Once Muni went to King Janakas palace (the King invited all sages and intellectuals to answer his doubts on metaphysical existence). When Ashtavakra reached the court, the courtiers laughed at his distorted body. Astavakra name literally means eight bends in his body. He was physically challenged. But he was very intelligent as a child.
Ashtavakra looked at Janak and said, “ I thought you had very evolved courtiers. But now it appears you have cobblers/shoe makers, in your court, as they look at my skin and flesh. they laugh at my physical appearance, rather than look at me for what I am.
This treatise is about the questions asked by King Janaka on; how to be unattached, how to get liberation and attain wisdom for which Ashtavakra (about 12 years old) replied that; “ if one rests in their consciousness and not attached to physical realities and realize we are not just senses etc., then one would find liberation”.
The point to be noted is that one who is asking the questions is a great king of that time. He was later on called as an enlightened king. And the one who is giving answers as a Guru is a young boy (much younger to the king in his age, but mightier in knowledge and wisdom).
And this king used to have regular spiritual debates among intellectuals in his court. In one such debates Ashtavakra’s father was about to lose, wherein Ashtavakra as a young boy participates in that debate and defeats all the intellectuals there. King Janaka gets impressed and makes Ashtavakra as his Guru.
Ashtavakra Gita is a unique treatise on the Advaita (non-dual) philosophy which guarantees to transport a seeker instantaneously by a direct path from time to eternity, from relative to the absolute and from bondage to liberation.
There is no pre-requisite, no control of breath (Pranayama) or thoughts, no rituals, no Japa or chanting of sacred syllables and not even any meditation or contemplation. It is all an effortless quantum flight to the ultimate goal.
One second, you are here on what you consider as the terra firma of the phenomenal world and the next you find yourself in a summit of timelessness and bliss, where both the world and yourself are dissolved into nothingness. When "I' ceased to exist, there was liberation and so long as "I' existed, there was only bondage -
यदा न अहं तदा मोक्षो, यदा अहं बन्धनं तदा । (VIII - 4)
Ashtavakra does not lay down any pre-condition or prior qualification. He accepts his clients on an “as is where is” basis. There is neither any cultivation of particular qualities nor any renunciation of existing conditioning. It is just Being and no becoming. How and where can anyone think of acceptance or rejection? His mind neither renounces nor accepts; neither rejoices nor gets angry.
अतः कस्य कथं कुत्र हेयोपादेय कल्पना - (XV - 12)
न मुञ्चति न गृह्णाति न हृष्यति न कुप्यति - (VIII - 2)
The entire process seems to be revolutionary and contradictory to all accepted norms of traditional Sadhana. We could see some selected verses from the Ashtavakragita to get an idea of the ‘gist’ of it. The great sage, Ashtavakramahamuni, says:
मुक्ताभिमानी मुक्तो हि बद्धो बद्धाभिमान्यपि ।
किंवदन्तीह सत्येयम् यामतिस्सा गतिर्भवेत् ॥
‘One who thinks of himself as bound, will be bound, and one who thinks himself as liberated, will be liberated’ - this well known saying is true; as one’s thinks, so will one fare!
धीरस्तु भोज्यमानोपि पीड्यमनोपि सर्वदा ।
आत्मानं केवलं पश्यन्न तुष्यति न कुप्यति ॥
The wise (enlightened), be they enjoying or tormented, will always be mindful of only the Atman, and will neither rejoice nor be revolted.
चेष्टमानं शरीरं स्वं पश्यत्यन्यशरीरवत् ।
संस्तवे चापि निन्दायां कथम् क्षुभ्येत महाशयः ॥
Such a great one will look upon his own body as someone else’s; how could such a one be disturbed either by praise or blame?
स्वभावादेव जानानो दृश्यमेतन्न किंचन ।
इदं ग्राह्यमिदं त्याज्यं स किं पश्यति धीरधीः ॥
How could such a one with firm intellect, knowing that all that he sees is naught by its very nature, consider something to be acceptable and another thing to be rejectable ?
अंतस्त्यक्तकषायस्य निर्द्वन्द्वस्य निराशिषः ।
यादृच्छ्यागतो भोगो न दुःखाय न तुष्टये ॥
For the awakened - who has given up vexation within, and is without duality and desires - the enjoyments that come by themselves will neither cause misery nor glee.
