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 6.2

महोदधिरिवाहं स प्रपञ्चो वीचिसन्निभः ।
इति ज्ञानं तथैतस्य न त्यागो न ग्रहो लयः ॥ २ ॥

mahodadhirivāhaṃ sa prapañco vīcisannibhaḥ |
iti jñānaṃ tathaitasya na tyāgo na graho layaḥ || 2 ||

I am like the ocean, and the multiplicity of objects is comparable to a wave. To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation, acceptance or cessation of it.

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 (6.2). Some terms could be superfluous while some might not be mentioned. Click on the word to show English definitions.

Mahodadhi, Iva, Aha, Asmad, Prapanca, Vici, Sannibha, Iti, Jnana, Tatha, Eta, Etad, Esha, Tyaga, Graha, Grahas, Laya,

Analysis of Sanskrit grammar

Note: this is an experimental feature and only shows the first possible analysis of the Sanskrit text (Ashtavakra Gita Verse 6.2). 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: “mahodadhirivāhaṃ sa prapañco vīcisannibhaḥ
  • mahodadhir -
  • mahodadhi (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
  • ivā -
  • iva (indeclinable adverb)
    [indeclinable adverb]
    iva (indeclinable)
    [indeclinable]
  • aham -
  • aha (noun, neuter)
    [adverb], [nominative single], [accusative single]
    asmad (pronoun, none)
    [nominative single]
  • sa -
  • sa (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    sa (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
  • prapañco* -
  • prapañca (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
  • vīci -
  • vīci (noun, feminine)
    [compound], [adverb]
    vīcī (noun, masculine)
    [adverb], [vocative single]
    vīcī (noun, feminine)
    [compound], [adverb], [vocative single]
    vīcī (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [adverb], [nominative single], [vocative single], [accusative single]
  • sannibhaḥ -
  • sannibha (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
  • Line 2: “iti jñānaṃ tathaitasya na tyāgo na graho layaḥ
  • iti -
  • iti (indeclinable particle)
    [indeclinable particle]
    iti (noun, feminine)
    [compound], [adverb]
  • jñānam -
  • jñāna (noun, neuter)
    [adverb], [nominative single], [accusative single]
    jñānā (noun, feminine)
    [adverb]
  • tathai -
  • tathā (indeclinable correlative)
    [indeclinable correlative]
    tathā (indeclinable)
    [indeclinable]
    tatha (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    tatha (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    tathā (noun, feminine)
    [nominative single]
  • etasya -
  • eta (noun, masculine)
    [genitive single]
    eta (noun, neuter)
    [genitive single]
    etad (noun, neuter)
    [genitive single]
    eṣa (noun, masculine)
    [genitive single]
  • na -
  • na (indeclinable particle)
    [indeclinable particle]
    na (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    na (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
  • tyāgo* -
  • tyāga (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
  • na -
  • na (indeclinable particle)
    [indeclinable particle]
    na (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    na (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
  • graho* -
  • grahas (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [nominative single], [vocative single], [accusative single]
    graha (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
  • layaḥ -
  • laya (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
    li (noun, masculine)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural]

Other editions:

Also see the following editions of the Sanskrit text or (alternative) English translations of the Ashtavakra Gita Verse 6.2

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

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Cover of edition (2013)

Ashtavakra Gita
by Kaka Hariom (2013)

Word-to-Word Meaning with Hindi Translation

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