page_title: Ashtavakra (epic)
section_title: The-eight cantos
hierarchical_section_title: Ashtavakra (epic) / Narrative / The-eight cantos
caption_attribution_description: English: Ashtavakra, a Hindu sage
context_page_description: Aṣṭāvakra is a Hindi epic poem composed by Jagadguru Rambhadracharya in the year 2009. It consists of 864 verses in 8 cantos of 108 verses each. The poem presents the narrative of the Ṛṣi Aṣṭāvakra which is found in the Hindu scriptures of the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata. A copy of the epic was published by the Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University, Chitrakuta, Uttar Pradesh. The book was released on 14 January 2010, on the sixtieth birthday of the poet.
  The protagonist of the epic, Aṣṭāvakra, is physically disabled with eight deformities in his body. The epic presents his journey from adversity to success to final redemption. According to the poet, who is also disabled having lost his eyesight at the age of two months, the notions of aphoristic solutions for universal difficulties of the disabled are presented the epic, and the eight cantos are the analyses of the eight dispositions in the mind of the disabled.
context_section_description: Sambhava (Hindi: सम्भव, meaning Appearance): After invoking Sarasvatī, the poet introduces Aṣṭāvakra as the subject of the epic, who became the flag-bearer of the disabled. The sage Uddālaka stays with his wife in a Gurukula with 10,000 disciples. The couple have a daughter, Sujātā, who grows up learning the Vedas with the disciples. Uddālaka has a famous disciple by the name Kahola. At the end of his education, Kahola is requested by Uddālaka to marry a Brāhmaṇa woman who is suitable for him in all ways and enter Gārhasthya Āśrama. Kahola thinks of Sujātā but is hesitant as he is not certain if marrying the daughter of his Guru would be appropriate. Uddālaka comes to know of Kahola's disposition, and happily offers Sujātā in marriage to Kahola. Uddālaka also prophecises that Sujātā will bear him a son who will be become a source of inspiration for the disabled. Kahola and Sujātā get married and choose a desolate forest for their Āśrama, where Kahola starts teaching disciples. Sujātā prays to Sūrya for a son whose life will offer solutions to the afflictions of the disabled, and Sūrya grants her the wish. The canto ends with Sujātā becoming pregnant and the couple delighted.
  Saṅkrānti (Hindi: सङ्क्रान्ति, meaning Revolution): In the first 27 verses (first quarter) of the canto, the poet expounds on Saṅkrānti, the concept of true revolution. It is not to be attained by spilling blood, but by spreading a thought. Rarely do people want such a revolution, their egos do not allow it. The narrative then proceeds – after the Puṃsavana and Sīmantonnayana Saṃskāras of Sujātā, one day, late in the night, Kahola is practising Vedic chanting, perfecting his knowledge of what he is to teach his disciples on the following day. Out of fatigue and the four defects of Bhrama, Pramāda, Vipralipsā and Karaṇāpāṭava, Kahola starts erring in all eight types of recitations – Jaṭā, Rekhā, Mālā, Śikhā, Ratha, Dhvaja, Daṇḍa, and Ghana. The child of Sujātā, while still in the womb, thinks about this for some time and then asks his father to stop practising and teaching verses incorrectly, pointing out that the sage is making eight errors in reciting each verse. Kahola is taken aback and asks the child in the womb to stay quiet, saying he is reciting as per tradition, and forgetfulness is only human. The child replies by saying that the father should throw away the old corpse of so-called tradition and again requests Kahola to learn the Vedas once more from Uddālaka. The enraged Kahola curses the child to be born with all eight limbs crooked. Kahola repents immediately after, but the child (Aṣṭāvakra) takes the curse in his stride, and asks his father not to repent.
  Samasyā (Hindi: समस्या, meaning Difficulty): This canto, a soliloquy by Aṣṭāvakra in his mother's womb, deals with the notion of Samasyā or a difficulty. The canto is replete with pathos (Karuṇa Rasa), heroism (Vīra Rasa) and optimism. In the first 30 verses, various metaphors are painted for difficulty, which is universal and extremely powerful. Faith in God and determined action are the ways to get out of a difficulty, and Aṣṭāvakra is resolute that he will get out of his predicament too. In verses 61 to 82, the real nature of the Ātman (Self), without beginning and end, without birth and death, and beyond mortal difficulties is presented, according to the poet's philosophy of Viśiṣṭādvaita. Aṣṭāvakra then tells Kahola about his (Kahola's) imminent repentance, and that he is determined intent to live the life of a disabled. He requests his father not to curse anybody in future, and the canto ends with optimistic prophesies by Aṣṭāvakra that the curse of his father is a blessing in disguise for the disabled of the world, as Aṣṭāvakra will be their role model.
  Saṅkaṭa (Hindi: सङ्कट, meaning Adversity): The poet introduces the concept of adversity, which is a test for friendship, skill, intellect, and virtues. Aṣṭāvakra's body becomes like that of the egg of a turtle. Kahola starts repenting for his action of cursing the child. The sin of the Ṛṣi manifests as a drought in the forest, and
caption: Ashtavakra as depicted in an early 19th-century painting from Patna.
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