महाकाव्यच्छन्द क्रान्तिः ब्रह्मभव सङ्क्रान्तिमय हो ॥ IAST dyauḥ krāntiḥ nabhaḥ krāntiḥ bhāgyabhūmābhūmi krāntiḥ । paramapāvana āpaḥ krāntiḥ oṣadhiḥ saṅkrāntimaya ho ॥ navavanaspativṛnda krāntiḥ viśvadevaspanda krāntiḥ । mahākāvyacchanda krāntiḥ brahmabhava saṅkrāntimaya ho ॥ Meaning of Aṣṭāvakra In the epic, the poet derives the name Aṣṭāvakra as the Sandhi of Aṣṭa meaning eight and Avakra meaning not deformed or straight. In the verses 1.98 to 1.100, five interpretations are given for the word Aṣṭāvakra using this Sandhi decomposition. He in whom the eight Prakṛtis – the five elements (earth, air, fire, water and space), the mind, the intellect and the ego – will never be deformed He whom the eight Bhogas (sources of sensual pleasure) and the eight Maithunas (types of marriages and unions) will not be able to deform He whom even the eight Lokapālas (world protectors) – Indra, Agni, Yama, Sūrya, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Kubera and Candra – will not be able to deform He for whom the eight Vasus will never be unfavourable (Avakra) He whose unblemished (Avakra) fame will be sung by eight Nāgas in all the eight Yāmas (three-hour periods) of the day Philosophy Verses dealing with philosophy are found at several places in the epic. The soliloquy by Aṣṭāvakra in the third canto includes verses on the nature of the Self (3.61–3.82), according to the Viśiṣṭādvaita school of Vedānta. A part of the instruction by Uddālaka to Aṣṭāvakra in the sixth canto (6.56–6.60) has the same subject. The phraseology used in some of these verses is the same as that used in the Vedas, the Upaniṣads and the Bhagavad Gītā. A metaphor used in the explanation of Sādhanā (6.4–6.5) combines all the six Āstika schools of Hindu philosophy – Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Vaiśeṣika, Nyāya, Mimāṃsā and Vedānta. In the seventh canto, when Aṣṭāvakra enters Mithilā, he finds scholars of all the six schools (7.27–7.28). The various sub-schools of the Vedānta are also referred to, along with the seventh school of Bhakti. The verse 8.4 mentions the differing opinions about the worldly creation in the Hindu philosophy – some say it is made of Śabda, while some say it is either Pariṇāma or Vivarta. The poet agrees with the former (Pariṇāma) view. Social messages In various contexts of the epic, several contemporary social issues relevant to India and the world are raised. The issues are brought up in soliloquies by or dialogues between the characters in the epic. These