Ashtavakra — “eight-bent”, for the bodily deformities of his birth — is the sage whose conversation with King Janaka is preserved as the Ashtavakra Gita, one of the purest statements of non-dual (advaita) philosophy. In it the sage tests and confirms the king’s spiritual realisation, teaching the freedom of the Self beyond the body.
The dialogue binds Mithila once more to the deepest currents of Indian thought, and to its self-image as a land where kings sought wisdom above all.