The 3 Obstacles to Peace According to King Janaka: Desires, Mental Projections, and Attachment

Short Answer
King Janaka, the philosopher-king of Mithila, identified three fundamental obstacles that prevent lasting peace: desires (vasanas), mental projections (vikalpas), and attachment (asakti or raga-dvesha). The Ashtavakra Gita presents Janaka not merely as a seeker but as a realized being who articulates the nature of bondage and liberation with clarity. He declares that bondage is when the mind longs for something, grieves about something, rejects something, holds on to something, is pleased about something, or displeased about something . Liberation is the absence of these movements. Desires are the root of samsara, mental projections create the illusion of a separate self and a threatening world, and attachment binds the awareness to the objects of experience. When these three are dissolved—not through suppression but through direct understanding—peace is not achieved but revealed as your natural state. In one line: Janaka teaches that peace is not found by managing the mind but by seeing through the three illusions that disturb it.

---

Part 1: Who Was King Janaka? The Philosopher-King

The Ideal of the Liberated Householder

King Janaka of Videha (Mithila) occupies a unique place in Indian spiritual literature. He was a powerful ruler with immense responsibilities—administering a kingdom, performing Vedic sacrifices, engaging in philosophical discourse—yet he was fully liberated . He is the classic example of a Jivanmukta, one who is liberated while living and engaged in the world.

Janaka’s court was a renowned seat of brahma-vidya (knowledge of Brahman), where sages and philosophers gathered to discuss spiritual topics. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad contains a famous dialogue between Janaka and the sage Yajnavalkya, where the king demonstrates his profound understanding of the Self.

The Ashtavakra Gita: A Dialogue of Direct Realization

The Ashtavakra Gita is a dialogue between the sage Ashtavakra and King Janaka. The text opens with Janaka’s question: “How does one attain knowledge? How does one attain detachment? How does one attain liberation?” . The sage’s answer is immediate and uncompromising—a direct pointer to the Self that is already free.

But what makes the Ashtavakra Gita unique is that Janaka does not merely receive the teaching. He responds. He articulates his own realization. In chapters 7 through 19, Janaka speaks, describing the state of the liberated one with the authority of direct experience. It is in these chapters that he identifies the obstacles to peace with precision.

---

Part 2: The First Obstacle – Desires (Vasanas)

What Are Vasanas?

Vasanas (Sanskrit: वासना) are latent tendencies, subtle desires, or the “fragrances” of past actions that linger in the mind and pull it toward certain objects and experiences. The word vasana comes from vas (to dwell), meaning “that which dwells within” .

The Yoga Vasistha states plainly: “Desire is the essential nature of the mind. The mind and desire are synonyms” . To have a mind that is not free is to have a mind that desires. The two are inseparable.

Janaka’s Teaching on Desire

Janaka declares in the Ashtavakra Gita (16.7):

“So long as desire, the state of lack of discrimination, remains, the sense of revulsion and attraction will remain, which is the root and branch of samsara.”

This is a precise diagnosis. Desire is not merely wanting something. It is the sense of lack—the feeling that something is missing, that you are incomplete. This sense of lack generates both attraction (toward what you think will fill the lack) and revulsion (toward what you think will prevent fulfillment). Together, attraction and revulsion create the endless cycle of samsara.

The Bondage of Desire

Janaka further states (10.4):

“The essential nature of bondage is nothing other than desire, and its elimination is known as liberation.”

This is a radical statement. Bondage is not external. It is not caused by circumstances, by other people, or by fate. Bondage is desire. When desire ceases, bondage ceases. When bondage ceases, you are free.

The Ashtavakra Gita (10.1) urges:

“Abandoning desire, the enemy, along with gain, itself so full of loss, and the good deeds which are the cause of the other two—practice indifference to everything.”

Desire is called an “enemy” not because desire is evil but because it is the mechanism of bondage. It promises fulfillment but delivers only more wanting.

