Ashtavakra Gita – Spiritual Experience of Raja Janaka

Ashtavakra Gita – Spiritual Experience of Raja Janaka

Sri Ashtavakra described Raja Janaka about various aspects of body, ego, mind, soul, almighty and liberation. Raja Janaka being highly detached from worldly desires and was competent for spiritual enlightenment, experienced instantaneously the spiritual experience.
 
Enlightened guru says, “अयमात्मा ब्रह्म” means jivatma is brahman (parmatma). After enlightenment, disciple says, “अहं ब्रह्मास्मि” means brahman is omnipresent and jivatma is little knower and at one place. When the difference between jivatma and parmatma disappears, the state is moksha. In moksha, liberated person becomes free, without aspiration and bondage.
Sri Ashtavakra examines the validity of his spiritual experience of Raja Janaka.  Raja Janaka explains about the different aspects after attaining the spiritual experience in various chapters which are as under:  
 
Chapter – 2: On realisation, Brahman & Jivatma:-

1. On realisation, vision changes and hence the thinking process also changes. Instead of doer, one becomes seer.
2. Brahman (Parmatma) appears in innumerable bodies. He is not doer and due his presence entire functions of world are carried, just as magnet attracts iron, sun spreads heat & light etc.
3. Just as moon appears into different pond, lakes etc. so many as shadow, likewise ignorant thinks so many jivatma in different beings. Jivatma belongs to nobody. He is witness only. Enjoyment is subject of senses and mind.
4. Parmatma & Jivatma is formless and whole universe is its creation & different from it.
5. Distinction between pleasure-pain, love-hate, related-unrelated etc. disappears. Narrowness of caste, religion, language, community, gender etc. breaks down and world brotherhood develops.
6. All desires are extinguished, one becomes desire-less, and still life will be lived naturally and with freedom.
7. The mental winds are not developed, ocean shall quieten and this world disappears. 
8. Due to nature, mental winds shall continue to appear but will not impact.
9. Renunciation (वैराग्य) is not pre-condition of moksha. Yoga, worship, bhajan, kirtan, japa, yajna etc. are done but parmatma is not realised; because, parmatma & jivatma happens suddenly on realisation.
10. On realisation, transient and untruth is dropped automatically and it is known that everything belongs to almighty and nothing belongs to him.

 
Chapter – 4: Enlightened Person & World:-
Enlightened person drops ego, due to this his actions are natural and without stress, without aspiring for its fruits. He treats the world as play or dream.
 
Chapter – 5: State of Spiritual Enlightenment:-
After attaining spiritual enlightenment, one realises that he is eternal jivatma and there is nobody else. So nothing can be renounced. Only thing, one can drop is pride of body which is biggest bondage. Dropping of it leads to moksha. 
Pleasure-pain is attributes of mind, hope-despair is attributes of chit, and life-death is attributes of body. But one is pure & eternal jivatma which is only witness.

Chapter – 6: State pf Moksha:-
The person neither desires to acquire anything, nor want to renounce anything, nor have attachment, nor have detachment, nor have fondness, nor has dispassion, nor feels life, nor moksha, in that state of void and waking, only consciousness remains. Once that state is attained, all efforts such as dharna dhayan, meditation etc. becomes useless.  
 
Chapter – 7: Role of Senses of perception:-
All restlessness is due to mind. Desires, lust, better position, need of more wealth, expectations, need for respect, need of moksha etc. are attributes of mind. All these efforts create restlessness.
As ripples and waves rises in ocean, likewise these develop in mind but die down without damaging anything in enlightened person.
Senses of perception and mind are always attracted towards sense objects and are satisfied through senses of actions. When senses of actions are not remaining, these attractions continue in subtle form which leads to re-birth. 

Chapter – 12: Process for Spiritual wisdom:-
Practice and dispassion are essential for spiritual wisdom. Sri Janak says, first I restraint bodily actions, then speech actions; later mind actions. Like this, I was made available to spiritual wisdom. One should ignore bodily actions, speech actions & mind actions and become observer. All actions are carried out naturally.    

