arjun uvaach

Our time ¹ began long before Dwaipayana's birth - even before birth of his father Maharishi Parāśara ...

Seven months before Parāśara's nativity — his grandfather — Bramhrishi Vaśiṣṭha woke up to a grotesque morning. His sprawling congregation, on the banks of river Yamuna, sank into the deepest of grief, and rage. His son Śakti Muni, father of yet to be born Parāśara, was killed by a tribal lord.

What bigger pain a man might have than his son sacrificed in own backyard! Even the waves of Yamuna - the playful dark river - felt somber that morning of mass-murder.

Religious accounts claim Bramhrishi had one hundred sons taken that fateful morning. He probably treated all his disciples, particularly Aacharyas (the faculty members), as his true-born !

Mathura - the budding city, saw her first mishap. The epitome of knowledge hubs was in full bloodbath. Fortunately Adrushyanti, his daughter-in-law survived the ghastly massacre. She was carrying yet to be born Parāśara - couple of months into conception. The young woman turned a widow even before rituals of her motherhood.

Despite his connect with continuum - the cyclic play of the past, present and the future - Bramhrishi wasn't immune to pain. The pain of child is known to be cruel of them all - even animals cry. Remorseful Bramhrishi, however, didn't shed any - as if tears froze in his mind. Time and again, he wondered about the curse.

More he thought, more he saw himself at the root of this conflict. That he must have incurred an error to warrant such a backlash - from the very people he was trying to salvage - his old. Not by age - by lifestyle and the myths they chose to live by! Those who lived off the jungle and followed its rules - without any recollection of the past and none to worry in foresight. Spoken words were call to actions for them. They weren't equipped to withhold impulses - to think deeper than the recent past, or plan ahead of immediate future. They believed in old stories (Puranas) as the word of God. And they believed in barter - to its extreme - an eye for an eye.

Why would they turn against me ? - Bramhrishi thought!

Saddened to the core, and unaware of the pregnancy, Bramhrishi tried to end his life. He miraculously survived three attempts. Probably Gods wanted to extend his life to ensure unborn Parāśara had a chance at life.

And more importantly, to save humanity from the loss of the knowledge locked in Bramhrishi's mind, for there was no written text.

The fate - Prarbdha - had thrown him a new challenge - expand humans' cognitive context - history ! He wouldn't be able to fix the past - his old - he thought - but he sure could change the future - the new.

1.1

If modern civilization was a bullet train, then what Vaśiṣṭha had staged ⁴ were ‘literally’ the rails. Hard to coalesce, and even harder to decrypt neolithic knowledge - agriculture, mining, metallurgy, transport, to name a few - down to the very meaning of five elements. Pieces of entire wisdom were sharded in the collective memory of congregation - as "methods" to accomplish complex tasks. Particularly one hundred skills that were deemed magical.

For example, a forest dweller couldn't fathom a metal as strong as iron was extracted from grey stones - melted in big fire (furnace). Those who didn't believe in such a miracle were welcome to see the proof first hand. They called it - the magic of Sun - the god of fire and light.

These hundred skills were the first set of "qualified" truths. Their authenticity proved through repeatable experiments. One of the reason people said "hundred sons" were taken that fateful morning - each of them owned one skill. The owner of a skill stream was called Aacharya.

The information was stored in accurate recital, but one must recite the method only after extensive practice. Information must be rooted in deep experiential knowledge such that it represented truth. In Vaidik belief system - truth was what one experienced through actions, and was realized though intense practice. Verbosity without engaging in the activity was considered a lie. No one was assumed to lie for fun. People lied because they were either lazy, or they wanted someone else to experiment first.

The congregation was thus the reference point for truth - for various branches of innovation that appeared almost magical to the old. Vaśiṣṭha had it all indexed in his mind. More importantly he knew how to kick-start an auditory store of information - a divine grace never heard before. Who would sacrifice the pleasures of life to sustain information! Why would someone gather and qualify all the know-hows - break them down into precise spoken words (mantras) and set up a daily cadence to keep the methods fresh in memory?

The true meaning of Yazna is practice of skills. Since practice was linked to daily recital, the adapted meaning became formal chanting of mantras - mostly in groups. For example paddy was sown only once a year, but in absence of a written down document, the method to take the crop must be recited daily - to save it in memory . In due course, to further formalize the recital, ritualistic routines were added - such as specific dress, time of the day or day of the fortnight (linked to lunar cycle). Paying homage to Sun became the starting point of ritual - metals being the most precious discoveries, and they all needed big fire. Gaytri Mantra became the initiation of Yazna. It literally translates to

May we meditate upon that splendour of Sun, best amongst the gods, he who shall lead our intellect.

