This beautiful hymn is attributed to Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī (the parrot sage son of Vyāsa), the enlightened narrator of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa whose cave I recently had the privilege of visiting at Badrinath. The hymn describes the state of a fully realised soul who has transcended the three guṇas (sattva, rajas, and tamas) and abides in the non-dual Brahman. Baba Hari Dass’ teaching on this has been shared on the blog before.I’ve refined it for clarity, flow, and precision while preserving your voice and removing em dashes.

The powerful refrain throughout this Aṣṭakam asks: once one is established in the highest state, what rules, rituals, injunctions, or prohibitions can possibly apply?

The spiritual path ultimately asks us to let go of every label, every identity, and every identification, whether it is with our name, surname, caste, class, gender, creed, nationality, religion, planet, or even the universe itself. It is a state in which all distinctions, divisions, and mental ripples dissolve into the indivisible Self. This is precisely what Sri Ramana Maharshi’s Self-enquiry and the Upanishadic method of Neti, Neti (“not this, not this”) point towards.

Until then, rules and disciplines have immense value because most of us are still driven by the ego and attached to the world of appearances. We mistake the transient for the eternal and the unreal for the Real. No matter how spiritual we consider ourselves, if the mere thought of losing the person or thing we love most fills us with fear, grief, or insecurity, we are still identified with the gross level of existence. There is nothing shameful about this. It is part of the human condition. Yet these emotional attachments are among the many layers that eventually have to be transcended if one wishes to step beyond the Bhavachakra, the wheel of becoming. Without the Guru’s grace and complete surrender at His feet, this journey is impossible.

For Shirdi Sai Baba and other realised sages, this transcendence appears effortless. Yet we seldom consider the immense sādhanā they may have undertaken across lifetimes to become so utterly free. Their lives reveal a freedom that is difficult for the ordinary mind to comprehend. Baba’s omnipresence, His ability to protect devotees from great distances, His profound compassion for every living being, and countless other leelas all point to a consciousness no longer confined by individuality. One of the most striking examples is the incident in which a devotee beat a dog, only for Baba to later reveal the same wounds on His own back, demonstrating that He was one with all beings.

Such freedom cannot be understood intellectually. It can only be realised by becoming established in that state ourselves. Until then, the simpler path is complete surrender, allowing the Guru to guide and govern our lives. Ultimately, the path of Self-realisation is a process of transcending everything that appears to define us. Every identity, every attachment, every concept, and every limitation must eventually be seen through until only the Self remains. For devotees of Baba, these verses are particularly accessible because they express one of His central teachings. The Shri Sai Satcharita is filled with leelas that illuminate this truth from different angles, making the essence of these verses easier for us to understand and contemplate.

1

भेदाभेदौ सपदि गलितौ पुण्यपापे विशीर्णे
मायामोहौ क्षयमुपगतौ नष्टसन्देहवृत्तेः।
शब्दातीतं त्रिगुणरहितं प्राप्य तत्त्वावबोधं
निस्त्रैगुण्ये पथि विचरतः को विधिः को निषेधः॥१॥

When all sense of difference and non-difference has dissolved in an instant, when merit and sin have been completely destroyed, when the delusion of Māyā has withered away and all tendency toward doubt has vanished having attained the direct realisation of That which is beyond words and free from the three guṇas, for one who walks on the path beyond the three guṇas, what injunction (vidhi) can there be, and what prohibition (niṣedha)?

• This verse finds a beautiful parallel in Chapter 23 of the Sri Sai Satcharita: “In reality, the jīva (individual soul) transcends the three guṇas—Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. But, deluded by Māyā, it forgets its true nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss (Sat-Chit-Ānanda), identifies itself as the doer, and becomes entangled in endless suffering. The way to liberation is loving devotion at the Guru’s feet.”
• For example, the same chapter narrates the story of a learned yogi who came to Shirdi with Nanasaheb Chandorkar. Although well-versed in yoga, he was unable to attain sustained samādhi and hoped Sai Baba would guide him. On arriving, however, he saw Baba eating stale bread with raw onion and immediately judged Him: “How can a man who eats like this solve my spiritual problems?” Sai Baba instantly read his thoughts and remarked, “Only one who has the power to digest onion should eat it.” The yogi was stunned, realised Baba had perceived his unspoken doubt, surrendered at His feet, and received the guidance he sought. Baba’s statement points to an inner principle rather than a dietary rule. One who has mastered the guṇas is no longer inwardly disturbed by what is consumed, because the mind and its tendencies are no longer governed by them.
• A similar principle appears in the well-known incident of Neem Karoli Baba and Ram Dass. When Ram Dass offered him a large quantity of LSD, Neem Karoli Baba consumed it without any effect, later remarking that there was no “fun” in it. The point was not to encourage drug use, but to demonstrate that the bliss of God-realisation far surpasses any chemically induced experience. Likewise, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Shirdi Sai Baba both ate fish or meat at times, reflecting the cultural contexts in which they lived. Their realisation was not determined by dietary observance but by complete transcendence of bodily identification and the three guṇas. This is precisely the teaching of the verse.
• For one established beyond the guṇas, scriptural injunctions and prohibitions lose their relevance, not because such a person is free to indulge every impulse, but because the ego, the sense of doership, and the compulsions that require regulation have already dissolved. Where there is no doer, who remains to command, and who remains to forbid?

2

यद्वात्मानं सकलवपुषामेकमन्तर्वहिस्दृ
ष्ट्वा पूर्णं स्वमिव सततं सर्वभाण्डस्थमेकम्।
नान्यत् कार्यं किमपि च ततः कारणाद् भिन्नरूपं
निस्त्रैगुण्ये पथि विचरतः को विधिः को निषेधः॥२॥

Having seen the Self as the one, full, and eternal Reality dwelling within and without all bodies, present like space inside every vessel, and realising that there is no other effect or cause different from It for one who walks on the path beyond the three guṇas, what injunction can there be, and what prohibition?

