Ashtaavakra Gita, written in Sanskrit verses, is one of the most classical and revered Indian scriptures. Just as Bhagwad Gita is a scripted dialogue between Bhagwan Shri Krishna as the speaker and Arjun as the listener, Ashtaavakra Gita is a scripted dialogue between a 12-year-old sage (Rishi) Ashtaavakra as the speaker and the king of Mithila, Raja Janak, as the listener. Whereas Bhagwad Gita describes all the three main paths to enlightenment or spiritual liberation (Moksha or Mukti), namely the path of knowledge (Gyan-Yog), the path of devotion (Bhakti-Yog) and the path of action (Karm-Yog), Ashtaavakra Gita prescribes spiritual knowledge or self-realization (Aatm-Gyan) combined with detachment (Vairagya) as the only path to spiritual liberation. It offers a radical version of non-dualism (Advaitwad).
A humble attempt has been made to provide here some elementary information about this highly philosophical scripture by extracting matter from two scholarly commentaries on Ashtaavakra Gita written by Swamy Prakhar Pragyanand and Shri Nand Lal Dashora.
The information is presented in the form of short articles, which can be accessed by clicking on the links given below:
Ashtaavakra ji ke Updesh ka Saar
Ashtaavakra Gita ka Gyan: