Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Ashtavakra Gita - Sanskrit text with English transliteration & translation



The Ashtavakra Gita or the Song of Ashtavakra, also known as Ashtavakra Samhita is an Advaita Vedanta scripture which documents a dialogue between the sage Ashtavakra and King Janaka.

Ashtavakra Gita presents the traditional teachings of Advaita Vedanta with a clarity and power very rarely matched. The work was known, appreciated and quoted by Ramakrishna and his disciple Vivekananda, as well as by Ramana Maharshi.

Ashtavakra Gita states that there is no such thing as existence or non existence, right or wrong, or moral or immoral. In the eyes of the Ashtavakra, one's true identity can be found by simply recognizing oneself as Pure Existence and that as individuals we are the Awareness of all things.

The Ashtavakra Gita teaches that one is already free once one realises one is free. It advocates non-action, the loss of desire and severing of worldly attachments. To free oneself from the cycle of life and death one should withdraw from all Earthly desires, worries and cares. To continue indulging in Earthly things even after one has realised their true nature is said to be foolish and time wasting. Instead it paints a picture of The Master as someone who continues to keep up their responsibilities in the world, not because they believe they have to or due to any worldy attachments, but simply that it is in their nature to do so. To avoid misinterpretation in this regard teachers traditionally recommend that Ashtavakra Gita be pursued by only those who have already advanced on the spiritual path.

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8 comments:

  1. Thank you for "Ashtavakra Gita". It is a great learning .

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  2. Thank you. I had very faint memories of reading this at ashram ages back.....when i woke up in confusion this soothed me out.

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  3. thank you so much for this book!! :)

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  4. The link to download this file has been suspended by mediafire. Can anyone kindly email this to me? Thanks in advance. My email id is sanjaydoogar@gmail.com

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  5. The link to download this file has been suspended by mediafire. Can anyone kindly email this file to me? Thanks in advance. My email id is sanjaydoogar@yahoo.com.

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  6. Is there any way i can get this book ... pls email me to csaram10@gmail.com

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    Replies
    1. I have rectified the download link. You can download the book from https://archive.org/details/AshtavakraGitaSanskritTextWithEnglishTransliterationTranslation_201508

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