never heard of the ashtavakra gita. can someone enlighten?
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Savitha
For what it's worth, I am forwarding to you. Written by a devotee
doing volunteer work at the Bangalore ashram, for silver jubilee.
Though I have not heard Sri Sri's discourses on Bhagavad Gita, I have
heard all his Ashtavakra Gita discourses (33 of them, times two).
The Ashtavakra Gita is far superior to the Bhagavad Gita. Not many
people know of it, and fewer still care for it. If one reads it, it will only
be like real sawdust. But the discourses from Sri Sri, and hearing it
in satsang settings, brings this amazing treasure to life. And
having heard it, nothing can ever be the same again.
Sri Sri calls the Ashtavakra Gita the most unique conversation that
has taken place on this planet. H e asserts that it is the supreme
knowledge that must spread across the length and breadth of the
planet. Having gone through it all, I can only agree 10000%.
Well anyway, here's a little bit on Bhagavad Gita from Sri Sri.
Savitha.
--- In aol_5h@yahoogroups.com, Reshma Kurup < gkreshma@y...> wrote:
Dear Friends,
In the last 2 months the ashram has been vibrating with seva, satsang, sadhana and knowledge. One can see that the Silver Jubilee Event has already begun....I wish to share some of the knowledge that is being outpoured in the presence of the DIVINE himself....
Will do my best to do justice to what was said....
Bhagavad Geeta
It was a Sunday evening and Guruji was addressing the crowd in the Amphitheatre. It was the day when Krishna Started the Bhagavad Geeta discourse thousands of years ago.
Guruji asked the crowd how many had read the Geeta. Very few hands went up and Guruji immediately said that everyone should read it at least once in their life. And for the next one week we had Geeta chantings with Guruji every evening at Satsangs. It was really like hearing it live from the mouth of Krishna.
Some of the brief knowledge points that came out for all of you to ponder:
What happens in fasting?
The objects of senses retire. There is not enough energy. You want to rest. When you fast you are in retire with the sense organs. Still the hankering will be there inside. It will only go when the highest or the supreme glimpse of HIM is gained.
Like a tortoise, when you go to hit a tortoise, it crumbles itself. A Wise person takes his senses away from all the senses.
NO craving, NO fear, NO anger, such a mind which is so established, that stable mind is called A SAINT.
One who rains in ME, in MY MYSTERY is called Stithapragya.
One who is not in touch with his SELF, No feelings is evoked in me. Neither he has brilliance nor does he have feelings.
When there are no feelings, how can there be PEACE.
When there is no peace, where can there be HAPPINESS.
Feelings without intellect will go haywire.
Intellect alone cannot bring peace and happiness.
When you are joined with the consciousness, these things come effortlessly and automatically.
In the pursuit of happiness, your mind goes wherever your senses go. There is no alertness. Like the wind blowing on the surface of the ocean, your consciousness is blown away.
When everyone is awake, then a YOGI is asleep. When people are relaxed, then a YOGI pays attention.
Let go of all the desires. Without concern, when you walk, without any EGO(me ,mine), one attains PEACE.
This is the BRAHMAN STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
Being in this state, YOU ARE AT PEACE, HERE AND AFTER YOU DEPART FROM THIS WORLD.
Tere Chehre pe aisi muskurahat ho, jo koi chin nahi sakta( Let your face have such a smile which nobody can take away).
Dil Saph rahe to sab kam ho jata hai
IF YOUR HEART IS PURE, EVERY WORK GETS DONE.
*******************************************************************************
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7 comments:
Rajeev,
I'm so surprised - I dont think it
was any coincidence that you asked
"can someone enlighten ?"; you dont
use that word very often in your
posts...
The Ashtavakra Gita *IS* all about
enlightenment!! :-) :-)
Sage Ashtavakra takes King Janaka,
father of Sita, who is near-
enlightened, to enlightenment, in
his palace, sitting on his throne.
Sadly, this cant be conveyed in a
few words, so I have to stop. And
anyway, enlightenment is beyond
words.
