Test for disciple Janaka

The main postulate of the Advaita philosophy is the belief that liberation is automatic in the process of establishing oneself firmly and instinctively with the self. Self knowledge confers the percep

The main postulate of the Advaita philosophy is the belief that liberation is automatic in the process of establishing oneself firmly and instinctively with the self. Self knowledge confers the perception that the self is not the jiva. The self is not in the category of any object, person or place in the world that can be described and perceived in normal terms. It has to be recognised as already abiding in all beings. The unique quality of the text Ashtavakra Gita is the manner in which the Advaita stance is unfolded by the preceptor Ashtavakra to the disciple Janaka, pointed out Sri R. Rajagopala Sarma in a discourse. Herein both are knowers of the Absolute Self, but they represent different ashrams, that is, the preceptor is a sanyasi who has renounced the world and Janaka, in spite of his realised state, is a king who actively participates in the conduct of his kingdom Mithila. As a preceptor, Ashtavakra knows the level of realisation attained by Janaka. Yet to make the world understand the exceptional quality of Janaka’s spiritual attainment, he poses very sharp questions meant to test the disciple. Are you not a Vairagya Sampanna, one who has renounced the world? Are you not already poised with the knowledge of the Advaita standpoint that the Self is Supreme and without a second, Ekameva Advitiyam? Then why are you still holding on to kingship and getting involved in worldly matters such as accumulation of wealth, state administration, law and order, etc, even if it is for the sake of protecting the kingdom? Does this not show clearly that you are still deluded by the pulls of the world? Janaka’s reply reinforces the fact that atma jnana is not the sole prerogative of sanyasa ashrama and that many of our forebears have continued to remain in the world of senses with a renunciate’s frame of mind.