Aṣṭāvakragītā (the Song of the Self Supreme)

Book excerpt: Astavakragita is a unique text among the world's contemplative classics dealing systematically with the mystical experiences of the Self on its way to transcendence, peace and bliss. There are few ancient treatises in East or West which evince such profound and lively concern with the Supreme Self as the ultimate reality, embo-died in mystical insight and experience, and written with such spiritual imagination and poetic fervour. This book presents in twenty chapters the substance of Astavakra's teaching in respect to the Cosmic Self in the form of his dialogue with Janaka, the seer-king of Videha. The teaching is based on the Upanisadic creed of absolute monism (advaitavada) that identifies the Self with the nondual Ultimate Reality. But the contribution of Astavakra is also immense, for he has introduced the element of emotional experience or the mystical feeling as the means for realizing the non-dual nature of the Self. Written in a lucid style and dealing systematically with the subject matter, the book holds a unique position among the contemplative classics of the world.