Translation
http://www.realization.org/page/doc0/doc0004.htm
Story of Ashtavakra
http://www.indolink.com/Kidz/ashtavkr.html
There are lots of Gitas, other than Bhagavad Gita .. some of them are available in sanskrit here
http://sanskrit.gde.to/doc_giitaa/doc_giitaa.html
Hi Darkstorm,
I meant superior in terms of how
easily and powerfully it
approaches the same content than
the Bhagavad Gita. The nature of
the Atman, relinquishing desires,
and so on.
However, I still regard the
Bhagavad Gita as THE Bible for
dharma yuddha.
I never meant my email to Rajeev
to be posted to the blog :-). I
was just telling him my personal
opinion on thsi Gita.
In fact after I wrote it, I wanted
to send a clarification on my use
of the word "superior". I meant it
only on how it approaches the same
content, which can also be found in
BG. I should clarified first thing,
but it slipped out of my mind.
Plus, my problem with BG when I was
growing up was - "There is no war
going on in my life...Please give
me some philosophy that has nothing
to do with a war."
Not that I didnt appreciate BG over
time. I surely did. And have made
use of it.
Anyway, here is something very
interesting from Osho, which I just
now saw:
"Man has many scriptures, but none are comparable to the Gita of Ashtavakra. Before it the Vedas pale, the Upanishads are a mere whisper. Even the Bhagavadgita does not have the majesty found in the Ashtavakra Samhita -- it is simply unparalleled."
So it is not only me comparing
scriptures. It is those who have
studied the same stuff in different
forms and are very qualified to
judge.
If comparisons are odious, then
everybody, PLEASE stop comparing us
ordinary women with Aishwarya Rai
and Bipasha Basu and Deepika
Padukone, and so on! Some of you
were doing it on this very blog....
Never call Aishwarya Rai the
world's most beautiful woman...!
(which I think she is :-))
Nver compare....:-)
Regards. :-)
Hi Virat0,
I'm a she, not a he....didnt you
know ? :-)
The comparison was of two songs,
not of the One Supreme! :-)
Rest of your doubts - are you
saying Bhagavad Gita does not
address Atman ?
Well, it addresses the Supreme,
the One. That is what I meant
by Atman. It is there in both
Gitas.
And I do know BG Chap-18 talks of
relinquishing desires.
Sri Sri himself compares the two
Gitas in lecture #3 or so. I dont
know which version you have heard.
He tells us WHY he is giving us a
discourse on AVG instead of BG.
As for my use of the word powerful
what I mean is, it takes us "there"
with less effort.
And that could be because of how
Sri Sri explains things also.
Definitely it would not have helped
me if I had just read the book. It
helped me so much.
So maybe I should say "Sri Sri's
unparalleled discourses" on the
fantastic Ashtavakra Gita.
I dont think I fully understood
everything you are saying. Thank
you for your comments though.
DarkStorm,
Dont worry, Ravishankarji is not
here to discredit Bhagavad Gita.
Not at all.
He was chanting Bhagavad Gita
since age 4, without being taught.
And we who believe in rebirths
and knowledge surviving death,
should not be surprised. He has
this knowledge, and a lot of other
knowledge from past births. Who
knows which saint he was in another
birth, and has come back again to
give us all these treasures in 21st
century format, for our benefit.
Sawdust, yes, because it felt very
dry to me when I first read it.
That is how it felt to me, when I
first read it (before hearing the
discourses).
If the food I am eating is dry, I
dont mind saying it honestly.
After the lectures, I re-read them.
And it was exactly the one that
DrisyaDrisya has posted here. I am
thankful to you DrisyaDrisya, for
bringing it back. I read this same
version both before and after
hearing Sri Sri. After those
discourses, this treasure came
alive for me. I remember sending
it to my friends in the same batch
who did it with me, and telling
them - "This is so alive now".
I do not see anything wrong in
honestly stating whatever I felt.
I write in gratitude for whatever I
received from Sri Sri, and if I
talk about it to anyone, it is in
the spirit of sharing something
valuable that I have with me.
If that translates to one-upmanship
in a certain individual's eyes,
what do I care ? It is that individual's problem, if he/she
constantly judging whatever I say
or do and doing their best to
shoot me down here somehow. And
probably have nothing better to do
with themselves.
OK, virat0,
I am neither a he nor a she, and
the same goes for you. Same for
Rajeev or anyone.
Are you happy now ?
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