I’ve a new song in my head, and I don’t want it to leave.
Called the Astavarka Gita (Gita means "song" in Sanskrit) it is a beautiful, powerful, inspired ancient poem that not only explains the meaning of life, but the way to live a life of meaning.
Regarded as unparalleled, majestic and beyond compare by Vedic scholars, this set of about 300 verses (20 short chapters) is a conversation between a master and his student. The master is unlikely. His name is Astavarka (spelled Ashtavarka in some translations), which means “eight crooked knots or joints.” These deformities are attributed to his father’s curses while Astavarka was in his mother’s womb, and how he got his name.
The student is King Janaka, who wants to understand the meaning of life. Told in a question-answer format, this dialogue is unlike the more famous Gita, the Bhagavad Gita, primarily because the student in the Astavakra Gita doesn’t resist or fight what his teacher tells him. Without the conflict and disagreement, the author of the Astavarka doesn’t have to include metaphorical battle scenes, as found in the Bhagavad Gita.
Here in Bangalore, I had the good fortune to go the Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, and get a copy of the late Swami’ Chinmayananda’s translation and commentary of the Astavarka Gita. Of this Gita, he wrote, “To those who have purified their minds and are really engaged in meditation, to such committed students alone, this textbook can show light and can serve as a true guide.” Oh, I so agree!
Let me share just one mighty verse from Chapter XI, entitled Self is Pure Intelligence, verse 5: “He who has understood with certitude that it is anxiety and nothing else that brings sorrow in the world, becomes free from it and is happy and peaceful everywhere---with his desires melted away.”
Is that not a 33 word prescription for what ails the modern world? But written more than 5,000 years ago.
To my delight, I found a lovely website, which actually has a free copy of the Astavarka Gita available for download, translated by a gentleman named John Richards. Let us bless and thank the Realization.org web folks and Mr. Richards!
Take your time and approach this Book of Wisdom with time and reverence. Enjoy the teachings and the freedom you will derive.
Called the Astavarka Gita (Gita means "song" in Sanskrit) it is a beautiful, powerful, inspired ancient poem that not only explains the meaning of life, but the way to live a life of meaning.
Regarded as unparalleled, majestic and beyond compare by Vedic scholars, this set of about 300 verses (20 short chapters) is a conversation between a master and his student. The master is unlikely. His name is Astavarka (spelled Ashtavarka in some translations), which means “eight crooked knots or joints.” These deformities are attributed to his father’s curses while Astavarka was in his mother’s womb, and how he got his name.
The student is King Janaka, who wants to understand the meaning of life. Told in a question-answer format, this dialogue is unlike the more famous Gita, the Bhagavad Gita, primarily because the student in the Astavakra Gita doesn’t resist or fight what his teacher tells him. Without the conflict and disagreement, the author of the Astavarka doesn’t have to include metaphorical battle scenes, as found in the Bhagavad Gita.
Here in Bangalore, I had the good fortune to go the Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, and get a copy of the late Swami’ Chinmayananda’s translation and commentary of the Astavarka Gita. Of this Gita, he wrote, “To those who have purified their minds and are really engaged in meditation, to such committed students alone, this textbook can show light and can serve as a true guide.” Oh, I so agree!
Let me share just one mighty verse from Chapter XI, entitled Self is Pure Intelligence, verse 5: “He who has understood with certitude that it is anxiety and nothing else that brings sorrow in the world, becomes free from it and is happy and peaceful everywhere---with his desires melted away.”
Is that not a 33 word prescription for what ails the modern world? But written more than 5,000 years ago.
To my delight, I found a lovely website, which actually has a free copy of the Astavarka Gita available for download, translated by a gentleman named John Richards. Let us bless and thank the Realization.org web folks and Mr. Richards!
Take your time and approach this Book of Wisdom with time and reverence. Enjoy the teachings and the freedom you will derive.
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