Ashtavakra Gita

Lessons

• 1. You Are the Witness – King Janaka asks the young sage Ashtavakra a direct question: how does one find knowledge, freedom and peace? Ashtavakra does not give him a long practice. He says: you are not earth, water, fire, air or space. You are…
• 2. As You Think, So You Become – One of the most quoted verses of the Ashtavakra Gita says: one who considers oneself free is free, and one who considers oneself bound is bound. As one thinks, so one becomes. Bondage is a belief we keep repeating, "I…
• 3. Janaka's Wonder – On hearing the teaching, Janaka awakens and speaks with wonder: "How wonderful! I am stainless, peaceful, pure awareness, beyond nature. All this time I was deceived by illusion." He sees that the world rises in him as…
• 4. The Ship on the Ocean – Janaka describes the world as a ship drifting on the boundless ocean of himself, pushed here and there by the wind of the mind. "Let it drift," he says, "I am not troubled." Circumstances move: praise and blame, gain…
• 5. Dropping Desire – Ashtavakra speaks plainly: desire is the root of bondage, and giving up desire is freedom. He asks Janaka to look at how long he has chased wealth, pleasure and duty, and whether any of it brought lasting peace. When…
• 6. Living as the Free One – The last chapters describe the jivanmukta, one who is free while living. Such a person acts but does not claim to be the doer, sees but is not attached, and moves through life like a dry leaf carried by the wind:…