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 9.4

कोऽसौ कालो वयः किं वा यत्र द्वन्द्वानि नो नृणाम् ।
तान्युपेक्ष्य यथाप्राप्तवर्ती सिद्धिमवाप्नुयात् ॥ ४ ॥

ko'sau kālo vayaḥ kiṃ vā yatra dvandvāni no nṛṇām |
tānyupekṣya yathāprāptavartī siddhimavāpnuyāt || 4 ||

When was that age or time of life when the dualism of extremes did not exist for men? Abandoning them, a person who is happy to take whatever comes attains perfection.

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

Kah, Asi, Asu, Adah, Kala, Vaya, Vayas, Kim, Var, Yatra, Dvandva, Asmad, Nri, Tad, Tani, Upekshya, Yathaprapta, Varti, Vartin, Siddhi, Ava,

Analysis of Sanskrit grammar

Note: this is an experimental feature and only shows the first possible analysis of the Sanskrit text (Ashtavakra Gita Verse 9.4). 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: “ko'sau kālo vayaḥ kiṃ yatra dvandvāni no nṛṇām
  • ko' -
  • kaḥ (indeclinable interrogative)
    [indeclinable interrogative]
    ku (noun, feminine)
    [vocative single]
    ka (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
    kaḥ (pronoun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
  • asau -
  • asi (noun, feminine)
    [locative single]
    asi (noun, masculine)
    [locative single]
    asu (noun, masculine)
    [locative single]
    adaḥ (pronoun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
    adaḥ (pronoun, feminine)
    [nominative single]
  • kālo* -
  • kāla (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
  • vayaḥ -
  • vayas (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [adverb], [nominative single], [vocative single], [accusative single]
    vaya (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
    vi (noun, masculine)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural]
    ve (noun, masculine)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural], [accusative plural]
  • kim -
  • kim (indeclinable interrogative)
    [indeclinable interrogative]
    kim (indeclinable)
    [indeclinable]
    kim (pronoun, neuter)
    [nominative single], [accusative single]
  • vā* -
  • vār (noun, masculine)
    [adverb], [nominative single], [vocative single]
    vār (noun, neuter)
    [adverb], [nominative single], [vocative single], [accusative single]
    va (noun, masculine)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural]
    (noun, feminine)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural], [accusative plural]
  • yatra -
  • yatra (indeclinable relative)
    [indeclinable relative]
    yatra (indeclinable)
    [indeclinable]
    yatra (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    yatra (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
  • dvandvāni -
  • dvandva (noun, neuter)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural], [accusative plural]
  • no* -
  • na (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
    asmad (pronoun, none)
    [accusative plural], [dative plural], [genitive plural]
  • nṛṇām -
  • nṛ (noun, masculine)
    [genitive plural]
  • Line 2: “tānyupekṣya yathāprāptavartī siddhimavāpnuyāt
  • tānyu -
  • tānī (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [adverb], [vocative single]
    tānī (noun, feminine)
    [compound], [adverb], [nominative single], [vocative single]
    tānī (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [adverb], [nominative single], [vocative single], [accusative single]
    ta (noun, neuter)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural], [accusative plural]
    tad (noun, neuter)
    [nominative plural], [accusative plural]
  • upekṣya -
  • upekṣya (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    upekṣya (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
  • yathāprāpta -
  • yathāprāpta (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    yathāprāpta (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
  • vartī -
  • vartī (noun, feminine)
    [compound], [nominative single]
    varti (noun, feminine)
    [nominative dual], [vocative dual], [accusative dual]
    vartin (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
  • siddhim -
  • siddhi (noun, feminine)
    [accusative single]
  • avā -
  • ava (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    o (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [instrumental single]
    u (noun, masculine)
    [vocative single]
    av (verb class 1)
    [imperative active second single]
    u (verb class 1)
    [imperative active second single]
    ava (Preverb)
    [Preverb]
    avā (Preverb)
    [Preverb]
  • āpnuyāt -
  • āp (verb class 5)
    [optative active third single]

Other editions:

Also see the following editions of the Sanskrit text or (alternative) English translations of the Ashtavakra Gita Verse 9.4

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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