Ashtavakra Gita 9.6
Ashtavakra Gita 9.6 is a verse from chapter 9 (Weariness with the world). The sage Ashtavakra speaks it to King Janaka. In plain English it says: "One who comes to know the nature of awareness through weariness with the world, evenness of mind and reasoning, and so crosses the round of birth and death: is he not a guru?"
Ashtavakra, to King Janaka
कृत्वा मूर्तिपरिज्ञानं चैतन्यस्य न किं गुरुः ।निर्वेदसमतायुक्त्या यस्तारयति संसृतेः ॥
kṛtvā mūrtiparijñānaṃ caitanyasya na kiṃ guruḥ |nirvedasamatāyuktyā yastārayati saṃsṛteḥ ||
One who comes to know the nature of awareness through weariness with the world, evenness of mind and reasoning, and so crosses the round of birth and death: is he not a guru?
What to notice
The verse asks a question and expects the answer yes: such a person is a guru.
Word by word
- kṛtvā
- having gained
- mūrti-parijñānam
- full knowledge of the nature
- caitanyasya
- of awareness
- na kim
- is he not
- guruḥ
- a guru, a teacher
- nirveda
- weariness with the world
- samatā
- evenness of mind
- yuktyā
- by reasoning
- yaḥ
- who
- tārayati
- carries across
- saṃsṛteḥ
- from the round of birth and death
Reading the verse
Chapter 9 is often titled nirveda, weariness with the world, and this verse explains how that weariness can become freedom. Three means are named: nirveda itself, samatā or evenness of mind, and yukti, reasoning. Through them a person comes to know the nature of awareness, mūrti meaning its true form. Such a person tārayati, carries across the river of saṃsāra. The verb can mean crossing oneself or ferrying others, and the commentators allow both. Then the question: is such a person not a guru? The verse widens the idea of a teacher. A guru here is defined by what they have understood and by their ability to cross. Title and lineage are not mentioned. This fits the story of the text, in which a boy with a bent body teaches a king. People searching 'Ashtavakra Gita 9.6' sometimes land on Bhagavad Gita 9.6, which is a different verse about all beings resting in God as the wind rests in space. The two texts agree on the role of the teacher.
Same thread in the Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita 4.34Krishna says the wise who have seen the truth will teach you, if you approach them with humility and questions.Chapter 9, Weariness with the world: Seeing how the opposites never end, one grows tired of chasing them and lets go of every vow.
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Sources and method
Sanskrit from the common text of the Ashtavakra Gita, also called the Ashtavakra Samhita. Where our source had obvious typing errors we restored the standard reading and listed each change in our review notes. IAST is generated from the Devanagari. The English, the word meanings and the notes are Wisdom's own, written in the Advaita tradition of Shankara's school, the line followed by commentators such as Swami Nityaswarupananda and Swami Chinmayananda, with Lala Baij Nath's public-domain translation of 1907 as a reference.
Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, human review pending.