In the quiet stillness of the ancient Indian forests, where the wind carried the echo of eternal truths, a remarkable dialogue unfolded between a young sage, Ashtavakra, and King Janaka. The Ashtavakra Gita, unlike many other spiritual texts, wastes no time on rituals, obligations, or elaborate cosmologies. It pierces directly to the core: "You are not the body nor the mind. You are the eternal Self, pure awareness." This radical Advaita (non-dual) text, born from the womb of Sanatana Dharma, stands out for its unflinching call to immediate Self-realization. Yet, its spirit reverberates far beyond the Indian subcontinent. In this essay, we journey across cultures and philosophies to explore how the Ashtavakra Gita resonates with—and transcends—other Eastern and Western spiritual traditions.
The Bhagavad Gita: Dharma and Detachment
The Bhagavad Gita, also a dialogue—between Krishna and Arjuna—presents a rich blend of karma (action), bhakti (devotion), and jnana (wisdom). Where Ashtavakra tells us to renounce the illusion of doership altogether, Krishna insists on the sanctity of duty: "You have the right to act, but not to the fruits of your action" (2.47). While both texts agree on the Self as eternal and untouched, the Bhagavad Gita situates realization within the framework of dharma and theism, using devotion to God as a gateway. The Ashtavakra Gita, by contrast, is stark, austere, and almost rebellious—it dismisses all concepts, including duty, as constructs of the ego-bound mind.
Avadhuta Gita: The Mirror Reflection
If any text reflects the Ashtavakra Gita like a spiritual twin, it is the Avadhuta Gita attributed to Dattatreya. "I am not mind, nor intellect, nor ego... I am pure consciousness, blissful and eternal." Both texts strip the seeker of every label—gender, caste, identity, even the notion of spiritual practice itself. They guide the reader not through stages but through sudden, illuminating shocks of truth. These are not manuals for the aspirant but declarations from one already awake.
Tao Te Ching: The Flow of the Formless
Across the Himalayas, in the mists of ancient China, Lao Tzu whispered similar truths in the Tao Te Ching. "The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao." Like Ashtavakra, Lao Tzu speaks to a reality that cannot be grasped with the mind. Both sages emphasize spontaneity, naturalness, and detachment. However, Taoism is more deeply embedded in the metaphor of nature—the flowing river, the yielding reed—whereas Ashtavakra speaks of the formless Self beyond nature, beyond even the witness. Taoism leans toward a balanced life in harmony with the Tao; Ashtavakra leans into transcendence itself.
Zen Buddhism: The Sword of No-Mind
From China to Japan, Zen Buddhism emerged as a lightning strike to conceptual thinking. Its koans—paradoxical riddles—aim to jolt the mind into silence, much like Ashtavakra’s fierce declarations: "You are already free. Why do you weep?" Zen emphasizes direct experience, no scripture, no belief—just the here and now. In both, the idea of ego is seen as the primary illusion. Yet Zen refrains from metaphysical pronouncements about Atman or Brahman, favoring emptiness (shunyata) over selfhood. Still, their destination is the same: freedom from mind.
Plotinus and Neoplatonism: The One Beyond Being
Turning to the West, the mystic philosopher Plotinus spoke of "The One"—a source beyond being, beyond intellect, from which all existence emanates. The soul’s journey is to return inward and upward to this ultimate source. Like Ashtavakra, Plotinus saw the phenomenal world as a shadow, and liberation as a reunion with the unchanging source. "Withdraw into yourself and look," he wrote. However, Neoplatonism is more hierarchical and rationally structured, whereas Ashtavakra’s voice rings with poetic immediacy: "You are the solitary witness of all that is. Forever free."
Schopenhauer: Will and Representation
The 19th-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer was deeply influenced by the Upanishads. In his World as Will and Representation, he describes reality as driven by a blind, striving Will—a force similar to maya (illusion). True peace, he claimed, lies in the negation of desire, a theme echoed in Ashtavakra’s call to abandon all craving. Yet Schopenhauer, a pessimist, sees life as inherently painful, while Ashtavakra affirms the blissful nature of the Self: "You are the joy of life itself."
Spinoza: God, Nature, and Non-Dual Substance
Baruch Spinoza, the 17th-century Dutch rationalist, conceived of God as Deus sive Natura—God or Nature, a single infinite substance. His vision dissolves the separation between Creator and creation, reminiscent of Vedantic non-duality. While Spinoza used the tools of reason and mathematics, and avoided mystical language, his conclusion was similar: "The human mind is part of the infinite intellect of God." Ashtavakra would agree but leap further: even mind is illusion; only the witnessing Self is real.
Gospel of Thomas: The Kingdom Within
The apocryphal Gospel of Thomas contains sayings attributed to Jesus that sound astonishingly non-dual. "The Kingdom is within you and all around you... Split a piece of wood, and I am there." This inward turn, this rejection of external forms, aligns with Ashtavakra’s teachings. Yet, the Christian tradition as a whole remains rooted in duality—Creator and creature, sin and redemption—whereas the Ashtavakra Gita erases all such distinctions.
Concluding Reflection: The Silent Truth
What unites all these traditions—despite their cultural, linguistic, and theological differences—is a shared intuition: that the deepest truth is not in doing but in being, not in belief but in realization. Ashtavakra puts it most boldly:
"You are not the body, nor the mind, nor even the intellect. You are pure awareness—boundless, untouched, free. Realize this, and be happy."
For the wise, the seeker, the one weary of chasing shadows across lifetimes, the Ashtavakra Gita is not merely a scripture—it is a mirror held up to the Self. In its reflection, we glimpse the same light shining through Lao Tzu’s Tao, Zen’s silence, Plotinus’ One, and Spinoza’s Substance. The words vary, the metaphors shift, but the essence remains: the Self is whole, now, always.
To know it is to be free. And to be free is to love, not from need, but from the overflowing abundance of Being itself.
स्वात्मान्य ज्ञानमेका न नास्ति किञ्चिद्यते न कार्यम् कर्मणी। (svātmānyeva jñānamekaṁ na nāsti kiñcidyataḥ na kāryam karmaṇī)
"In Self alone exists knowledge; there is nothing else. Hence, there is no need to act or not act."
– Ashtavakra Gita 3.1