Ashtavakra Gita

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>

> K Kathirasan ADM NCS [sMTP:kathirasan]

> Friday, June 04, 1999 7:15 AM

> Ramakrishna

> [ramakrishna] Ashtavakra Gita

>

> K Kathirasan ADM NCS <kathirasan

>

> Namaste

>

> " If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of

> oneself

> as bound, one is bound. Here this saying `Thinking

> makes it so' is true " 1.11 Ashtavakra Gita

[Madhava Replies:]

 

My praNAms to you all:

 

Let me share my thoughts on this particular verse of Asthavakra

Gita. My fellow seekers may be wondering --- why only on this single verse!

I shall explain: This is what is called " sthAlee pulAka nyAya " . If you

want to know whether the rice is cooked or not, you just need to touch one

of grains out of those thousands of cooked rice grains. The one grain

alone can tell you whether the whole rice is cooked or not. Same way, if we

knew what it means by this verse alone, we will know what kind of great text

is " Asthavakra Gita " !

 

The king Janaka (Note: this is not Lord Rama's father-in-law) has

got a genuine doubt. Though at the outset this doubt sounds bizarre, we

always tend to get this doubt. ashTavakra, though a small boy, is trying to

answer the mighty king.

 

King Janaka wakes up from a nightmare and puts this question to all

the scholars in his court: " Am I a beggar who is dreaming that I am a king,

or Am I a king who is dreaming that I am a beggar, WHO AM I?? " .

This is a wonderful question. And Asthavakra's simple answer is:

" Oh Mighty one, you are neither the king nor the beggar. You are someone

else. Someone other than these two states that you are feeling. "

 

*I* AM --- a king (in your waking state)

*I* AM --- a beggar (in your dream state)

*I* AM --- nobody (in your deep sleep state)

 

*I* is the witness of all these three states. But the *I*, being

bound to the false attachments, perceiving/feeling/thinking that I am -- a

king, a beggar, a nobody.

 

Now, let us go back to the verse:

 

" If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of

oneself

as bound, one is bound. Here this saying `Thinking

makes it so' is true " 1.11 Ashtavakra Gita

 

In the beginning, Sri Ramakrishna PramahaMsa was not at all

interested in forgetting his divine mother, even for a wee bit of time.

Totapuri's attempts to transcend Ramakrishna into deep samadhi were all

getting futile. Because, Ramakrishna had been refusing to forget his mother

kali. He says " my mother is real, how can I forget her, how can I transcend

even her thought " ! Then Totapuri advises him to take mother kali's

permission. Mother Kali instructs ramakrishna to do as what Totapuri has

been saying. Finally, totapuri was able to put ramakrishna into samadhi.

After that, the great paramahaMsa never turned back. Though he kept talking

to mother Kali, he used to go into samadhi at his will. Perhaps, the

Astavakra Gita, being full of this kind of verses, must be reminding

ParamahaMsa of all those advises of Mother Kali and Totapuri.

 

The *I* being bound to the false imaginations, being bound to the

maya, always thinks that *I* am this. This thinking makes you bound. In

Sanskrit we call this attachment as " paSu vRtti " . " paSu " means that which

is bound.

 

a) jeevaH paSavaH uktaH (jAbAla upanishad) -> The individual

(jeeva) is called as paSu

 

b) tasmAdahaM paSupASa vimOcakaH (bhRhadAraNyaka upanishad) -> That

is why I make them free from their attachments (pASa).

 

c) svatassiddhaM paSutvaM mE, yushMAkaM paSupatApica

tadEtadhaDayAmyadya varabandha vinOdanaiH || (Siva purANaM)

 

" I am a paSu (animal?) by nature, and in the same way your

mastership. This is all nothing but divine play. " AsTAvakara is teaching

that " O mighty one! if you think you are fee, you *are* free " . This verse

echoes our entire Hindu dharma.

 

Hari Om! tat sat!

 

> Doesn't the above verse remind you of Swamiji's teachings? Many a time

> you

> would have found the gist echoed in his teachings. Does anyone in the

> list

> know why this text in quite unpopular? Thanks.

