It is said that when Ādi Śaṅkara was a young boy of eight and wandering near River Narmada, seeking to find his guru, he encountered the seer Govind Bhagavatpada who asked him, "Who are you?". The boy answered with these stanzas, which are known as "Nirvāṇa Ashṭakam" or Ātma Ashtakam". Swami Govindapada accepted Ādi Śaṅkara as his disciple. The verses are said to be valued to progress in contemplation practices that lead to Self-Realization.
The entire teaching and crux of Vedanta is appearing so beautifully in these verses. What cannot be told directly what it is/who I am, is being shared by telling what it is not/who I am not. That is the closest one can get to the truth through words.
If one can meditate on these verses, fully trusting the message and not doubting it at all, there is a very high possibility a door may open. There is nothing to lose in this process but if you hit the jackpot...you get it.
A very important point here: one does not have to achieve or attain anything here. For example when Shankaracharya says I am not greed, then it does not mean that you have to work on your own greed and diffuse it..no. You only have to recognise that while you see greed in your own mind, you are not that greed. You don't have to do anything, just know. And know so deeply that it becomes your own truth.
Listen to it here:
Read about its meaning here:
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