Astavakra (c. 12,000 BCE?)

Astavakra was a very ancient philosopher of the monist (Advaita) school of thought. He was the crippled son of the priest Khagodara. Despite his physical deficiency, Astavakra was a great logician and philosopher. The Mahabharata narrates a polemic debate in which Astavakra (a child at that time) defeated a learned scholar at the court of the king of Mithila.

Astavakra’s philosophy is described in the famous text the Astavakra-gita (also known as the Astavakra-samhita). The Astavakra-gita was said to have been spoken by Astavakra himself, though its authorship is not known with any certainty.

The essence of the text is that the concepts of existence and non-existence do not exist. Similarly, right and wrong, morality and immorality also do not exist. The only reality is pure existence and the goal of life is to recognize oneself as pure existence.

Astavakra advocates non-action (niskarma), rejection of worldly desires (akama) and renunciation (vairagya). By taking to this path one will become liberated.

Due to its non-dual approach the Astavakra-gita is considered to be a classical text for those that follow the Advaita Vedanta.