The Endless Cycle

The Yoga Vasistha describes the futility of desire with precision:

“Every desire when it is cherished gives a promise of the happiness of its fulfilment, but when it is nearing its fulfilment, or is being fulfilled, the promised happiness quickly and imperceptibly shifts its centre to the object of a new desire. This tantalizing process goes on endlessly. This fact makes us wander through the samsara, without ever coming to rest or peace.”

This is the anatomy of desire. It is not that desire is never fulfilled. It is that fulfillment is never enough. The moment one desire is satisfied, another takes its place. The mind moves from object to object, never finding rest.

Janaka’s Personal Experience

Janaka describes his own process of liberation (12.1):

“First of all I was averse to physical activity, then to lengthy speech, and finally to thought itself—which is why I am now established.”

This is a progressive withdrawal from the external to the internal, from the gross to the subtle. First, the desire for physical action ceases. Then the desire for speech. Then the desire for thought itself. What remains is pure awareness, established in itself.

---

Part 3: The Second Obstacle – Mental Projections (Vikalpas)

What Are Vikalpas?

Vikalpas (Sanskrit: विकल्प) are mental projections, imaginings, or conceptual constructions. The word means “alternative,” “doubt,” or “imagination.” Vikalpas are the mind’s habit of creating stories, scenarios, and interpretations that have no basis in present reality.

The Ashtavakra Gita (11.5) states:

“Realising that suffering arises from nothing other than thought, dropping all desires one rids oneself of it, and is happy and at peace everywhere.”

This is a profound insight: suffering arises from thought, not from circumstances. The event itself is neutral. The suffering comes from the mental projection—the story the mind tells about the event.

The Anatomy of Mental Projection

Mental projection operates through several mechanisms:

Mechanism	Description	Example
Imagining the future	Creating scenarios of what might happen	“What if I lose my job?”
Replaying the past	Re-experiencing events that are gone	“I should have said something different”
Projecting onto others	Assuming what others think or intend	“They must think I’m incompetent”
Creating a self-image	Constructing an identity based on thought	“I am a failure”

Each of these is a vikalpa—a mental construction that has no reality outside the mind that creates it.

Janaka’s Teaching on Thought

Janaka declares (11.1):

“Unmoved and undistressed, realising that being, non-being and change are of the very nature of things, one easily finds peace.”

The key word is realising. Peace is not achieved by stopping thought. It is achieved by seeing through thought—by recognizing that thoughts are appearances in consciousness, not the truth of reality.

The Ashtavakra Gita (16.1) states:

“My son, you may recite or listen to countless scriptures, but you will not be established within until you can forget everything.”

“Forget everything” does not mean suppressing memories. It means letting go of the mental projections—the stories, the interpretations, the imagined futures and replayed pasts—that obscure the peace that is always present.

The Illusion of Causality

The Ashtavakra Gita (16.3) offers a diagnosis of the human condition:

“Everyone is in pain because of their striving to achieve something, but no one realises it. By no more than this instruction, the fortunate one attains tranquillity.”

The pain comes from striving—from the mental projection that something needs to be achieved for peace to be possible. The instruction is simple: see that this striving is itself the source of pain. When you see this, tranquillity is natural.

The “Crow and Coconut” Revisited

The Yoga Vasistha’s parable of the crow and the coconut illustrates the mind’s tendency to project causality onto coincidence. A crow lands on a coconut palm, and a coconut falls. The mind immediately assumes the crow caused the coconut to fall. But the coconut was already ripe and ready to fall. The two events were coincidental.

Similarly, the mind projects causality onto the events of life. It creates narratives of cause and effect that have no basis in reality. These narratives are vikalpas—mental projections that create suffering where none need exist.

---

Part 4: The Third Obstacle – Attachment (Asakti or Raga-Dvesha)

What Is Attachment?

Asakti (Sanskrit: आसक्ति) means attachment or clinging. It is the mind’s habit of holding onto certain experiences, objects, or outcomes and pushing away others. The pair of attachment and aversion (raga and dvesha) is considered one of the fundamental causes of suffering in Yoga and Vedanta.

The Yoga Vasistha states:

“When attraction and repulsion (towards objects) become the nature of the mind, it alone is bondage and nothing else.”

Attachment is not love. Love is the natural recognition of unity. Attachment is the ego’s demand that reality conform to its preferences. It is the insistence that what is pleasant must continue and what is unpleasant must cease.

Janaka’s Teaching on Attachment

Janaka declares in the Ashtavakra Gita (8.1-8.2):

“Bondage is when the mind longs for something, grieves about something, rejects something, holds on to something, is pleased about something or displeased about something. Liberation is when the mind does not long for anything, grieve about anything, reject anything, or hold on to anything, and is not pleased about anything or displeased about anything.”

This is the most precise definition of bondage and liberation in the text. Bondage is not a state of affairs. It is a movement of the mind. Liberation is not a different state of affairs. It is the absence of that movement.

The Root of Attachment

Janaka further states (10.2):

“Look on such things as friends, land, money, property, wife, and bequests as nothing but a dream or a magician’s show lasting three or five days.”

This is not a rejection of the world. It is a recognition of its nature. The world is transient. Everything that appears will disappear. To cling to the transient is to suffer. To see the transient as transient is to be free.

The Illusion of “Mine”

The Ashtavakra Gita (11.6) states:

“Realising, ‘I am not the body, nor is the body mine. I am awareness’, one attains the supreme state and no longer remembers things done or undone.”

The sense of “mine” (mamata) is the glue of attachment. When you say “my body,” “my mind,” “my reputation,” “my possessions,” you create a bond that binds you to them. When you recognize that nothing is “mine,” the bond dissolves.

The Two Workers Analogy

The Ashtavakra Gita offers a practical analogy. Two people do the same work. One is happy and tranquil; the other is depressed and suffering. The reason is that the second believes their self is doing the work, so the reactions generated by the work affect them. The first knows that they are compelled to act due to past karma and that their soul is pure and has nothing to do with the results. They neither rejoice nor get depressed.

Attachment is the belief that the work is “mine” and the results are “mine.” When this belief is seen through, the work continues, but the suffering ceases.

---

Part 5: The Interconnection of the Three Obstacles

How They Support Each Other

The three obstacles—desires, mental projections, and attachment—are not separate. They form a mutually reinforcing system:

Obstacle	Function	Supports
Desire	Creates a sense of lack	Generates mental projections of fulfillment
Mental Projection	Imagines how desire might be fulfilled	Creates attachment to the imagined outcome
Attachment	Clings to the imagined fulfillment	Reinforces desire for more

Desire creates the mental projection of a future fulfillment. Attachment clings to that projection. When the projection fails to materialize, desire creates a new projection. The cycle continues endlessly.

The Root of All Three: Avidya

The root of all three obstacles is avidya—ignorance of your true nature. When you believe you are the limited ego, you experience lack (desire). You imagine ways to fill the lack (mental projection). You cling to the objects and outcomes you believe will fill it (attachment).

When you recognize that you are the infinite, complete awareness, lack ceases. Desire has no foundation. Mental projections have no purpose. Attachment has no object. This is liberation.

Janaka’s Declaration of Freedom

Janaka declares in the Ashtavakra Gita (7.4):

“So it is unattached, desireless and at peace, and I remain as such.”

This is the essence of Janaka’s realization. He is not saying “I have achieved detachment.” He is saying “I am unattached, desireless, and at peace” as his natural state. He is not describing an achievement. He is describing what he is.

---

Part 6: How to Dissolve the Three Obstacles

The Direct Approach of the Ashtavakra Gita

The Ashtavakra Gita does not prescribe gradual practices. It does not tell you to gradually reduce desires, control mental projections, or cultivate detachment. It tells you to see that these obstacles are not real.

