On YouTube
What is meant by ‘I am awareness alone’? || Acharya Prashant, on Ashtavakra Gita (2018)
Scriptures and Saints
478 views
3 years ago
Ashtavakra Gita
Awareness
Non-duality
Identity
Maya
Liberation
Meditation
Bhagavad Gita
Description

Acharya Prashant explains that the conflict faced by Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita represents the universal struggle of mankind, emphasizing that Krishna and Arjuna are internal forces rather than external figures. Addressing a verse from the Ashtavakra Gita, he clarifies that the phrase 'I am awareness alone' places its primary emphasis on the word 'alone.' This signifies a total negation and rejection of the multiple, partial identities that individuals typically assume. He argues that worldly identities never come in isolation; they arrive in clusters or 'tails,' where accepting one role, such as being a father, inevitably drags in a multitude of other social and psychological burdens that clutter the self.