The rituals were the means to harness the three fundamental elements - earth, water, and air - to memorize the workflow. This information was turned into knowledge through repetitive practice - Yazna. Since Bramh is the entirety of information, Vaśiṣṭha was aptly titled Bramhrishi - one who synthesised the information to extract knowledge. One who could remember the past and plan for the future. The legend says he was one of the seven sons of Bramha (the embodiment of Bramh).

If it took us say five thousand years from the wheel to a car, it had probably taken fifty thousand ⁵, to evolve the ‘wheels’, for (unveiling of) knowledge is never a straight line. It is a curve that curls up exponentially with time (time being a measure of consistent iterations). Had Vaśiṣṭha died, the nascent civilization could have receded back into stone ages, and quite possibly perished into a dark future. The trajectory of rise of consciousness is contingent upon the discoveries, and the inventors who built on each other's work - through consensus ⁶. Think of it as a pyramid — upside down. At some point in the past, this inverse pyramid meets the primordial jungle — just a single hinge on which a vast civilization must balance. Bramhrishi Vaśiṣṭha was that underpin.

Survival was not a question here! Even animals survived to this date! And for that matter, some of the fittest species (Dinosaurs) perished. At stake was our first civilized world — driven by a vocal store of information. At the center of this advancement was a group of dedicated sages who practiced all the important discoveries, and disseminated them through daily recital. They were the nodes of this information network built on experiential knowledge. Their objective was to progressively cache and catalog the principles of civilization - so that humans had a shot at the deeper mysteries of the universe - beyond mere survival - as if they were mining the present on behalf of future. Their collective rigor opened a portal to the future where Angels , Wizards and Humans of our time evolved to bear the knowledge. In a way, they created the very "concept" of future. It also means, they passed on the quest to us - "who we are" !

We are obviously not there yet, but we now have an immensely distributed and fault-tolerant network to allow us make an attempt. At least a guarantee that our external store of information shall stay unharmed, as long as a part of earth survived. Our "text" based information store (books, code, history) is protected in this obscure corner of the universe while we adapt ourselves into higher orders of experiences to go where no other conscious being has gone before - in quest of primordial question "who we are " ! Information alone is not sufficient. The progression depends on how much knowledge we unveil of this vast store - through repetitive practice - Yazna.

Thus, the tenet is not survival of the fittest - it is evolution of conscious ! The advantage of language (spoken and written) is such that survival has already become secondary to us. The improvements in modes of communication and hence value exchange, has turned humans into a planet size living organism. No other species is a predator to us. In fact, protection of other species is incumbent on us as a keeper of this vast zoo.

Thanks to the foresight of Vaśiṣṭha, we had a quantum jump making us the representative conscious species of planet Earth - beginning of our time - Kalpa.

1.2

The potency to build a distributed network - the underlying protocol that enables this 'network of information', is not unique to humans. Holding the information in a network of manifested beings - living or non-living - is what we refer to as Bramh. For example, Mycorrhizal ⁷ Network – an underground network of fungal linkages that connects trees - is an information network. This network monitors the growth is spaced out to ensure equitable distribution of resources. Enough nourishment for the flora seeking sunlight even in a dense forest. And an equally considerate ecosystem for the fauna that spring up to act atop this information network. It is an expression of Bramh - coexistence with freedom and interdependent growth in a distributed system.

Vaśiṣṭha was respectfully titled Bramhrishi because he was first to understand this natural ascent. Consciousness rises with every iteration of species - as they gradually decrypt knowledge from the information held in Bramh. He applied the insight to storing information beyond evolutionary mechanism. In a way, he discovered a "battery" for information. He distributed important discoveries amongst his disciples and instituted daily recital - to perpetuate the knowledge from one generation to the next. It is believed ten generations of Vaśiṣṭhas had already preserved the information. They saw this ability as a kind grace, as if they inherited it from all-pervading Bramh in our collective quest to attain Siva.

He was probably aware he was tinkering with a core protocol ⁸ of nature. Instead of letting knowledge unveil at a natural snail pace, he was putting the "evolution" in an express lane; but he chose this lane with humility. His objective was not to use this battery of knowledge for personal leverage. He wanted to share the benefits with all - not only humans but all living beings. Everyone appreciated congregation's contributions to improve barter - an immediate benefit to all, however, the attack on the congregation raised doubts in his mind. They made him question his own integrity - Is this path correct? Is altering the course of nature righteous? A question that may haunt modern architects of artificial intelligence as much as those spearheading the gene editing ! Are we disturbing the natural equilibrium?

He got the answer only when multiple suicide attempts were rejected. In a way "fate " itself paved his path. Over time, Bramhrishi put this attack behind him. A mishap - he thought- was the law of nature - Prarbdha.

He rebuilt the congregation ground up and brought his focus to newborn Parāśara. He had only one "take-away" from the incident - there must be a fallback option in case such a disaster struck again. Writing the scriptures was one such option but how could someone scribe vast information on temple walls and what if someone burnt the temples!

The pen and the ink were still couple generations in the future …

1.3

Attack on the humble keepers of the primitive information begs two questions — Why and When ! Why would anyone have a problem with someone trying to build a new civilization for greater good.

As far as the ‘why’ is concerned — there is a good answer. The congregation was rich! The legend says Bramhrishi had the magical cow (Kaam Dhenu) that gave him everything — on demand. The truth is, magical cow was the ‘Knowledge’. Knowledge attracts wealth — be it Apple, or be it Google of our times, or the Ashramas of the past, the source of wealth has always been the accumulated knowledge. Vaśiṣṭha's Ashram was by far the biggest research institute. They were the keepers of inheritance from Bramh. Many jealous eyes were set on the plush wealth of the congregation — material as well as intellectual.

As regards to ‘when’, unfortunately, we don't have a date or a year. The consensus amongst historians is a wide range - from three to five thousand years before Christ. How come 'keepers of knowledge' forgot to mention a date? The idea there was no time-keeping seems odd because, they seem to have estimates for the durations of four Yugas - the age of universe !

The rational answer seems a bit more nuanced.

Probably, in that world, when memory was the only way to sustain information, last thing anyone cared was the ‘metadata’ - such as date, or time. Even the names of the primal inventors who kick-started the civilization are unknown. No one knows who solved the hard problems of those early days — how to start a fire? — how to preserve the seeds? — how to use rivers for transport? — how to attach horse(power) to a loaded cart? These solutions evolved over thousands of years. They were passed on from one generation to the next through word of mouth. The sense of time was probably lost in the slow pace of iterative innovations.

It, however, doesn't mean 'no credit' was given to the early inventors. Instead of mentioning every individual name, they were tagged to a group. One distinct group for a specific area of exploration - to practice gratitude. For example, all those who contributed in water works, irrigation, and agriculture were represented by a single entity Indra. Those who invented fire and various ways to channel energy — who contributed from mining to metallurgy; were named Agni. Those who tamed the winds, to build the early sail boats were called Varuna. These group entities, represented by respective common name, were called ‘deities’. They were worshipped for the blessings they bestowed on humanity and thus by extension to all the species.

There was a good reason to purge the superfluous information. Without the facility to scribe, the average human had limited memory. The focus was on keeping the "information" fresh and compact, instead of maintaining the meta-data or the version history. The knowledge was important rather than details. It was our distinction from the rest of the species. It was our path to liberation from the miseries of hard early life. The goal was to equip as many human minds with the latest findings as possible, rather than copyright protection or allocating laurels on individual basis. In addition, to render it real-time, the information must be itemized based on usability (not by the inventor or the date). In verbal world, only that information carried forward that was put to use every day - survival skills - or was (forcefully) recited daily.

We don't know the exact date, but we know the piece of eternal code rests archived in the depths of our minds. And the fact we succeeded to tame the forces of nature, and that we built increasingly complex systems of finance, mobility, security and health, is a testament that our core kernel is flawless — as if it was a gift from the future.

1.4

One hundred skills were proven truths. But there remained lot more unexplained. Even after thousands of years, there still is more to discover. In fact, more we know more anxious we are!

The biggest contribution of ten generations of Vasishthas was a framework to rest human anxiety. Three words mantra - Om Tat Sàt covered the questions of origin and rise - how this universe came together - how is it perpetuated, and what it means ? Om signified the origin - the source. Tat signified all observable - the creation. And Sat meant truth that the creation bears in it.

The accuracy of belief system isn't as important as the fact that it was easy to comprehend and widely subscribed. Unlike the religions of our time, faith wasn't a prerequisite - it was the end state of realization. Amazing thing is, as we are getting to the deeper layers with modern science, Vaidik belief system seems to tread close ⁹ - with particle physics as well as theory of evolution. Maybe all paths lead to a singular truth!