The text (16.5) states:

“When the mind is freed from such pairs of opposites as, ‘I have done this,’ and ‘I have not done that,’ it becomes indifferent to merit, wealth, sensuality and liberation.”

The key is not to fight the mind. It is to see through it.

The Method of Inquiry

Ask yourself directly: Who is experiencing this desire? Who is creating this mental projection? Who is attached? The answer will be “I am.” Then ask: Who am I?

The “I” that experiences desire, projects thoughts, and clings to outcomes is the ego. The true “I” is the awareness in which these movements appear. When you recognize this, the obstacles lose their power.

The Method of Witnessing

When a desire arises, do not fight it or indulge it. Watch it. When a mental projection arises, do not believe it or reject it. Watch it. When attachment arises, do not cling or push away. Watch it.

The Ashtavakra Gita (15.20) states:

“Give up meditation completely but don’t let the mind hold on to anything. You are free by nature, so what will you achieve by forcing the mind?”

The witnessing awareness is already free. It is not disturbed by the movements of the mind. When you rest as the witness, the obstacles dissolve on their own.

The Method of Forgetting

The Ashtavakra Gita (16.1) states:

“My son, you may recite or listen to countless scriptures, but you will not be established within until you can forget everything.”

“Forgetting everything” means letting go of all the mental content—the desires, the projections, the attachments—that you have taken to be yourself. What remains is the pure awareness that was never touched by any of it.

The Role of the Guru

The Ashtavakra Gita (16.11) states:

“If even Shiva, Vishnu, or the lotus-born Brahma were your instructor, until you have forgotten everything you cannot be established within.”

Even the greatest teacher cannot give you liberation. They can only point to what you already are. The work of forgetting—of letting go of the false identifications—is yours.

---

Common Questions

Q1: Does dissolving desires mean I should have no goals or ambitions?
No. The Ashtavakra Gita does not advocate passivity. You can act in the world, pursue goals, and fulfill responsibilities. The difference is that you are not attached to the outcomes. You act with full effort, but you release the results. Desire for the outcome is replaced by engagement with the action.

Q2: How do I stop mental projections?
You do not stop them. You see through them. Mental projections arise in the mind like clouds in the sky. You are the sky, not the clouds. When you recognize this, the projections lose their power to disturb you. They may still appear, but they no longer define your reality.

Q3: Is attachment always bad?
Attachment to the transient causes suffering because the transient is always changing. But the word “attachment” here means clinging—the demand that things be a certain way. You can love and care for people and things without clinging. Love is natural; clinging is the problem.

Q4: What if I still feel desire or attachment?
The feeling of desire or attachment is not the problem. The problem is identifying with it—believing “I am the one who desires” or “I am the one who is attached.” When you recognize that desire and attachment are movements in the mind, not who you are, you are free even while they appear.

Q5: How does this relate to the Yoga Vasistha?
The Yoga Vasistha also emphasizes the dissolution of desires (vasana-tyaga) as essential for liberation. It states: “The idea within oneself ‘may this be mine’ is the great chain that binds one. The great-minded ones reach the Absolute by giving up this idea with regard to all things” . Both texts agree: the root of bondage is the sense of “mine” and the desires that flow from it.

---

Summary

King Janaka’s teaching in the Ashtavakra Gita identifies three obstacles to peace: desires (vasanas), mental projections (vikalpas), and attachment (asakti). Desires create a sense of lack that drives the mind toward objects. Mental projections create stories and scenarios that have no basis in present reality. Attachment clings to the objects and outcomes that the mind believes will fill the lack. Together, these three create the endless cycle of suffering that the texts call samsara. The solution is not to fight these obstacles but to see through them—to recognize that they are movements in the mind, not the truth of who you are. When you rest as the awareness in which desires, projections, and attachments appear, you are free. Not after years of practice, not after death, but here and now. That recognition—that you are the unattached, desireless, peaceful awareness that Janaka declares himself to be—is the end of all obstacles and the beginning of true freedom.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti