Ashtavakra Gita: 6 key ideas
The core ideas of Ashtavakra Gita, each in under a minute, written in our own words. Want the full depth? Get the book.
- IDEA 1 OF 6
You are the witness, already free
The sage Ashtavakra tells King Janaka that he is not the body or the mind but the awareness watching them, and that this awareness is already free.
- IDEA 2 OF 6
Bondage is a belief
If you think of yourself as bound, you feel bound; if you see you are free, you are free.
Much of our suffering rests on what we believe about ourselves.
- IDEA 3 OF 6
Waves on an ocean
The world rises and falls in awareness like waves on the sea, without disturbing the ocean itself.
Events change; what knows them stays steady.
- IDEA 4 OF 6
Neither chase nor run
The wise don't chase pleasure or run from pain.
They let both come and go.
- IDEA 5 OF 6
Rest in awareness now
Ashtavakra doesn't prescribe years of practice.
He asks Janaka to rest in awareness here and now.
- IDEA 6 OF 6
Wisdom isn't in appearances
Ashtavakra was born with a bent body and was mocked in the king's court, yet he taught the king.
Wisdom has nothing to do with how someone looks.
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