3

हेमः कार्य्यं हुतवहगतं हेममेवेति यद्वत्क्षी
रे क्षीरं समरसतया तोयमेवाम्बु मध्ये।
एवं सर्वं समरसतया त्वं पदं तत् पदार्थे
निस्त्रैगुण्ये पथि विचरतः को विधिः को निषेधः॥३॥

Just as gold melted in fire remains only gold, just as milk mixed in milk or water mixed in water becomes one in essence, so too, everything is seen as non-different from You, the Supreme Reality, for one who walks on the path beyond the three guṇas, what injunction can there be, and what prohibition?

4

यस्मिन् विश्वं सकलभुवनं सामरस्यैकभूतं
ऊर्वो ह्यापोऽनलमनिलखं जीवमेवं क्रमेण।
यत् क्षाराब्धौ समरसतया सैन्धवैकत्वभूतं
निस्त्रैगुण्ये पथि विचरतः को विधिः को निषेधः॥४॥

In whom the entire universe and all worlds have become one in essence—earth, water, fire, air, space, and the individual soul, in that order, just as a lump of salt dissolves completely and becomes one with the ocean—for one who walks on the path beyond the three guṇas, what injunction can there be, and what prohibition?

5

यद्वन्नद्योदधिसमरसौ सागरत्वं ह्यवाप्तौ
तद्वज्जीवालयपरिगतौ सामरस्यैकभूतौ।
भेदातीतं परिलयगतं सच्चिदानन्दरूपं
निस्त्रैगुण्ये पथि विचरतः को विधिः को निषेधः॥५॥

Just as rivers, upon merging with the ocean, attain oneness with it, so too, the individual soul, when merged into the Supreme, becomes one with It. Having attained that state beyond all difference—the form of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss—for one who walks on the path beyond the three guṇas, what injunction can there be, and what prohibition?

6

दृष्ट्वा वेद्यं परमथ पदं स्वात्मबोधस्वरूपं
बुद्धात्मानं सकलवपुषामेकमन्तर्वहिस्थम्।
भूत्वा नित्यं सदुहिततया खप्रकाशस्वरूपं
निस्त्रैगुण्ये पथि विचरतः को विधिः को निषेधः॥६॥

Having directly perceived the Supreme, the highest goal, which is the very nature of Self-knowledge, and realised the one Self dwelling within and without all bodies as the illuminator of the intellect, and having become eternally established in that form of pure space-like luminosity, for one who walks on the path beyond the three guṇas, what injunction can there be, and what prohibition?

7

कार्य्याकार्य्ये किमपि सततं नैव कर्तृत्वमस्ति
जीवयुक्तस्थितिरवगतो दग्धवस्त्रावभासः।
एवं देहे प्रविलयगते तिष्ठमानो विमुक्तो
निस्त्रैगुण्ये पथि विचरतः को विधिः को निषेधः॥७॥

For him, there is no longer any sense of doership regarding what should be done or not done. The state of being bound to life has been burnt away like a piece of cloth consumed by fire. Thus, even while living in the body, he remains liberated, for one who walks on the path beyond the three guṇas, what injunction can there be, and what prohibition?

8

कस्मात् कोऽहं किमपि च भवान् कोऽयमत्र प्रपञ्चः
स्वं स्वं वेद्यं गगनसदृशं पूर्णतत्त्वप्रकाशम्।
आनन्दाख्यं समरसघने वाह्यमन्तर्विहीनं
निस्त्रैगुण्ये पथि विचरतः को विधिः को निषेधः॥८॥

“Who am I? Who are you? What is this world of appearance?” — All such questions cease. One knows only the Self, space-like, the full luminous Reality, named Bliss, the dense ocean of oneness, without inside or outside, for one who walks on the path beyond the three guṇas, what injunction can there be, and what prohibition?

9 (Phalaśruti – Benefit of Recitation)

सत्यं सत्यं परमममृतं सर्वकल्याणरूपं
मायारण्ये दहनमलिने शान्तनिर्वाणदीपम्।
तेजोभूतं निगमसदनं व्यासपुत्राष्टकं यः
प्रातःकाले पठति मनसा याति निर्वाणमार्गे॥९॥

This is the truth, the absolute truth. The supreme immortal essence, the form of all auspiciousness, the pure, peaceful lamp of liberation that burns away the forest of Māyā. Whoever recites this Aṣṭakam of Vyāsa’s radiant son (Śuka) at dawn with a focused mind shall attain the path of final liberation (nirvāṇa).

इति श्रीपरमहंसशुकदेवविरचितं शुकाष्टकं समाप्तम्।

Thus ends the Śukāṣṭakam composed by the supreme Paramahaṃsa Śukadeva.

|| OM SAI SHRI SAI JAI JAI SAI || 

|| SHRI SATCHIDANANDA SADGURU SAINATH MAHARAJ KI JAI ||

Note: These verses are part of the Kāvyasaṅgraha, a nineteenth-century Sanskrit poetry collection preserved in archival records of GoI. It brings together subhāṣitas, hymns, and reflective poems that explore life, conduct, desire, devotion, and inner clarity. I don’t necessarily resonate with every view expressed in these texts, especially some social attitudes of their time, including those that speak about women in ways I don’t agree with. I share them not as beliefs to be adopted, but as thoughtful voices from another age, many of which still carry insight worth reflecting on. The translations are my own, done with care and respect for the originals. Mistakes are possible, and I welcome corrections or alternative readings if necessary and share them in the hope that whatever wisdom they carry may reach those who find value in it.