Ashtavakra Gita and the Philosophy of Consciousness: A Contemporary Psychological Reading
Poornaprajna International Journal of Philosophy & Languages May 31, 2026 Ramanathan Srinivasan, P. S. Aithal
The Ashtavakra Gita, an ancient Sanskrit dialogue between Sage Ashtavakra and King Janaka, presents a radical non-dual philosophy that insists the Self is already free, whole, and untouched by worldly experience, rejecting gradual spiritual paths. This exploratory qualitative paper examines its core doctrines—witness consciousness, non-doing, the illusory nature of bondage, and non-origination—within the Advaita Vedanta tradition. It argues that the text's rejection of the seeker-seeking paradigm and its claim that psychological suffering stems from mistaken identification with the mind-body complex anticipate and challenge modern cognitive psychology, contemplative neuroscience, and phenomenological philosophy. The paper proposes an integrative model positioning the text as a living epistemological framework for consciousness studies and East-West dialogue.