Self discovery - Adhyatma was the keyword. The culture sought internal peace more than external prosperity. The primary quest was to know thyself. The work on this path was deemed the work of god. This culture was based on a combination of two schools of thought - a symbiotic framework of incorruptible belief system on one side, and an endless curiosity on the other. The belief based substrate explained manifestation, expanse and evolution. And human ingenuity as a conscious creative artifact that bloomed in this eternal field.

While deities, through research and experiments, represented the beautiful tapestry of new civilization, they did so on the backdrop of three core potencies, collectively referenced as potencies of unmanifested knowledge. As a practical implication, because supreme knowledge is inexpressible and thus unknowable, in Vaidik science, god is nothing but these three potencies - Vishnu, Bramh and Siva.

The question "who am I" and the consciousness are closely linked. It was a hard question to answer even a century back. But now, as we are nearing artificial general intelligence, we can approach the answer - at least put our arms around the question. For example, if and when we create autonomous digital beings - they would be good at general tasks, but they would lack the curiosity to learn who they are ! With millions of iterations an unintended mutation may make them self-aware. That is the point they become conscious. From there on, it is a race to know thyself - a path that we ourselves find us on. And we keep hitting the three potencies no matter how deep we peel the onion ...

The framework (of core potencies and deities) acted as a happy marriage between faith and scientific inquiry. The evolution and expansion of universe (and particularly of the bio-verse) was considered a means to decrypt the parts of "One" knowledge. The decryption was facilitated by scientific endeavours, formulated (and constantly improved) by deities.

The notion of awakening (or the light) was the state of fully decrypted ‘knowledge’ - full of conscious experience aka life; and that of sleep (or the darkness), was being completely oblivious - lifeless. The Vaidik invocation Tamso Mam Jyotir Gamay means — take me from my existing darkness to the light! Thus, Vaidik way of life is same as the path of scientific discovery of our time. There is no friction whatsoever, but it invokes a spiritual sense of surrender, and respect for the core mechanisms of nature, that are beyond human control. In essence, the question is NOT - "what is this universe?" (as sought by modern science), the question is - "who am I?" - because the surrounding universe is my own reflection. If I could figure out what powers me, I readily know what runs the universe !

While material discovery and faith thrived in co-existence, the framework of Knowledge and its potencies was considered eternal and omni-present. Such being the case, putting a date or a name on the realization of a tiny piece of knowledge was anyway quite meaningless. This approach culminated the idea of sacrificing (open sourcing) every accomplishment to the potencies of the supreme knowledge. Science became sacred. Spirituality was a way of life. Even human life, being a manifested entity, was considered a gift of three potencies. Taking an ownership view in terms of attaching a revelation to one's own name was felt awkward and lustful. If there is no name, then there is obviously no date. In essence, doing good anonymously became the culture and time-keeping never made to the list of priorities - even for the mishaps.

1.5

Before the ‘written word’ became the mainstream mechanism to preserve literature, scriptures were passed on as Shruti¹¹ — the spoken word. A choir of reciters chanted the Mantras whole day long — from early morning to evening. Certain mantras must be recited at a specific time of the day, and at a specific place. Some of them must be performed in front of the holy fire - rites. Teachers (Aacharyas), a level-above the reciting students, helped them get the pronunciation right, and to attune a Vaidik elocution style. And finally, the editors (Vyasas) were responsible for the content. Vyasas were there to make sure the spoken content stayed current, accurate, and in exact line with the nameless discoveries of sages. Their stated objective was to keep the knowledge distributed over as many human minds as feasible — a blockchain of knowledge, distributed over biological nodes. Vyasas ran carefully designed distribution and consensus protocols.

And there was a good reason for intense focus on recital. Memories couldn't be stolen! Even today, we are advised to memorize our passwords! No one even imagined the scenario of such a nihilistic attack on Vaśiṣṭha congregation. No one had provisioned redundancy at the network level. The attack was on the vocal store of knowledge — on Kaam dhenu — the modern ways of civil life that provisioned everything for everyone. The mantra was Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinha — peace and prosperity to one and all. Not for the kings or the rich alone, or the strong — for everyone, including minor species. This knowledge created a new ‘human fork’ in otherwise old ‘planet of apes’. And the attackers were the Apes (Rakshsas) ¹², who didn't want to subscribe to a systemic change in human approach - a pragmatic view of governance for equity — from “survival of the fittest” to “well-being of all” ...

notes and stuff: