liberation (mental movements, sense-attachment) now resolve into the single root cause: the ego-sense. When aham dissolves, liberation stands revealed as the prior condition.

मोक्षः

mokṣaḥ

liberation, release

noun, masculine, nominative singular

Mokṣa here is defined purely as the absence of the ego (nāham). This is Ashtavakra's most compressed statement of non-dual liberation: it is not an acquisition but a recognition — the dropping of the false identity.

अहम्

aham

I, the ego-sense

pronoun, 1st person nominative singular

Aham in this context signifies ahaṃkāra — the ego, or the false identification of the pure Self (ātman) with body, mind, and sense-organs. Egoism constitutes bondage because it superimposes a false individuality on what is in truth boundless, non-dual awareness.

बन्धनम्

bandhanam

bondage, fettering

noun, neuter, nominative singular

Bandhana (from √bandh, to bind) is the state of being bound — specifically, the binding of the infinite Self to the finite ego. It is the root cause underlying all the specific forms of bondage named in 8.1–8.3.

हेलया

helayā

easily, effortlessly

noun, feminine, instrumental singular

Helā means ease, playful effortlessness, absence of strain. The use of helayā is significant: liberation is not achieved through arduous practice or ritual but through clear understanding (jñāna) — simply by seeing through the ego-illusion, one naturally and effortlessly ceases to accept or reject.