Talk:Ashtavakra Gita

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Translation in Article[edit]

Umm.. I don't think the whole translation of the Ashtavakra Gita should be in this article (See Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not #14). Maybe it should be in wikisource instead? Nixme 19:49, 18 Aug 2004 (UTC)

NPOV[edit]

Of all the world's religious texts the Ashtavakra Gita is the least referenced because it does not allow anyone to manipulate it. While the words of Jesus, Mohammed, Moses, Buddah, and Krishna have been used to enspire nationalism, holy wars, and spirituality, the Ashtavakra Gita

though Im sympathetical, this surely is not NOPV in any sense.

Dates/Authorship of Ashtavakra Gita[edit]

What century was the Ashtavakra Gita written? Who actually wrote it (as opposed to who wrote it according to the myth of Ashtavakra)? Incidentally, the above remark that this text "does not allow anyone to manipulate it" shows a strongly anti-intellectual and anti-scholarly attitude on the part of the remark's author. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.83.206.151 (talk) 22:04, 2 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The timeframe given here is highly questionable. There is clear circumstantial evidence that this text was written much later than stated here. Compare the introductions on http://bhagavan-ramana.org/ashtavakragita2.html :

"We not only know next to nothing about [the author], we cannot even be sure when he lived. Sanskrit was so static [...] that its literature is hard to date on linguistic evidence alone. Since we have only the slimmest literary, historical, or philosophical evidence besides, it is very hard to date the Ashtavakra Gita with any accuracy.

Indian editors usually argue, with some sentimentality, that it was written in the same age as or just before the Bhagavad Gita, which they date to the fifth of fourth century B.C.E., but they generally agree that the Ashtavakra Gita comes a good deal later still. Without rehearsing the arguments, we may safely guess that it was written either in the eighth century by a follower of Shankara, or in the fourteenth century during a resurgence of Shankara's teaching. As a distillation of monastic Vedanta, it certainly has all the marks of Shankara's purification of ancient Shaivism." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.231.136.152 (talk) 12:53, 25 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

If Janak was Rama's Father in law, and Rama was much before Krishna's time, how can Ashtavakra Gita be written after Bhagvad Gita, that makes no sense

Please read the article mentioned above. The author simply took characters from a common tale; in what way does putting words into Janak's mouth prove that the Gita was written during his time!

User:Tim_Smith have undid your edit on "western editors" claims that the book was written either in 8th/14th century. Request provide reference of valid scholars sources for these claims. Prodigyhk (talk) 06:06, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Prodigyhk. Please see below.

[I]t is very hard to date the Ashtavakra Gita with any accuracy. Indian editors usually argue, with some sentimentality, that it was written in the same age as or just before the Bhagavad Gita, which they date to the fifth or fourth century B.C.E. Western editors not only place the Bhagavad Gita much later, probably in the first or second century C.E, but they generally agree that the Ashtavakra Gita comes a good deal later still. Without rehearsing the arguments, we may safely guess that it was written either in the eighth century by a follower of Shankara, or in the fourteenth century during a resurgence of Shankara's teaching. As a distillation of monastic Vedanta, it certainly has all the marks of Shankara's purification of ancient Shaivism.
— Byrom, Thomas (1990). The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita. Shambhala Publications. Page xxiii.

Tim Smith (talk) 00:36, 25 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Tim Smith . There has been no records of any "arguments" on the issue, by any "western editors" nor for that matter any in India also. As per the publisher the author Byrom is an English teacher in an UK colleges and not a historian. It seems only personal opinion of this translator and his friends. Request provide reliable sources before we include this as a valid argument.

Will keep the date as provided by Mukerjee, whose translations have been the primary reference for the later works by all of the western writers. Prodigyhk (talk) 06:23, 25 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Please see below. J. L. Brockington is emeritus Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Edinburgh. He has written several books and around 75 articles on his special area of research, the Sanskrit epics, as well as on other topics. He is the Secretary General of the International Association of Sanskrit Studies and was the chair of the organising committee of the 13th World Sanskrit Conference, held at Edinburgh in July 2006.

In reality, however, the Astavakragita as a whole reveals a form of Advaita Vedanta which has undoubtedly undergone a long line of development and must at the least be later than Samkara, the renowned codifier of the Advaita system. Doctrinally, the text has much in common with Sadananda's Vedantasara and Vidyaranya's Jivanmuktiviveka from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, while in its adaptation of an epic setting to the propagation of an Advaitin viewpoint it has analogies with the Yogavasistha, a monumental twelth- or thirteenth-century recasting of the Ramayana as the basis for a passionate exposition of Advaita.
— Brockington, J. L. (1990). Foreword to The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita, trans. Thomas Byrom. Shambhala Publications. Page xi.

Tim Smith (talk) 12:17, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Tim Smith "western editors"is a very general term. Have replaced it with "J. L. Brockington", to be clear to our reader the source on this indicated time. Prodigyhk (talk) 13:41, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Timing needs to be corrected[edit]

As mentioned above King Janaka is Sita's father. Hence timing it after Mahabharata is not only meaningless but totally incorrect. Nattu (talk) 21:44, 27 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

aṣṭāvakragītā[edit]

Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Indic) Suggest retitle. Wakari07 (talk) 23:33, 20 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Article titles are selected by a criteria which includes WP:COMMONNAME. Indic naming conventions are not applicable for selecting article titles. However, articles titles can use diacritics etc. if such usage is more common in English language sources. That doesn't seem to be the case here. You can, of course, submit comparison, references etc. to prove your point. Correct Knowledge^«৳alk» 05:59, 21 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Janaka[edit]

@Note to "CorrectKnowledge" - The information is being updated by me are based on correct text. If you have any reasons to remove them, please discuss with me before you remove the entries. Prodigyhk (talk) 16:38, 8 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for bringing it here, I was following WP:BRD. My point was that the reference you added does not say that King Janaka is identical to the King of Mithila and the father of Queen Sita, spouse of Lord Sri Ramachandra. Please find an appropriate source for this. Regards. Correct Knowledge^«৳alk» 16:45, 8 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Thankyou Correctknowledge for helping review my entry. Have now included the source Prodigyhk (talk) 16:54, 8 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Please also add the page number to the sfn. Correct Knowledge^«৳alk» 17:06, 8 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]