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 18.40
क्वात्मनो दर्शनं तस्य यो दृष्टमवलम्बते ।
धीरास्तं तं न पश्यन्ति पश्यन्त्यात्मानमव्ययम् ॥ ४० ॥
kvātmano darśanaṃ tasya yo dṛṣṭamavalambate |
dhīrāstaṃ taṃ na paśyanti paśyantyātmānamavyayam || 40 ||
How can there be self knowledge for him whose knowledge depends on what he sees. The wise do not see this and that, but see themselves as unending.
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 (18.40). Some terms could be superfluous while some might not be mentioned. Click on the word to show English definitions.
Kva, Atman, Darshana, Tad, Yah, Drishta, Avalamba, Yushmad, Dhira, Tap, Pashyanti, Pashyat, Avyaya,
Analysis of Sanskrit grammar
Note: this is an experimental feature and only shows the first possible analysis of the Sanskrit text (Ashtavakra Gita Verse 18.40). 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: “kvātmano darśanaṃ tasya yo dṛṣṭamavalambate”
- kvā -
-
ku (noun, feminine)[instrumental single], [compound], [adverb], [nominative dual], [vocative dual], [accusative dual]kva (indeclinable)[indeclinable]ku (indeclinable particle)[indeclinable particle]kū (noun, feminine)[adverb], [vocative single], [compound]
- ātmano* -
-
ātman (noun, masculine)[accusative plural], [ablative single], [genitive single]
- darśanam -
-
darśana (noun, masculine)[adverb], [accusative single]darśana (noun, neuter)[adverb], [nominative single], [accusative single]darśanā (noun, feminine)[adverb]
- tasya -
-
√tas -> tasya (absolutive)[absolutive from √tas]ta (noun, masculine)[genitive single]ta (noun, neuter)[genitive single]tad (noun, neuter)[genitive single]sa (noun, masculine)[genitive single]√tas (verb class 4)[imperative active second single]
- yo* -
-
yaḥ (indeclinable relative)[indeclinable relative]ya (noun, masculine)[nominative single]yaḥ (pronoun, masculine)[nominative single]
- dṛṣṭam -
-
dṛṣṭa (noun, masculine)[adverb], [accusative single]dṛṣṭa (noun, neuter)[adverb], [nominative single], [accusative single]dṛṣṭā (noun, feminine)[adverb]√dṛś -> dṛṣṭa (participle, masculine)[adverb from √dṛś]√dṛś -> dṛṣṭa (participle, neuter)[adverb from √dṛś]√dṛś -> dṛṣṭā (participle, feminine)[adverb from √dṛś]√dṛś -> dṛṣṭa (participle, masculine)[accusative single from √dṛś class 1 verb]√dṛś -> dṛṣṭa (participle, neuter)[nominative single from √dṛś class 1 verb], [accusative single from √dṛś class 1 verb]
- avalamba -
-
avalamba (noun, masculine)[compound], [vocative single]avalamba (noun, neuter)[compound], [vocative single]
- te -
-
ta (noun, masculine)[locative single]ta (noun, neuter)[nominative dual], [vocative dual], [accusative dual], [locative single]tā (noun, feminine)[nominative dual], [vocative single], [vocative dual], [accusative dual]tad (noun, neuter)[nominative dual], [accusative dual]sa (noun, masculine)[nominative plural]sā (noun, feminine)[nominative dual], [accusative dual]yuṣmad (pronoun, none)[dative single], [genitive single]
- Line 2: “dhīrāstaṃ taṃ na paśyanti paśyantyātmānamavyayam”
- dhīrās -
-
dhīra (noun, masculine)[nominative plural], [vocative plural]dhīrā (noun, feminine)[nominative plural], [vocative plural], [accusative plural]
- tam -
-
ta (noun, masculine)[adverb], [accusative single]ta (noun, neuter)[adverb], [nominative single], [accusative single]tā (noun, feminine)[adverb]tan (noun, masculine)[adverb]sa (noun, masculine)[accusative single]
- tam -
-
ta (noun, masculine)[adverb], [accusative single]ta (noun, neuter)[adverb], [nominative single], [accusative single]tā (noun, feminine)[adverb]tan (noun, masculine)[adverb]sa (noun, masculine)[accusative single]tap (noun, masculine)[compound], [adverb], [nominative single], [vocative single]tap (noun, neuter)[compound], [adverb], [nominative single], [vocative single], [accusative single]
- na -
-
na (indeclinable particle)[indeclinable particle]na (noun, masculine)[compound], [vocative single]na (noun, neuter)[compound], [vocative single]
- paśyanti -
-
paśyantī (noun, feminine)[adverb], [vocative single]paśyat (noun, neuter)[nominative plural], [vocative plural], [accusative plural]
- paśyantyā -
-
paśyantī (noun, feminine)[instrumental single], [adverb], [vocative single], [compound], [nominative single]paśyat (noun, neuter)[nominative plural], [vocative plural], [accusative plural], [nominative dual], [vocative dual], [accusative dual]
- ātmānam -
-
ātman (noun, masculine)[accusative single]
- avyayam -
-
avyaya (noun, masculine)[adverb], [accusative single]avyaya (noun, neuter)[adverb], [nominative single], [accusative single]avyayā (noun, feminine)[adverb]√vyā (verb class 1)[imperfect active first single]√vyay (verb class 1)[imperfect active first single]
Other editions:
Also see the following editions of the Sanskrit text or (alternative) English translations of the Ashtavakra Gita Verse 18.40

Ashtavakra Gita (song of Ashtavakra)
by John Richards (1994)
Or the Song of Ashtavakra, Ashtavakra Samhita
Astavakra (Ashtavakra) Gita
by Swami Chinmayananda (2016)
Sanskrit Text, Transliteration, Word-to-Word Meaning, Translation and Detailed Commentary
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