Ashtavakra - November 2018 newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami

In October I taught a five day yoga program at Liz Richard's Ananta Yoga in Wicklow, Ireland. The program was well organized and well attended. Several topics--asanas and vinyasa sequences and many other discussions that would be of interest to serious yoga practitioners formed the contents of the program

I also taught a weekend yoga program at   Yoga la Source  in Luxembourg on five different yoga topics. Nice compact group attended the program.  

One of the ways to impress others with asanas is to perform Ashtavakra asana named after the sage Ashtavakra. The adorable asana of contorsions named after Ashtavakra means an asana with eight deformities. Nobody knows how he looked like but some yogis came out with this unique posture that has caught the imagination of many yogasana experts.

Ashtavakra was a great vedic scholar. His work, 'Ashtavakra Samhita' is a vedantic masterpiece, bold and sweeping following the advaita school, like the Mandukya Karika of Gaudapada. Here a is a story about the sage

Ashtavakra's story is found in the itihasas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and also in the vedas. Uddalaka was a great Rishi belonging to the Sama Veda clan. He is credited with the great mantra "Tat tvam asi" or "That thou Art". He taught the Truth that the individual self and the supreme self are one and the same to his son Svetaketu. Uddalaka had another student by name Kahola.After completion of Kahola's  studentship, sage Uddalaka offered his daughter Sujata in marriage to his disciple Kahola. Both the young coupe set up then an ashram in a forest,where Kahola was performing his vedic duties. In due course Sujatha was in the family way. Once when Kahola was chanting some vedic mantras, it would appear he made some errors in the recitation of the mantras. The infant in the womb having heard the recitation of his father pointed out aloud the errors in his father's chants. In a fit of uncontrolled anger Kahola cursed the foetus to be born with eight deformities in his body.

"Rishayah satyavachasah". Rishis are those who speak the truth or whatever they say become true. Because they are truth speakers, whatever they say come true, whether it is anugraha or blessing or saapa or curse.

 Then there was drought. The sage and his wife struggled in the ashram and then Sujata suggested that Kahola go to a vedic debate then organized by King Janaka in the city of Mithila. He could with his scholarship  win the debate and earn some gift from the King. That was the plan. Kahola went to the King's chamber and offered himself as a contestant in the debate. At that time a member of the Varuna loka had taken the guise of a Brahmana and was defeating all the contestants and Kahola was pitted against him. The debate started and towards the end, the Varuna kula Brahmana asked the meaning of the eight mantras that the foetus had found fault with the recitation of Kahola earlier even while in the womb. Kahola having not corrected his understanding repeated the same mistake and thus was defeated. He was arrested and taken to Varuna loka and submerged in water.

In due course Sujatha gave birth to a child deformed in eight places  Uddalaka took his daughter and grandson under his care.The child, known as Ashtavakra (ashta= eight, vakra= deformity) because of the 8 bodily deformities grew up as a brilliant vedic scholar.He considered Uddalaka as his father. Until he was about 10 he did not know about his biological father or his fate. Then he came to know about his father and what happened to him. He decided then to liberate his father from the clutches of Varuna.

The young Ashtavakra reached Mithila after a very arduous journey made more painful because of the physical challenges. As soon as he reached the palace to meet the King, he was stopped by the gatekeeper. But Ashtavakra convinced him that he was a genuine contestant. When he reached the King's court and  declared that he was a contestant and ready to meet anyone on a debate on Vedas, the whole court burst into derisive laughter--looking at Ashtavakra's body and his youth.

The next moment Ashtavakra himself laughed and loudly declared that the scholars in the King's court were just like cobblers who look only at the skin (hide) and not what is within. The cobblers know a lot about the skin(hide) like its smoothness, flexibility and other characteristics but not what was covered  the skin. Likewise these scholars only look at the outward deformities of him and not the wisdom and nature of Self within him. They did not see the atma. They have no realization of the Atman  and the Supreme Soul  the Paramatma and their oneness.. They were simply seeing the skin and they were making their judgements on this basis of their skin deep knowledge only. This attitude was that  of the shoemakers; they only looked at skin.  He derided them as no more wise than an ordinary cobbler from the spiritual or vedic viewpoint.  He concluded by saying that the assembly is incapable of any worthwhile discussion and he had wasted his time and energy to reach the King's court to debate with unwise shallow people.

Janaka and everyone in the assembly were deeply moved and cringed on hearing the words of Ashtavakra.  Simple and direct were his words, but absolutely true. Janaka bowed down to Ashtavakra in reverence. He escorted Ashtavakra to his own throne and washed his feet and profusely apologized.

 The King without participating in the light hearted attitude of others asked him a few questions and felt that the  boy was not a pushover and asked him to debate the reigning champion at that time, the Brahmana from Varuna loka. 

The debate started in right earnest.

 Vandin, the scholar from Varunaloka  and Ashtavakra began the debate. Finally to explain their thesis each one would have to alternately compose slokas or verses until one stumbles.  They alternately composed six extempore verses on the numbers upto twelve. Then Vandin could only compose the first half of a verse on the number thirteen. Ashtavakra completed the verse by composing the second half and thus won the debate against Vandin.

The condition of the contest was that if Vandin were to lose he would grant any wish of his vanquisher and if Ashtavakra would lose the contest he would meet the same fate as his father which was that he would be arrested and submerged in the waters of Varuna loka. . Ashtavakra having won his debate demanded his pound of flesh. He demanded that Vandin be drowned in water just as he had done his vanquished opponents. Vandin then revealed that he was the son of Varuṇa (the Lord of all water bodies), and was sent incognito to earth to get rishis to conduct a ritual that Varuṇa wanted to perform. By this time Varuṇa’s ritual had been completed. On Vandin’s request, Varuṇa ordered the sages and brahmins be brought to the surface of the waters they had been held in.

The father, Kahola was immensely pleased with his son, he no longer saw the deformity but the wisdom and  shining pure Atman within him. On the way home Kahola asked his son to take a dip in a sacred river and as the story goes Ashtavakra's curse given by his father was removed and Ashtavakra shone beautifully, both outwardly and inwardly.

Ashtavakra became famous by his immortal work, Ashtavakra Samhita  a very popular text even among modern day scholars interested in vedanta philosophy. It is forthright and breathtaking in its freshness and candour.  While Yogis know Ashtavakra by his outward form in Ashtavakra asana, those interested in his work are able to fathom his incisive insight about Atman  that is deep within the deformed bodies.

Srivatsa Ramaswami