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 18.8

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आत्मा ब्रह्मेति निश्चित्य भावाभावौ च कल्पितौ ।
निष्कामः किं विजानाति किं ब्रूते च करोति किम् ॥ ८ ॥

ātmā brahmeti niścitya bhāvābhāvau ca kalpitau |
niṣkāmaḥ kiṃ vijānāti kiṃ brūte ca karoti kim || 8 ||

Knowing himself to be God and being and non-being just imagination, what should the man free from desire learn, say or do?
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 (18.8). Some terms could be superfluous while some might not be mentioned. Click on the word to show English definitions.

Atma, Brahma, Brahman, Iti, Nishcitya, Bhavabhava, Kalpita, Nishkama, Kim, Vijana, Ati, Karoti,

Analysis of Sanskrit grammar

Note: this is an experimental feature and only shows the first possible analysis of the Sanskrit text (Ashtavakra Gita Verse 18.8). 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: “ātmā brahmeti niścitya bhāvābhāvau ca kalpitau ”
ātmā* -
ātmā (noun, feminine)

[nominative plural], [vocative plural], [accusative plural]
brahme -
brahma (noun, masculine)

[compound], [vocative single], [locative single]

brahma (noun, neuter)

[compound], [nominative dual], [vocative single], [vocative dual], [accusative dual], [locative single]

brahman (noun, neuter)

[compound], [adverb], [nominative single], [vocative single], [accusative single]

brahmā (noun, feminine)

[nominative single], [nominative dual], [vocative single], [vocative dual], [accusative dual]

√brahm (verb class 1)

[present middle first single], [imperative active second single]
iti -
iti (indeclinable particle)

[indeclinable particle]

iti (noun, feminine)

[compound], [adverb]
niścitya -
niścitya (indeclinable)

[indeclinable]
bhāvābhāvau -
bhāvābhāva (noun, masculine)

[nominative dual], [vocative dual], [accusative dual]
ca -
ca (indeclinable conjunction)

[indeclinable conjunction]

ca (noun, masculine)

[compound], [vocative single]

ca (noun, neuter)

[compound], [vocative single]
kalpitau -
kalpita (noun, masculine)

[nominative dual], [vocative dual], [accusative dual]

√kḷp -> kalpita (participle, masculine)

[nominative dual from √kḷp], [vocative dual from √kḷp], [accusative dual from √kḷp]
Line 2: “niṣkāmaḥ kiṃ vijānāti kiṃ brūte ca karoti kim ”
niṣkāmaḥ -
niṣkāma (noun, masculine)

[nominative single]
kim -
kim (indeclinable interrogative)

[indeclinable interrogative]

kim (indeclinable)

[indeclinable]

kim (pronoun, neuter)

[nominative single], [accusative single]
vijānā -
vijāna (noun, masculine)

[compound], [vocative single]
ati -
ati (indeclinable adverb)

[indeclinable adverb]

ati (indeclinable)

[indeclinable]
kim -
kim (indeclinable interrogative)

[indeclinable interrogative]

kim (indeclinable)

[indeclinable]

kim (pronoun, neuter)

[nominative single], [accusative single]
brūte -
√brū (verb class 2)

[present middle third single]
ca -
ca (indeclinable conjunction)

[indeclinable conjunction]

ca (noun, masculine)

[compound], [vocative single]

ca (noun, neuter)

[compound], [vocative single]
karoti -
karoti (noun, masculine)

[compound], [adverb]

karoti (noun, feminine)

[compound], [adverb]

karoti (noun, neuter)

[compound], [adverb], [nominative single], [vocative single], [accusative single]

√kṛ (verb class 8)

[present active third single]
kim -
kim (indeclinable interrogative)

[indeclinable interrogative]

kim (indeclinable)

[indeclinable]

kim (pronoun, neuter)

[nominative single], [accusative single]