मोक्षो विषयवैरस्यं बन्धो वैषयिको रसः ।
एतावदेव विज्ञानं यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ॥
Moksha is having distaste for sense objects while bondage is having taste for them; this’s all there is to knowledge; now, you may do as you please!
यस्याभिमानो मोक्षोऽपि देहेऽपि ममता तथा ।
न च ज्ञानी न वा योगी केवलं दुःखभागसौ ॥
That man is neither a jnani nor a Yogi, who, though having penchant for moksha is at the same time attached to the body; he is simply sorrowful.
हरो यद्युपदेष्टा ते हरिः कमलजोऽपि वा ।
तथापि न ते स्वास्थ्यं सर्वविस्मरणादृते ॥
Even if Hara or Hari or Brahma be your teachers, there is no ‘abiding-in-the-self’ for you until you forget everything!
न कदाचित् जगत्त्यस्मिन्तत्त्वज्ञो हन्त खिद्यति ।
यत एकेन तेनेदं पूर्णं ब्रह्माण्डमण्डलम् ॥
A knower of tattva will never come to sorrow in this world, for it is filled by himself alone.
बुभुक्षुरिह संसारे मुमुक्षुरपि दृश्यते।
भोगमोक्षनिराकांक्षी विरलो हि महाशयः ॥
In this world, there are those who covet enjoyment as there are others who covet moksha; there is rarely a great one, who covets neither.
Ashtavakra Gita offers a radical version of non-dualistic philosophy. The Gita insists on the complete unreality of external world and absolute oneness of existence. It does not mention any morality or duties, and therefore is seen by commentators as 'godless'. It also dismisses names and forms as unreal and a sign of ignorance.
In a conversation between Janaka and Ashtavakra, pertaining to the deformity of his crooked body, Ashtavakra explains that
You are not the body, nor is the body yours, nor are you the doer of actions or the reaper of their consequences. You are eternally pure consciousness, the witness, in need of nothing - so be at peace. The size of a Temple is not affected by how it is shaped, and the shape of his own body does not affect Atman. The ignorant man's vision is shrouded by names and forms, but a wise man sees only himself. If ego is a construct of the mind, who becomes aware of this illusion?
The Illusion of Ego; The mind, rooted in maya (illusion), instinctively categorizes experiences based on a perceived need for bodily survival. This gives rise to ahamkara (ego), an illusory construct that erroneously attributes personal ownership and doership to these experiences. It imagines a distinct individuality separate from the infinite Brahman, overlooking that all phenomena simply unfold in the totality of existence, devoid of personalization.
11.4 - Realising that pleasure and pain, birth and death are from destiny, and that one’s desires cannot be achieved, one remains inactive, and even when acting, does not get attached. When the appearance of this body is produced, its destiny is already set.
18.85 - The sage wanders about as he pleases and lives on whatever may come.
Contentment ever dwells in his heart. And when the sun sets, he rests where he is.
18.86 - Rooted in Being, no thought of being born or reborn, the great soul is indifferent to the death or birth of his body.
18.87 - The wise one stands alone, caring for nothing, bereft of possessions. He goes where he will, unhindered by opposites, his doubts rent asunder. He is truly blessed.
18.88 - The wise one has no sense of “mine.” To him earth, stone and gold are the same. The knots of his heart have unraveled. He knows neither ignorance nor sorrow. He is excellent in every way.
All the experiences that it is to go through are already predetermined in accord with the inner tendencies that caused it to manifest. The sense of choice and freewill is an illusion that is born out of the fake sense of ‘I’, which presumes a separate, discrete and individual identity.
With the body’s worldly destiny already set in stone, all that we can do is to know ourselves as we are, as pure spacious and untouchable awareness, which holds the appearances of the body and all other appearances within itself. When the sole identification with the body is broken, the body fulfils its natural destiny whilst living as a powerful and sparkling reflection of primordially liberated awareness.
After the tendencies that produced the body are exhausted, there is no need for such a body to be produced again. We then remain in subtler levels of non-bodily existence, travelling forever deeper into the incomprehensible heart of spaciousness.
Authored by Dr Anadi Sahoo
