Ashtavakra Gita & Vivekachudamani
अष्टावक्रगीता · विवेकचूडामणिः
Two faces of non-dualism: one says there is nothing to do, the other lays out exactly what to do.
The Ashtavakra Gita is a short, ferocious dialogue between the sage Ashtavakra and King Janaka. It has no interest in gradual progress: you are already free, and the only thing standing between you and that fact is your belief that you aren't. It is either the most liberating thing you will read or intolerably glib, depending on where you are standing. The Vivekachudamani (“Crest-Jewel of Discrimination”), attributed to Shankara, is the opposite temperament: a complete, ordered path from the first wish for freedom to realisation, taking effort seriously. Read them together, and the whole range of Advaita is in view. (Note: the famous line “brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā” is not from the Vivekachudamani, whatever the internet says.)
न त्वं देहो न ते देहो भोक्ता कर्ता न वा भवान् ।
चिद्रूपोऽसि सदा साक्षी निरपेक्षः सुखं चर ॥
cid-rūpo 'si sadā sākṣī nirapekṣaḥ sukhaṁ cara
You are not the body, nor is the body yours; you are neither the doer nor the enjoyer. You are awareness itself, the eternal witness, needing nothing. Go about happily.
The whole text in one verse. The last two words are the instruction.
मुक्ताभिमानी मुक्तो हि बद्धो बद्धाभिमान्यपि ।
किंवदन्तीह सत्येयं या मतिः सा गतिर्भवेत् ॥
kiṁvadantīha satyeyaṁ yā matiḥ sā gatir bhavet
One who thinks himself free is free; one who thinks himself bound is bound. The saying is true: as you think, so you become.
Vivekananda's “whatever you think, that you will be,” from the source.
दुर्लभं त्रयमेवैतद्देवानुग्रहहेतुकम् ।
मनुष्यत्वं मुमुक्षुत्वं महापुरुषसंश्रयः ॥
manuṣyatvaṁ mumukṣutvaṁ mahāpuruṣa-saṁśrayaḥ
Three things are rare, and come only by the grace of God: a human birth, the longing for freedom, and the shelter of a great soul.
Ramakrishna's “he is born in vain who … does not attempt to realize God in this very life” is a gloss on this.
A disease is not cured by pronouncing the name of the medicine without taking it; nor is one liberated by uttering the word “Brahman” without direct realisation.
The single best verse in the corpus against spiritual consumerism. Reading this site is not the practice.
Is there anything to do?
A. Ashtavakra 1.11 — “One who thinks himself free is free.”
B. Vivekachudamani 63 — “A disease is not cured by pronouncing the name of the medicine without taking it.”
Both texts are Advaita, and they disagree about method. Ashtavakra says the path is the obstacle; Shankara's tradition says the path is long and you had better walk it. Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta lean toward Ashtavakra; nearly every other teacher in this library, including Vivekananda, leans toward the Crest-Jewel. The honest position is that both are describing something real, from different altitudes.
- Ashtavakra Gita, John Richards's translation (free) ↗
- Vivekachudamani, Madhavananda 1921 (public domain) ↗
Where the translation is marked “Aumidhra”, the English is our own plain rendering from the original, made with the public-domain translations above as reference. Where a translator is named, the wording is theirs.
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