In the Atma Bodha, Sri Adi Sankaracharya sings about the glories of self-realisation. He says if one has gained realisation of the knowledge of the self, there is nothing more to be achieved. We do everything in search of happiness. Even that which we hate and try to avoid is only an attempt to maintain our happiness. We are attracted to things that seem to give us happiness and run away from things that seem to take away our happiness. However, realising our true nature as the self itself is the end of all search for happiness. The self is happiness itself and there is no greater happiness. You cannot get happiness and attach it to yourself.
The main idea that there is nothing more to attain is relentlessly repeated in this verse. We wish to know something or the other because knowledge confers a sense of security. Ignorance of something keeps us in a state of restlessness. So to allay our doubts in understanding and knowing, we are constantly seeking.
Once we know, learn and master that which we did not know, then there is a sense of fulfilment that generates happiness. However, knowing the self puts an end to all our search for knowledge. There is no greater knowledge than self-knowledge.
Surely we would all like to reach that state of poise and rest where we would have done all that we needed and wished to do, experience all the joy that we can ever wish to experience and know everything that we seek to know. All the three culminate in the knowledge of the self that is the core of our personality.
Meditate on this truth: “I am the Brahman.” It is the command of the Atma Bodha—a revelation of one’s own self.
After self-realisation, do I still have to do something? Well, this is equal to asking, “I had to reach New Delhi by train and I have got off the train at New Delhi. Is there anything more that I need to do to reach New Delhi?” The answer is: “Nothing.” You are already there, where you wished to be.
What is the end result of this search? The simple answer is: The search is over. There is nothing more to look for. All anxiety and stress has come to an end. It ends when you know that the self you have understood to be within you as you, is nothing else but that Brahman. Meditate on that for ever and your purpose on this earth is complete.