The Essence of Astavakra Gita -The Ultimate Reality Within is a conversation on
Self-Realization between a fully realized 12-year old Guru, Astāvakra, and his
disciple, Janak, the King of Mithila. Before the end of the dialog, the
disciple realizes the Supreme Divinity of the Self within himself.
The treatise is
a translation of an 19 lecture series on Astāvakra Gita delivered
in 2009 at Haridwar, India by Swami Yug Purush Parmanand
Giri Ji Maharaj.
The authors have translated the lectures word for word, directly from
Hindi & Sanskrit to English. This book has completely
maintained
to preserve the direct message of Gurūdev without any modification.Titles have been added on for simplicity.
Originally, in Astāvakra Gita, there are 20 chapters. However, the essence of the
conversation between Astāvakra and Janak is
captured within the first 4 chapters only. Therefore, Gurudev’s lectures are
focused on these 4 essential chapters. It is vital to understand that the words
in this book alone are sufficient for the honest and genuine seeker to attain
the Eternal Self, Brahman. Infused in
the book are the 10 meditation sessions Gurudev conducted during the
discourses.
Every word of
this spiritual exposition is capable of producing a deep and profound impact on
its readers. The words are packed with so much power that the reader is
automatically impelled to walk the path of self-inquiry.
In his dialog,
Guru Astāvakra entertains no concepts and rejects them all. He rejects anything
that is perceived through the body, mind and intellect. He says that there is
no such thing as existence or non-existence, right or wrong, thoughts or
emotions, matter or non-matter, and moral or immoral value systems. He rejects
straight away the principles of Maya (Illusory energy), concepts like personal God (Iswara), ego (Jiva), and even
the existence of a Universe (Jagat).
For him the Self is the only Reality and that alone is the Absolute Truth. We wish that a
seeker or an aspirant would realize this truth within, for it is only then that
he can truly understand the level that Astāvakra speaks from.