[Madhava Replies:]

 

In my humble opinion:

 

Not only this, there are many other geetas which have become

unpopular. e.g. Siva gita, kapila gita, nArada gita. " Lack of time to read "

- has made them unpopular. How many of us really studied our upanishads?

our Mahabharata in its entirety, our Ramayana, our puranas, our vedas? We

don't have time to read all these texts. Anyway, there is a choice of

Bhagawad Geeta, for somebody who could not read all other Geetas - including

AsTavakra Geeta.

 

Bhagawad Geeta is an echo of our entire dharma. Reading all other

text books, in my humble opinion, is not that important. One can read other

books, out of interest. But following the drarma is very important. Having

the " adhyAtma jAna " (knowing who am *I) is very important:

 

adyAtma jnAna nityatvaM tatva jnAnArtha darSanaM

Etat jnAnamiti prOktaM ajnAnaM yatatOnyadhA || (Bhagawad Geeta)

 

 

Your questions/comments are most welcome.

 

Best Regards,

mAdhava

 

 

> Om Shanti

> Kathi

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Brother

 

 

Please tell me about Asthavakra Gita to me, i have have come number of gita but this one never heard of.

 

thanks

 

regards

omaim

drjan14 <drjan14 wrote:

Dear brothers and sistersIs it true that only 2% of world population would come across "ASHTAVAKRA GITA" told by Ashtavakra to King Janaka?Sri Ramakrishnaya NamahVivekananda Centre Londonhttp://www.vivekananda.co.uk

[Guest guest]

Dear Brother,

 

Please check out the link for more details on Asthavakra Gita

 

www.geocities.com/osho1980/ashta2

Thanks Regards,

Uday

 

SUBRAMANIAM NARASAMAH <omaimhreem wrote:

 

Dear Brother

 

 

Please tell me about Asthavakra Gita to me, i have have come number of gita but this one never heard of.

 

thanks

 

regards

omaim

drjan14 <drjan14 wrote:

Dear brothers and sistersIs it true that only 2% of world population would come across "ASHTAVAKRA GITA" told by Ashtavakra to King Janaka?Sri Ramakrishnaya NamahVivekananda Centre Londonhttp://www.vivekananda.co.uk Sri Ramakrishnaya NamahVivekananda Centre Londonhttp://www.vivekananda.co.uk

[Guest guest]

Hi

 

I have an english translation of Ashtavakra Gita that i had

downloaded from the net some time ago

 

You can reply back to my id and i can send the same to you as a

attachment

 

THanks

 

Warm Regards

Subhash

 

Ramakrishna , SUBRAMANIAM NARASAMAH

<omaimhreem> wrote:

> Dear Brother

>

>

> Please tell me about Asthavakra Gita to me, i have have come number

of gita but this one never heard of.

>

> thanks

>

> regards

> omaim

>

>

> drjan14 <drjan14> wrote:

>

>

> Dear brothers and sisters

>

> Is it true that only 2% of world population would come

> across " ASHTAVAKRA GITA " told by Ashtavakra to King Janaka?

>

>

Sri Ramakrishnaya Namah

> Vivekananda Centre London

> http://www.vivekananda.co.uk

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

Following are some sites with the English translations:

 

http://www.realization.org/page/doc0/doc0004.htm

 

http://www.swcp.com/~robicks/gita00.htm

 

http://www.upnaway.com/~bindu/anantayogaweb/astavakra/astavakra.htm

 

http://www.indiadivine.org/ashtavakra-gita.htm

 

 

Incidentally, this was the first book Thakur asked ONLY Sw.

Vivekananda to study !

 

 

Regards,

 

Sunder

 

 

 

 

Ramakrishna , " smbhatta " <smbhatta> wrote:

> Hi

>

> I have an english translation of Ashtavakra Gita that i had

> downloaded from the net some time ago

>

> You can reply back to my id and i can send the same to you as a

> attachment

>

> THanks

>

> Warm Regards

> Subhash

>

> Ramakrishna , SUBRAMANIAM NARASAMAH

> <omaimhreem> wrote:

> > Dear Brother

> >

> >

> > Please tell me about Asthavakra Gita to me, i have have come number

> of gita but this one never heard of.

