Ashtavakra Gita: A Hidden treasure

While surfing on the net to search for some information about mythology-related topics I stumbled on Ashtavakra Gita accidentally. I never heard about this book before. Almost everyone (at least in India) knows or at least heard about the Bhagavad Gita and many other scriptures (like Ramayan, Mahabharat, Vedas, Upanishads, etc.), but I never heard about this book from anybody. When I read this book (an English translation, as the original book is in Sanskrit) I wondered why no one ever mentioned this to me. Even in today’s Hindu religion this book doesn't have an equal status like Bhagavad Gita and others and believe me it deserves to be right there with all these books. I think it’s largely ignored because of its simplicity and straight-to-the-point approach. It doesn't give any promises, doesn't have any interesting characters, supernatural powerful creatures, an engaging storyline, no scope for any interpretation, not attributed to any celebrated author. It’s also a very short text compared to other scriptures and delivers its message directly without any complications.

There is no doubt that this work is very old, maybe older than Mahabharat and Ramayan. It’s not that this work was not known or studied but somehow it always remained underutilized and ignored by the masses and popular bhakti movements. It was appreciated, and quoted by Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, and Osho as well as some other scholars like Radhakrishnan refer to it with great respect.

This text documents the dialogue between King Janaka of Mithila and sage Ashtavakra. In the first verse itself, King Janaka asks an important question that troubles most people “How is one to acquire knowledge? How is one to attain liberation? And how is one to reach dispassion?” and the discussion starts from there. As I said no formalities, no drama straight to the point. This Gita explains in very simple terms what knowledge is, how to attain liberation, and other stuff. This book is not about any religion, not about any God or its superpowers, and doesn't threaten you or promise you any incentives but I think still it's very effective. It's so simple in its approach that it makes you think about why other texts try to deliver a similar message in a much more complicated way. I think we love complicated stuff that's why other books are so popular compared to this one. 

The Ashtavakra Gita says that one is already free once one realizes one is free.

You are the one witness of everything and are always completely free. The cause of your bondage is that you see the witness as something other than this. (1.7)

If you see yourself as a witness of things, not as a doer or beneficiary of your actions then life becomes simple (for people who are troubled by their actions and attachments).    

If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of oneself as bound, one is bound. Thinking makes it so. (1.11)

So to be free or to be attached all is in our hands, no book or Guru can help us in this unless we help ourselves. He doesn't say to pay anybody or beg for mercy with any superpower as we are that power who can make ourselves free. That's why no organized religion touches this text as there is nothing to sell, this book is not offering any product like god or religion to sell.

The book also talks about renunciation, attachment, and detachment. The book talks about a desireless person in the following verse,

Those who desire pleasure and those who desire liberation are both found in this world, but the person who desires neither pleasure nor liberation is rare indeed. (17.5)

There is no meaning in accepting or rejecting any religion or any material things. It explains the futility of doing these things, people may think that he is trying to preach atheism in the following verses, 

It is only the noble-minded who is free from attraction or repulsion to religion, wealth, sensuality, and life and death too. (17.6)

A fool often shows aversion towards his belongings, but for him, whose attachment to the body has dropped away, there is neither attachment nor aversion. (18.62)

About places like heaven and hell, the book says,

There is neither heaven nor hell nor even liberation during life. In a nutshell, in the sight of the seer, nothing exists at all. (18.80)

about dispassion he says,

The dispassionate man does not praise the good or blame the wicked. Content and equal in pain and pleasure, he sees nothing that needs doing. (18.82)

I am not going to discuss the whole book here, I just wanted to introduce it to readers of my blog. It’s a good book to read (not sacred or anything), my recommendation is just to read it once and then see if it suits your needs or not. I found this one to be the most direct and straightforward among all the scriptures I read. I don’t say that follow everything written in this book (and I don’t say this about any other book either), just take what you feel is relevant to you and leave the rest. I can assure you that if you are looking for answers to questions about life and its meaning, liberation, etc. you won’t regret reading it.

Thanks for reading and please share your views.

Reference:

http://www.realization.org/page/doc0/doc0004.htm (I used this translation in my post)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtavakra_Gita

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)