Astavakra Gita

by Swami Chimayananda

Ashtavakra Gita is a short treatise on Advaita Vedanta which systematically deals with the mystical experiences of the individual in his flight to the transcendental peace and bliss. The subtle philosophical truths are expounded in the form of a lucid dialogue between the teenager sage Astavakra and his Royal disciple, the King-seer Janaka. To Astavakra,Self-knowledge through direct mystical intuition is the only goal to be reached and experienced in the dynamic silence of one's own deepest meditation.

Table of Contents:

• General Introduction 
• Self-Witness in All
• The Marvellous Self
• Self in All-All in Self
• Glory of Realisation
• Four Methods: Dissolution of Ego
• The Self Supreme
• That Tranquil Self
• Bondage and Freedom
• Indifference
• Dispassion
• Self as Pure Intelligence
• How to abide in the Self?
• The Bliss-Absolute Reality
• Tranquility
• Brahman- the Absolute Reality
• Self-abidance - Instructions
• Aloneness of the Self
• The Goal
• The Grandeur of the Self
• The Absolute State
• Alphabetical Index to slokas 

About the Author:

H.H. Swami Chinmayananda is a world renowned authority of the scriptures of India, especially Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. He was born in 1916 and attained mahasamadhi in 1993. He worked relentlessly for about 40 years to bring about spiritual revival in India and abroad. His unique style and logical approach is appealing to all young and old.

His was the life of selfless service to others. He is the author of more than thirty books - each one is a masterpiece, dealing with the philosophical principles behind the religion. He made mysterious and elusive vedantic principles easily understandable for common people. He is the founder of Chinmaya Mission, through which the work that he initiated and was so dear to him, is carried out in the form of spreading the message of vedanta, overseeing numerous cultural, educational and social service activities. A biography of this great spiritual master, entitled Journey of a Master: Swami Chinmayananda, is available through Chinmaya Publications.

Swami Chinmayananda was selected by the Hindu Host Committee to be the President of Hindu Religion, representing Hinduism worldwide at the Meeting of the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago (during August 28 - September 4, 1993), an honor bestowed on the great Swami Vivekananda a century ago. The Parliament had selected fourteen eminent religious leaders around the world to form a council to guide the world into the next century. At "World Vision 2000," a conference of religious leaders sponsored by Hindu Vishwa Parishad during August 6-8, 1993, H.H. Swami Chinmayanandji was to be honored for his lifetime of selfless service to humanity and his extraordinary achievements in creating a renaissance of spiritual and cultural values in India and abroad. However, on August 3, 1993, Swami Chinmayanandji attained Mahasamadhi in SanDiego, California, after suffering a massive heart attack as the equipment became too worn out due to the ceaseless Seva of the Master to humanity for over 42 years.