1. Mind is not satisfied by enjoying or renunciation. Japa, tapa, yajna, karma kanda etc. done for peace of mind, create other kind of distractions. Body, mind, intellect, senses etc. are inert and jivatma is active. So in absence of ignorance and distractions, jivatma is realised.
2. I am-ness is ignorance which causes bondage. Hence do actions & inactions without ego and rest in jivatma, that state is moksha. 
3. To do away ignorance and distractions, practice of Samadhi is required. Once spiritual wisdom is attained, there is no need of Samadhi. No effort is required for spiritual wisdom except special vision.
4. Bhajan, kirtan, bhakti, worship, japa, tapa, yajna, havan, karma kanda, purity of mind, yogic kriya (dharna, dhyan, Samadhi, hatha yoga etc.) etc. are for internal purity which is necessary for spiritual wisdom. Once, the spiritual wisdom is attained, these are not required.
5. Without worrying and feeling, I settle in jivatma.

 
Chapter – 13: Pains & Actions:

1. Pains are due to body, speech and mind. Disease, tiredness, incapacitate, efforts to earn etc. are bodily pains. Abusing, bitter or sarcastic words, telling lies, licentious speaking, speaking too much etc. are pains of speech. Scarcity, insult, humiliation, worries, desires, ambitions, inferiority complex etc. are pains of mind. Abandoning all pains, resting in jivatma attains its bliss.
2. There are three types of actions viz. natural (breathing, digestion, heart throbbing, sleeping etc.), actions done as duty and actions done for meeting desires (for recognition, position, post, lust, to help other, out of jealousy, aversion or attachment etc.).
3. Jivatma is not doer. It is not concerned with actions and its fruits. All actions done including desire for moksha, heaven or for getting power are limited to body, mind and ego. Actions should be done as these are god’s work. Only almighty is doer. Not doing actions are also hindrance in god’s work.

 
Chapter – 14: Enlightened Person & Future Actions:

1. Even after enlightenment, it is necessary to keep the playfulness of mind constantly stabilised so that desires of past births are destroyed. When seed of all desires is destroyed then only moksha attained. Then he will see jivatma everywhere and free from ego and doer-ship. In sleep also, he is awake. While working, he has no doer-ship. 
2. All desires, expectations, aspirations of liberated person are extinguished. Mind becomes without convictions or options or thoughts. Such person internally becomes seer only. Externally, he behaves normally and naturally without any ego of spiritual wisdom.
3. Wise person attains bliss. Such person has no attraction towards sense objects. He becomes void inside. No impulses of desires arise in mind. Wealth, friend, sense objects, scriptures etc. appear meaningless. All these satisfy mind, ego and body but jivatma remains deprived.

 
Chapter – 19: Experience of Jivatma:-

1. Jivatma is permanent, eternal, birth less, formless and detached. Hence, it has no past, present or future. It has no location as it exists everywhere. It is indestructible. It existed when creation of universe destroyed or not existed.
2. The form of Jivatma cannot be explained. It can be experienced. Mahavir ji called it Atman. Gautam Buddha called it shunya. Enlightened persons called it wisdom. Upanishads called it “tat” means that. Bhaktas called it Ishwar, Parmatma. Advait followers called it Brahman.
3. Sri Janak explains the experience that there is no difference between Jivatma and corporal. With experience of jivatma, the person becomes quiet or serene. He is unaware of auspicious, inauspicious, worries, etc. Only, consciousness remains. He feels completeness.
4. Enlightened person who has already attained completeness, for him expectations of dharma, artha, kama, moksha etc. do not remain. After attaining enlightenment, all paths and means become futile.  

 
Chapter – 20: Concept of Advaita:

1. Jivatma is self and other forms are coverings and delusion. Jivatma has no bondage. Bondage and moksha are due to ego.
2. This creation is not two, Parmatma-Jivatma, Brahman-Jivatma, Prakriti-Purusha etc. entire creation is one.
3. Parmatma is massive energy which cannot be defined. This energy manifest in different forms such as animals, plants, stone etc.

 
Raja Janaka has explained the spiritual experience of realisation of Brahaman, Jivatma & Universe in the following chapters and verses (the respective verses and chapters in Sanskrit are mentioned in the end):  

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