Ashtavakra RIshi: The Physically Disabled Sage Who Authored The Ashtavakra Gita

Add as a preferred source on Google

Ashtavakra was a profound scholar, unsung for most part of his life, and cursed by his own father due to no mistake of his own. Let us read more about him in the article.

He was the author of the celebrated Ashtavakra Gita. His name finds a venerable mention in Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Finally, when his father Kahola Rishi lost the debate and also his life in an intellectual debate with the courtier of Janakas Court, Ashtavakra finally saved the situation and his father In return, cured his handicap, by blessing him and Ashtavakra turned into a healthy man again.

Aruni Rishi was the father of Supraja who was the mother of Ashtavakra. She had married Kahola Rishi and had become pregnant after sometime of marriage.

As she was carrying him in her womb, she used to listen to the vedic chants uttered by Kahola, during his day to day anushthana. One day, as luck would have it, kahola Rishi,while chanting the vedas, absentmindedly mispronounced some vedic hymns.

The child that was growing in the womb of Supraja was very sharp and quick and had learnt the vedas fully while in the womb, by listening to the chants uttered by his father Kahola.

So, this child stopped Kahola on the tracks and asked him to correct the pronunciation and showed how it should be pronounced. This acted as a blow to the ego of Kahola who cursed the child to be ashtavakra, the one with deformed limbs.

Then Ashtavakra was born, he was undeniably ugly to look but he grew up under the care of his mother. One day. When he was still an infant, Kahola Rishi had to travel to Mithila of Janaka Raja to participate in a debate with the court Vidwan of Janaka.

Kahola was told that winning this debate would fetch him gold and other valuable things as a prize. Kahola was penniless as it is and hence his poverty forced him to come all the way to Janakas court to attend the debate.

Kahola lost the debate and as per the terms and conditions of the debate, was thrown into Yamuna river. Kahola never returned. Ashtavakras mother hid this news from her son for a long time, but Ashtavakra came to know about it somehow and left for Mithila to debate with the courtier who had defeated Kahola.

Ashtavakra dazed every one by his logical display of knowledge and finally won hands down in the debate. He requested Janaka to have this courtier thrown into the Yamuna so that it would rightly avenge the death of his father Kahola.

The courtier replied that he was the son of Varuna, the governing deity of waterbodies and informed him that varuna needed a few brahmins to conduct his yagnya and hence asked his son to send a few brahmins into the Yamuna river.

The yaga had just then concluded and Varuna sent Kahola rishi with all the honours and gifts. Kahola after coming to know about Ashtavakras intellectual battle with the courtier, blessed him and touched him on his forehead.

Ashtavakra lost all his deformity. King Janaka asked Ashtavakra if he wanted wealth or anything that he wanted. Ashtavakra accepted and distributed it amongst all needy brahmins and retired to a hermit's life, chanting the name of Lord Vishnu.

He was a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu from when he was a child. Lord Vishnu appeared before him after a long duration of penance, and bestowed him jeevanmukthi or liberation from the worldly cycles.

The Ashtavakra Gita quotes that there is only one god with whom the world is connected inseparably and we must do good and be good and keep ourselves pure in intentions so that salvation can be achieved at the end.

Ashtavakra was a man of principles and values, which he had gathered due to a moral upbringing. He was cursed to be a disabled man, but did not grow up with an animosity towards his father. He not only forgave his father but also saved his life in a critical situation.

It shows how detached he was to the world and how duty minded he was towards his father. His reactions to life showed that he was a saint and a great soul. It is not surprising that he attained liberation finally.