The one and only Ashtavakra Gita.
What if you could choose only one book out of a 1000 to understand spiritual secrets only a select few would know?
What if there exists a ‘Gita’ that doesn’t confuse you and just gives a straightforward answer to all your spiritual questions and doubts?
What if I told you that there is a ‘Gita’ that is so potent that it will wake you up from the sleep of ignorance once and for all?
Does a book of that caliber exist?
According to me, if you can read only one book on Hindu Philosophy, Ashtavakra Gita qualifies for it. People who have studied the Ashtavakra Gita have reported a sense of inner peace and claimed that their spiritual journey was complete with nothing additional to know or learn. That’s a bold statement to make.
Can reading one book be enough for someone to understand spirituality? That’s what my naturally skeptic mind questioned before embarking on a spiritual journey with the Ashtavakra Gita. If you have never heard about this book, then I’ll explain it below.
For many, the word ‘Ashtavakra’ catches their attention. What does that word mean or a more appropriate question would be;
Who is Ashtavakra?
Ashtavakra is the name of a sage, a realized being and a true yogi. There is a story about how he got this unique name.
What is the story of Ashtavakra?
Ashtavakra was born to Kahoda and Sujata. Kahoda, Ashtavakra’s father, was a disciple of the legendary sage Aruni while Sujata, his mother, was sage Aruni’s daughter. There is a famous story that once Kahoda made some mistake while reciting the Vedas. Upon this, Ashtavakra who was just a foetus in his mother Sujata’s womb, spoke and corrected his father. This angered Kahoda and he cursed Ashtavakra that he will be born with 8 deformities i.e Ashta(Eight) Vakra (Bend/Deformity).
If you want to know the story, then Click here.
Why is King Janaka’s name mentioned with Ashtavakra?
King Janaka was the king of Videha kingdom. The book Ashtavakra Gita is a conversation that happens between Janaka Maharaja and Ashtavakra.
What is Ashtavakra Gita?
Ashtavakra Gita is a phenomenal spiritual text that originated in India and considered to be a masterpiece about the ‘Advaita Vedanta’ philosophy of Hinduism. It is a conversation that happens between 2 people. One person who asks the questions and another who answers. In this case, King Janaka is the one asking deep questions about life and Sage Ashtavakra is the one who answers all the queries. This is a largely unknown text to most Hindus as Bhagavad Gita is the most popular form of Gita.
My Attempts to Understand Sage Ashtavakra’s Message
A couple of years ago, I was searching online for “Ashtavakra Gita PDF” on Google. I downloaded the PDF file and started reading, hoping that the concepts would be easy to comprehend. To be honest, I didn’t understand a single concept in the book.
Fortunately, someone close to me pointed out that the Ashtavakra Gita should not just be read, but studied under the guidance of a learned master. Knowing that there are many masters who have written on the Ashtavakra Gita, I started searching for reviews about the commentaries that people found easy to understand. Unfortunately, a lot of authors don’t clearly understand what Sage Ashtavakra is trying to convey, and they end up complicating the entire subject. As a result, readers tend to lose interest. So my task was to find commentaries that were easy to understand.
What are the advantages of understanding the Ashtavakra Gita through commentaries?
- The biggest advantage of learning the Ashtavakra Gita from a master is that the risk of misinterpreting Sage Ashtavakra’s message becomes virtually zero. You won’t end up distorting or misunderstanding his teachings to humanity.
- A commentary is written by an expert who has studied and mastered multiple scriptures. Reading such a commentary gives you a bird’s-eye view of the topic, rather than just a single point of view.
- As I read the commentaries that I’m about to recommend to you, I found deep explanations for many shlokas (aphorisms). These cleared up my concepts and greatly solidified my understanding.
So which Ashtavakra commentaries are the best?
I’ll keep it super simple by suggesting 3 commentaries.
Benefits of the above 3 commentaries.
- You will get unique psychological and spiritual insights.
- You will discover practical application steps for daily living in modern chaotic times.
- You will finally achieve master level clarity on the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta.
Which Gita is better? Bhagavad Gita or Ashtavakra Gita?
Majority of Hindus don’t know that there are multiple Gitas available for humanity to progress in the spiritual path. The most famous Gita in India is the Bhagavad Gita, however due to the grace and massive efforts of a few enlightened masters, Gitas that were unknown have also been brought into the mainstream knowledge. Everyone has favourites but if you ask me, trying to find the best is futile.
Personally, all the Gitas are very dear to me and I read everything available to deepen my understanding about God, Self, Enlightenment etc. No matter what the cost is, if there is a book out there that will enhance my knowledge, I will make sure to purchase it. The cost of these books appear very small when compared to the massive value they provide in our spiritual practices.
Conclusion
I believe that as spiritual seekers, we should be rejoicing that ancient knowledge systems that were once believed to be extinct have been revived by enlightened masters for the betterment of humanity. Ashtavakra Gita is one such bundle of potent knowledge that has been made available for us and has the potential to enhance our meditation practices to the levels of an enlightened master.