Ashtavakra Gita [sanskrit]

by John Richards | 1994 | 2,996 words

Ashtavakra Gita is a Sanskrit text belonging to the Advaita Vedanta school of orthodox Indian philosophy, instructing the reader in some of the core concepts. Traditionally believed to be authored by sage Ashtavakra, it is presented in the form of a dialogue between him and Janaka, king of Mithila. Alternative titles: अष्टावक्रगीता, Aṣṭāvakragītā, Astavakragita, अष्टावक्र-गीता, Aṣṭāvakra-gītā.

Verse 2.20

शरीरं स्वर्गनरकौ बन्धमोक्षौ भयं तथा ।
कल्पनामात्रमेवैतत्किं मे कार्यं चिदात्मनः ॥ २० ॥

śarīraṃ svarganarakau bandhamokṣau bhayaṃ tathā |
kalpanāmātramevaitatkiṃ me kāryaṃ cidātmanaḥ || 20 ||

The body, heaven and hell, bondage and liberation, and fear too, All this is pure imagination. What is there left to do for me whose very nature is consciousness?

English translation by John Richards (1994) Read online

Glossary of Sanskrit terms

Note: This extracts Sanskrit terms and links to English definitions from the glossary, based on an experimental segmentation of verse (2.20). Some terms could be superfluous while some might not be mentioned. Click on the word to show English definitions.

Sharira, Bandhamoksha, Bhaya, Tatha, Kalpana, Atra, Eva, Etad, Kim, Asmad, Karya, Cidatman,

Analysis of Sanskrit grammar

Note: this is an experimental feature and only shows the first possible analysis of the Sanskrit text (Ashtavakra Gita Verse 2.20). If the system was successful in segmenting the sentence, you will see of which words it is made up of, generally consisting of Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Participles and Indeclinables. Click on the link to show all possible derivations of the word.

  • Line 1: “śarīraṃ svarganarakau bandhamokṣau bhayaṃ tathā
  • śarīram -
  • śarīra (noun, neuter)
    [adverb], [nominative single], [accusative single]
  • svarganarakau -
  • bandhamokṣau -
  • bandhamokṣa (noun, masculine)
    [nominative dual], [vocative dual], [accusative dual]
  • bhayam -
  • bhaya (noun, masculine)
    [adverb], [accusative single]
    bhaya (noun, neuter)
    [adverb], [nominative single], [accusative single]
    bhayā (noun, feminine)
    [adverb]
  • tathā -
  • tathā (indeclinable correlative)
    [indeclinable correlative]
    tathā (indeclinable)
    [indeclinable]
    tathā (noun, feminine)
    [nominative single]
  • Line 2: “kalpanāmātramevaitatkiṃ me kāryaṃ cidātmanaḥ
  • kalpanām -
  • kalpanā (noun, feminine)
    [accusative single]
  • ātram -
  • ātra (noun, neuter)
    [adverb], [nominative single], [accusative single]
  • evai -
  • eva (indeclinable particle)
    [indeclinable particle]
    eva (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    eva (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    evā (noun, feminine)
    [nominative single]
  • etat -
  • etad (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [adverb], [nominative single], [vocative single]
    etad (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [nominative single], [accusative single]
  • kim -
  • kim (indeclinable interrogative)
    [indeclinable interrogative]
    kim (indeclinable)
    [indeclinable]
    kim (pronoun, neuter)
    [nominative single], [accusative single]
  • me -
  • ma (noun, masculine)
    [locative single]
    ma (noun, neuter)
    [nominative dual], [vocative dual], [accusative dual], [locative single]
    (noun, feminine)
    [nominative dual], [vocative single], [vocative dual], [accusative dual]
    asmad (pronoun, none)
    [dative single], [genitive single]
  • kāryam -
  • kārya (noun, masculine)
    [adverb], [accusative single]
    kārya (noun, neuter)
    [adverb], [nominative single], [accusative single]
    kāryā (noun, feminine)
    [adverb]
    kṛ -> kārya (participle, masculine)
    [adverb from √kṛ]
    kṛ -> kārya (participle, neuter)
    [adverb from √kṛ]
    kṛ -> kāryā (participle, feminine)
    [adverb from √kṛ]
    kṛ -> kārya (participle, masculine)
    [accusative single from √kṛ class 1 verb], [accusative single from √kṛ class 2 verb], [accusative single from √kṛ class 5 verb], [accusative single from √kṛ class 8 verb], [accusative single from √kṛ]
    kṛ -> kārya (participle, neuter)
    [nominative single from √kṛ class 1 verb], [accusative single from √kṛ class 1 verb], [nominative single from √kṛ class 2 verb], [accusative single from √kṛ class 2 verb], [nominative single from √kṛ class 5 verb], [accusative single from √kṛ class 5 verb], [nominative single from √kṛ class 8 verb], [accusative single from √kṛ class 8 verb], [nominative single from √kṛ], [accusative single from √kṛ]
    kṛ -> kārya (participle, masculine)
    [accusative single from √kṛ class 3 verb], [accusative single from √kṛ class 6 verb]
    kṛ -> kārya (participle, neuter)
    [nominative single from √kṛ class 3 verb], [accusative single from √kṛ class 3 verb], [nominative single from √kṛ class 6 verb], [accusative single from √kṛ class 6 verb]
    kṝ -> kārya (participle, masculine)
    [accusative single from √kṝ class 5 verb], [accusative single from √kṝ class 9 verb]
    kṝ -> kārya (participle, neuter)
    [nominative single from √kṝ class 5 verb], [accusative single from √kṝ class 5 verb], [nominative single from √kṝ class 9 verb], [accusative single from √kṝ class 9 verb]
  • cidātmanaḥ -
  • cidātman (noun, masculine)
    [accusative plural], [ablative single], [genitive single]

Other editions:

Also see the following editions of the Sanskrit text or (alternative) English translations of the Ashtavakra Gita Verse 2.20

Cover of edition (1994)

Ashtavakra Gita (song of Ashtavakra)
by John Richards (1994)

Or the Song of Ashtavakra, Ashtavakra Samhita

Cover of edition (2016)

Astavakra (Ashtavakra) Gita
by Swami Chinmayananda (2016)

Sanskrit Text, Transliteration, Word-to-Word Meaning, Translation and Detailed Commentary

Buy now!
Cover of edition (2013)

Ashtavakra Gita
by Kaka Hariom (2013)

Word-to-Word Meaning with Hindi Translation

Buy now!
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