Ashtavakra Gita: Ashtavakra's Guide To Instant Nirvana  

By Achint Bhattacharya

The Ashtavakra Gita , also known as Ashtavakra Samhita , is a treatise that offers simple recipes for almost instant liberation. Swami Shantananda of Vasistha Guha calls it “a quantum leap into the absolute”.

A unique treatise on the non-dualistic advaita philosophy , the Ashtavakra Gita “guarantees to transport a seeker instantaneously from time to eternity, from the relative to the absolute and from bondage to liberation”, writes Swami Shantananda.

There are no pre-requisites to imbibing Ashtavakra 's jnana - no rituals, no pranayama , no japa or chanting of sacred syllables, not even meditation or contemplation. It is moksha -made-easy.

The Srimad Bhagavatam starts with a question posed by King Parikshit to Sage Sukadev. Struck by the fear of death, Parikshit asks: “Now that my death is imminent, how can I attain liberation?” Sage Suka narrates to the king the jnana that is enshrined in Srimad Bhagavatam.

Parikshit ultimately attained salvation. Like the Bhagavatam , the Ashtavakra Gita , too, is the outcome of a similar question posed by King Janaka to Sage Ashtavakra: “Tell me, O Lord, how can true knowledge be acquired, renunciation made possible and liberation attained?” ( sloka I.1). Ashtavakra's answer is a sincere, direct and unhesitating statement of the Ultimate Truth.

Interestingly, all the 298 stanzas of the Gita dwelling on various aspects of liberation, have no reference to God. Ashtavakra's discourse is divided into 20 chapters, which deal with detachment, quietude, wisdom, happiness, tranquillity, self-knowledge, peace, self-repose and liberation, among others, in simple language. It is said that Janaka posed his question to Ashtavakra while placing one foot in the saddle to mount his horse.

Ashtavakra is said to have told him that by following his instructions, Janaka could attain liberation by the time he sat astride the horse. With Ashtavakra's forceful, direct instructions Janaka is emancipated instantaneously.

Swami Shantananda outlines the three basic ways for the attainment of salvation as propounded in the Ashtavakra Gita .

The first is bliss - one could get instant liberation if one separates oneself from the body and remains effortlessly in pure consciousness ( sloka I.4). This is clarified later in the text: The Self is all consciousness, ever liberated, an uninvolved witness of all events, perfect, all-pervasive and has nothing to do with the body at all. Remaining in 'am-ness' or 'is-ness' as pure existence without further qualification is remaining in pure consciousness.

The second method is moksha , according to which, by merely feeling with conviction that one is liberated, you shall be liberated. On the contrary, if you consider yourself as a bound and limited being, you shall continue to be bound ( sloka I.11). One should live life as the liberated self - free, unconcerned, uninvolved, choiceless and desireless. Detachment from objects of the sensory world is salvation, while attachment is

bondage. By constantly remembering and establishing the Lord in the mind, a sadhaka attains the divine state.

Ashtavakra's third method lies in the elimination of 'I'. “The moment you cease to consider yourself to be the doer or enjoyer, you will recognise yourself to be ever liberated” ( sloka II.6). Karma with a motive binds human beings to their individual egos as performers of karma.

The moment one ceases to consider oneself as the doer or enjoyer of karma and its fruit, one is liberated.

The Ashtavakra Gita goes to the extent of asserting that 'bondage' and 'liberation' are but delusions of the mind.

A study of this Advaita Vedanta treatise helps us appreciate, if not imbibe, eternal spiritual values. The Ashtavakra Gita 's main focus is on the mind and its control.

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See also: Ashtavakra Gita, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)