Duet of One: The Ashtavakra Gita Dialogue [Paperback]

Ramesh S. Balsekar (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0929448111 | ISBN-13: 978-0929448114 | Publication Date: August 1, 1989

A Duet of One is a translation and interpretation of the most touchingly beautiful of all the Advaitic texts. It provides us with an illuminating and in-depth look at the nature of duality and dualism. In this book Ramesh reveals himself as a spiritual Master for the modern age. His insightful commentary unlocks the beauty and the mystery in this ancient text. He points us to the Understanding that is the true nature of us all.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 221 pages
• Publisher: Advaita Press (August 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929448111
• ISBN-13: 978-0929448114
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

136 of 139 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awakening to Oneself as the 'Not-Two.', February 23, 2001

By 

tepi "tepi" - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Duet of One: The Ashtavakra Gita Dialogue (Paperback)

If you are reading these words, it means that you are one of the few who have somehow found their way to the 'Ashtavakra Gita.' As such, you should consider yourself extremely lucky, for it is one of the most profound and beautiful of all Indian texts and deserves to be far better known. More familiar to Western readers, of course, is the 'Bhagavad Gita,' no doubt because it resonates with those who are drawn to the worship of a personal God.

The 'Ashtavakra,' in contrast, is a pure Advaita (a-dvaita) or non- dualistic text, a text which postulates the 'Not-two.' In other words, for Advaita there is no devotee confronting a personal God - there is only Self or the One. Its initial appeal is therefore not so much to the devotionally inclined as to the more intellectually inclined.

The 'Bhagavad Gita' exists in countless editions, but I'm familiar with only three editions of the 'Ashtavakra.' The first is an excellent translation, lightly annotated, by Hari Prasad Shastri Ashtavakra Gita. This is a slim book of just sixty pages and reads very well.

The second, the Astavakra Samhita by Swami Nityaswarupananda, is more for the advanced student. After a stimulating introduction, we are given, verse-by-verse, the Sanskrit text in Devanagari, a word-by-word literal translation, a final translation, detailed notes, and full commentary, all of which have been impeccably done. This invaluable edition is available both from Amazon and sriramakrishnamath_dot_org

The third edition I keep constantly at hand is the present one, 'A Duet of One.' Besides giving us another really fine translation, Balsekar, who as a disciple of the late Nisargadatta Maharaj may be supposed to know what he's talking about, has also provided what must be the richest and fullest commentary currently available in English. The book is written in faultless English, is well-printed on excellent paper, and is indispensable for anyone with a serious interest in the 'Ashtavakra.'

These ancient Indian texts, whether Vedantic such as the 'Ashtavakra Gita,' or Buddhist such as the Prajnaparamita 'Heart Sutra,' even when quite short, are by no means easy to understand. One could easily spend a lifetime studying the original texts, their translations and commentaries, and still end up no wiser. Ultimately, what they demand is not so much understanding as insight. What is the 'Not-Two'?

Traditionally one reads, studies, and assimilates the text. Then one meditates upon the text. Then, after prolonged meditation, insight may come. But meditation can take years, and we are busy and harassed modern folks. Is there a simpler, easier, faster way of arriving at this insight? Amazingly, there is.

If you really want to grasp what all these great Indian and Tibetan and Chinese and Japanese Masters and Sages and Rishis have been trying to convey to their disciples down through the centuries, all you need do is read a short book of just eighty pages by Douglas E. Harding called On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious

Why, after these thousands of years, it should have been left to an Englishman to discover a simple mental act, an act which anyone can perform anywhere at any time and which unlocks the mystery of 'Not-Two,' I have no idea. But after spending more than twenty years puzzling my head over Oriental texts before finally discovering Harding, I can assure you that his instructions for "reversing the arrow of attention" really do work. Although this book is now out-of-print in the US, new copies at the original price seem to be still available at Harding's website headless_dot_org

Make Harding your Master. Let him neatly sever your head. Then return to Ramesh S. Balsekar's inspired treatment of the 'Ashtavkra' and you will find that the Not-Two is not a mystery any more. For you will have become it.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ramesh's Best, April 27, 2006

By 

PBSF "PB" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duet of One: The Ashtavakra Gita Dialogue (Paperback)

I don't do much reading within this genre anymore, but among all such things I've read over the years, this one is a standout. I'd find it hard to imagine a more lucid and intelligent verbal communication of what has generally been labeled (with unavoidable oxymoronic precision) as the "nondual perspective".

What this book points to is less our foundational truth and reality-- which is itself too naked to describe-- than the nature of the understanding that will dissolve its obscuring layers. In that capacity, reading this book is like encountering a series of nudges that alert us to the conditioned assumptions holding these layers in place. What makes this book unusual in this respect is that the gentleness of these nudges in no way compromises their impact-- in fact, the effect is just the opposite.

Consequently, what this book communicates is leagues ahead of most spiritual teachings, which seem to have as their primary agenda the need to broadcast a particular framing of "the truth", or to tell people what's inadequate about them and what they need to do to make it better or get it right.

Surprisingly, or maybe not-- what also enhances the communication of this book's message is the precise and articulate contemporary idiom in which it's written. Even better is that while the book is written in a conventional text format, it allows itself to be "heard" and received as though it were spoken.

Perhaps because of these features, Mr. Balsekar's writing remains as free of arid hyperintellectualism as it does of stale myth, dogma or culturally sanctioned (or worse, sanctified) half-truths. In short, this book hits its target with an inconspicuous potency and with the fluid grace of a broad mountain stream. It's a real gem.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impeccable Commentary, February 4, 2008

By 

Rodney Stevens (South Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Duet of One: The Ashtavakra Gita Dialogue (Paperback)

Ashtavakra Gita is a dialogue between a sincere Truth-seeker (King Janaka) and the awakened teacher, Ashtavakra. Scholars don't know who the author of the original Sanskrit text was. It may well have been a sage by the name of Ashtavakra!

Ramesh Balsekar gives us a truly discerning commentary and translation of this remarkable work. He promptly covers the central points (e.g., every individual is nothing less than "universal Consciousness"), and then infuses the rest of the book with pristine insights and a wealth of engaging details (pointing out, for instance, how Ashtavakra quickly gauges the "maturity" of his pupil when Ashtavakra observes that "Janaka was not concerned with being entertained by the forthcoming debates between scholars. He was not interested in sin and merit, hell and heaven. He was deeply concerned with the question: how can liberation be attained?" )

Balsekar also weaves captivating particulars about his own life in with his comments. The manner in which he does this is very natural and even-handed. Indeed, I would have welcomed even more autobiographical tidbits.

The author's humor is in fine evidence here. Concerning verse 4, Balsekar writes, "Ashtavakra...follows [verse 3] up at once with the next verse which he hits his disciple with a `one-two' combination that would have knocked out a disciple of lesser caliber!"

That next verse, by the way, is verse 4, and Balsekar rightly notes that it is "the very core" of this ancient text ("If you detach yourself from the identification with the body and remain relaxed in and as Consciousness, you will, this very moment, be happy, at peace, free from bondage.") Balsekar goes on to give a clear, stirring, and in-depth explanation of this central passage.

Usually the information on the back of most books is just extravagant advertising fodder. But that's not the case with A Duet Of One. For we fittingly read of Ramesh, "He points us to the Understanding that is the true nature of us all."