The chant of the Eight-humped Boy (Aṣṭāvakragītā) is a text belonging to the Advaita Vedānta school, one of the best known non-dualistic thought forms in India. The work presents the dialogue between King Janaka and Aṣṭāvakra (from Sanskrit aṣṭa "eight" and vakra "deformities, malformations, humps"), a deformed boy who comes to his court and amazes everyone with his wisdom.

The text is simple but devastating; systematically, in no more than 300 verses, it proceeds to invalidate all the paths, orthodox and heterodox, that the Indian tradition has pointed towards transcendence. There is no practice or school of thought that is not refuted by the simple truth that Aṣṭāvakra holds: there is no path to liberation, liberation is already — and has always been — our natural state. All you need is to become aware of it.