November 10 2005
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Through a 3-day discourse series, The Ashtavakra Gita exploded into the Consciousness of the people of Bangalore in India. With the sheer authority of His Enlightenment, Swamiji introduced the boy-sage, Ashtavakra, to a packed auditorium at the St. Joseph’s Indian Boys High School.
Not much is known about Ashtavakra. There is very little factual information on him. What we do know is that his existence on planet Earth is dated about 10,000 years ago during the rule of the great king, Janaka. It is said that while still in his mother’s womb, Ashtavakra was cursed by his father for daring to correct him on the faulty recitation of scriptures. So he was born with eight bends or deformities in his body. He was the laughing stock of the whole kingdom. It is said that once when Ashtavakra walked into King Janaka’s court, he was greeted by uproarious laughter. All the ministers, attendants, the town’s people and King Janaka himself could not help but laugh at the sight of the contorted figure. At this juncture Ashtavakra proved his enlightened state by the simple statement, ‘Oh, King! I thought your court was filled with wise men. But no, you are surrounded by cobblers and shoe-makers. It is filled with people who cannot see beyond my skin.’ When King Janaka heard that single statement he understood the spiritual stature of Ashtavakra. He fell at his feet, accepted him as his Guru and asked to be taught the Ultimate Truth. The Gita of Ashtavakra can be received only when you are ready for it. It can be given only when you ask for it. The whole Ashtavakra Gita is the conversation between the wise King Janaka and the twelve year old Enlightened Master, Ashtavakra. Take the Ashtavakra Gita in your hand and you will know that you are holding the purest, most uncontaminated, unpolluted and ultimate word on Enlightenment. This is because Ashtavakra was never worshiped. The moment we start worshipping a Master, we elevate them to the status of God and create a distance between us and him. It becomes convenient for us to then be content with mere worship and not with the teachings. In this way we convert all great Masters to God status and miss out on the teachings. By giving importance to Krishna, we have started doing puja to the Bhagavad Gita. If a glass of milk were to be kept in the puja room and worshipped instead of being consumed, what is the point? In the same way, the Gita is to be consumed, not worshipped. Though the Ashtavakra Gita predates the Bhagavad Gita by 5000 years, it is not as popular because it speaks directly about Enlightenment and how it is possible. Ashtavakra clearly explains to Janaka that in order to be liberated, he must be free of the lure of the sense objects and cultivate qualities like forgiveness, sincerity, kindness, contentment and truth. By shunning the objects of desire, Ashtavakra defines renunciation. This implies that a man has to lead a very disciplined life before he walks the path of Enlightenment. The updated version of renunciation states that you need to renounce only that you don’t have, like worry, depression, anger, hatred, greed and lust. Modern man has to be given the technique first. He has to experience at least one glimpse of bliss. Discipline automatically follows. If we can create the time and the space to follow these techniques of meditation, then Enlightenment is possible!
The people were kept spell-bound as deep Truths were unraveled with honesty of expression and the energy of an Enlightened Master who spoke from His own experiential understanding of the great Truths.
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