Ashtavakra

There was a Sage named Uddalaka who was very learned. His disciple , Kahoda was his favorite due to his extreme devotion towards Guru. After some time he decided to marry his only daughter Sujata to Kahoda. As the time progress, she became pregnant. Usually she prefer to sit near her father and her husband while teaching. As a result the unborn child acquired all the knowledge . Once upon a time , Kahoda was reciting some mantras committed some errors. At this time , his unborn child began correcting the mistakes of his father from the womb. This was very insulting experience for Kahoda. He cursed his unborn son to be born as deformed. As a result of curse , when the child was born, his body was deformed at 8 points. Due to this deformity he got his name “Ashta-vakra”. The word “Ashta” means “eight” and the “Vakra” means “bend” in hindi.
After some time his father, Kahoda lost his life when he lost a debate contest in the kingdom of King Janak as per the rules of the contest. Now, ashtavakra got all his education from his grandfather. At the very young age , he got a chance to participate the debate contest in the court of king Janak. During the contest he defeated the best scholar, named Bandi(who was the killer of his father in last debate) in the court. Bandi revealed his original identity as the son of Varun, the god of water. He was so impressed by the intelligence of boy that he bring back Kahoda to life. On seeing his son, Kahoda openly admitted that his son is far more intelligent than himself. Ashtavakra was highly advance in the world of spirituality. His teachings are there in a book ‘Ashtavakra gita” which are so touching that It can change the outlook of any person towards life.