> >

> > thanks

> >

> > regards

> > omaim

> >

> >

> > drjan14 <drjan14> wrote:

> >

> >

> > Dear brothers and sisters

> >

> > Is it true that only 2% of world population would come

> > across " ASHTAVAKRA GITA " told by Ashtavakra to King Janaka?

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Sri Ramakrishnaya Namah

> > Vivekananda Centre London

> > http://www.vivekananda.co.uk

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Hari Om everyone,

 

Heard that Guru maharaj asked Swami Vivekananda to read Ashtavakra

Gita....does anyone can brief me with this...of why he asked Swamiji

alone to read it...???I suddenly came across Ashtavakra Gita and we

friends are having a weekly session of Ashtavakra Gita in

Edinburg,UK....Can any one tell me the significance of Ashtavakra Gita

please???

 

Janani

[Guest guest]

Hari Om,

 

 

Namaste,

 

I found two mentions of Ashtavakra Samhita in the Sri Sri Ramakrishna

Kathamrita:

 

 

Narendra — Give me one and I will give you a million (by putting `0s'

(zeros) after the figure one). You are indeed I, I am indeed You,

there is nothing else besides I[365].

 

Saying this, Narendra recites some verses from Ashtavakra Samhita.

Everybody present sits silently.

 

Sri Ramakrishna (to Hirananda, pointing to Narendra) — He seems to be

walking with an unsheathed sword in his hand.

 

(To M., pointing at Hirananda) " What serenity! Like a king cobra with

its hood down, seated quietly before a snake charmer. "

 

FROM: http://www.kathamrita.org/kathamrita2/k2sec27.htm

 

Sri Ramakrishna (to M.) — Listen, the Ashtavakra Samhita talks of

Self-knowledge. The knowers of the Self say `Soham,' that is, `I am

that Parmatman (the highest Self).' This is the view of the sannyasi

of the Vedantic school. But it is not suitable for the householders.

When he does everything, how can he say, `I am that Parmatman beyond

all action.' According to the Vedantins the Self has no attachment to

anything. Pleasure and pain, virtue and vice, all these cannot harm

the Self. Yet they afflict those who identify their body as the Self.

The smoke soils the wall but it cannot affect the space. Krishna

Kishore would talk like the jnanis and say ­ I am `Kha' (void), i.e.

like space. And then he is a true devotee. It lies in his mouth to say

so, but it does not suit others.

 

FROM: http://www.kathamrita.org/kathamrita/k1sec07.htm

[Guest guest]

Dear Devotees

 

Ashtavkara gita or asthavakra samhita is not very different from our upanishads

or vedas or the gita or for that matter shankara's vivekachudamani.but there should

be something mentioned about the great ashtavakra himself. probably a born gnani.

on entering janaka maharaja's darbar everyone all the bhramanas & rishis laughed at

him because of his 8 curves. on hearing this ashtavakra laughed more loudly. the

erudite king could not understand this and on asking he got the reply from asthavakra

that here is a great sabha of rishis & bhramanas where they are so redundant of knowledge

and he was surprised that they are there at such a great king's durbar. he went on to

explain that there is only one community who has to progress in his profession by seeing

the outside beauty and that is a cobbler's profession. he further said that it does not matter

if the brow is crooked but the vision is straight,the rivers do not flow straight but its water

is pure, the sugercane is crooked but its juice is sweet and then many such egs.

after all the analogies he said that the so called bhramanas & sanyasi's in the king's

durbar were like cobblers. its as albert einstein said "The meat inside the bag is more

importnat than the bag".

 

pranams to all the great rishis that helped enlighten our country and who are also

doing the same thing at present.

 

Rama

 

 

 

drjan14 <drjan14 wrote:

Hari Om everyone,Heard that Guru maharaj asked Swami Vivekananda to read Ashtavakra Gita....does anyone can brief me with this...of why he asked Swamiji alone to read it...???I suddenly came across Ashtavakra Gita and we friends are having a weekly session of Ashtavakra Gita in Edinburg,UK....Can any one tell me the significance of Ashtavakra Gita please???Janani Sri Ramakrishnaya NamahVivekananda Centre Londonhttp://www.vivekananda.co.uk

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