Ashtavakra Gita 2.11Chapter 2, Verse 11
Ashtavakra Gita 2.11 is a verse from chapter 2 (Janaka's wonder). King Janaka speaks it to his teacher, the sage Ashtavakra. In plain English it says: "How wonderful I am. I bow to myself. I do not perish. Even when the whole world, from Brahma down to a blade of grass, perishes, I remain."
अहो अहं नमो मह्यं विनाशो यस्य नास्ति मे ।ब्रह्मादिस्तम्बपर्यन्तं जगन्नाशोऽपि तिष्ठतः ॥
aho ahaṃ namo mahyaṃ vināśo yasya nāsti me |brahmādistambaparyantaṃ jagannāśo'pi tiṣṭhataḥ ||
How wonderful I am. I bow to myself. I do not perish. Even when the whole world, from Brahma down to a blade of grass, perishes, I remain.
King Janaka, to Ashtavakra
Word meanings and a note for this verse are still being written. Read it in context on the chapter 2 page, or start with the verses in where to begin.
Chapter 2, Janaka's wonder: Janaka finds himself as awareness and bows to it in astonishment, testing the new view against the world, the body and the crowd.
Read all 25 verses in this chapter →Seven mornings of short readings from the Bhagavad Gita, chosen for what you're going through, by email.
Send my week