The truly wise are content with whatever comes of itself, seeking nothing beyond what naturally arrives at their door
Contentment is redefined as a byproduct of dropped seeking rather than a mood to cultivate, so the wise stop chasing and simply receive what arrives.
This verse belongs to a cluster in chapter eighteen describing the practical texture of the liberated life; John Richards's widely circulated translation renders it plainly: "Peace is everywhere for the wise man" who lives on whatever comes to him rather than pursuing a particular outcome. The point isn't passivity as a strategy for happiness — it's that once craving for a specific future has genuinely fallen away, whatever does show up is met without resistance, which is itself what peace feels like from the inside. This differs from ordinary contentment, which usually still wants things to be a certain way and is merely managing disappointment when they aren't; Ashtavakra's wise man has no remaining preference for the universe to arrange itself differently.
Peace is everywhere for the wise man
John Richards's 1994 English translation, which he explicitly placed in the public domain, is among the most widely circulated renderings of this chapter.
Ashtavakra Gita
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- What the Ashtavakra Gita says about desire
Contentment is treated as what is left when seeking stops, rather than a mood to work up. The wise are described as living on whatever arrives of itself.