Maharishi Parāśara
was excited at the prospect of organizing information, and he believed written text was the way to pull off such a miracle.
But he must negotiate through the transition ..
The craft of reciting mantras
- with an ascetic lifestyle purposed to a singular focus on diction, was called Naad Yoga
. This Yoga
must be practiced in a sacred daily routine (Bramhacharya
). The idea was to tune mind & body into understanding, memorizing, and chanting - switching all material distractions off - an expression, so profound that it became an art form.
Abhivaykti
, in Sanskrit
, means expression - the final act of all creative pursuits. In Vaidik
science, there were primarily two of them - Naad and Mudra
.
A distinction must be made here between information and knowledge. Information doesn't have the creative potency - knowledge has. Information is dualistic - knowledge harnesses duality to manifest third dimension - the creation.
Third here stands for infinite possibilities. Each reflecting one unique aspect of knowledge. Physical manifestation is just one among many possibilities. For example a binary system is a duality - zero or one - on or off. When knowledge combines billions of binary transistors, it becomes a computer processor - a physical manifestation. Higher abstractions of binary duality such as an operating system may not appear a solid physical thing, but they are as much manifested entities as the physical CPUs or GPUs. In similar fashion, our body and consciousness are two unique aspects of knowledge - intertwined just as the chip and operating system are. There are many more aspects of our being that we may not even be aware of.
Knowledge is inexpressible (Avykta
), though it can be decrypted through repetitive actions - practice. Most of the communications we receive are information. For example the user manual is information. It may answer "how to use the gadget" - it wouldn't enable you build one. In order to convey knowledge - the ability to manifest - both sender and the receiver must put in enormous repetitive efforts - Yazna
. In other words - sender must enable the receiver create things. In essence, the communication of knowledge is manifestation itself. As they say - God doesn't talk - he creates !
When we are connected to an aspect of knowledge - such that we attain the ability to communicate it through manifestation — that state is called
Yoga
. Yoga need not be religious or spiritual. Einstein was focused on one aspect of nature—gravity. He was as much aYogi
as a monk living in the Himalayas—probably more!
Yogies
who are focused on "actions" are calledKarmyogi
. For them, the sole goal is to engage in actions - to enjoy the actions like kids playing a game, and to understand their potency. When participation becomes the only purpose - and hence all other desires disappear, they are calledNishkaam Karmyogi
.Nishkaam
means "no desire".Such actions, invariably, create a community of volunteers around them. It is so because we all have an innate ability to understand the motives. People participate wholeheartedly when they see no underlying motive except the fun of working together. No wonder children don't need an introduction. They just start playing together. However, when the community grows, the desires of the community gradually seep in. To stay steadfast, a
Nishkaam Karmyogi
must weed such desires out. That is whyNishkaam Karmyoga
is also calledBudhiyoga
- the Yoga of intelligence. Since aNishkaam Yogi
values all outcomes the same - favorable or not - this approach is also calledSamatva Budhiyoga
whereSamatva
stands for equanimity.
Naad
was communication of knowledge - rigorous spoken content with creative potency - mantras
. In contrast, Mudra
was the pleasure of knowledge. Since knowledge is already manifested into beings and things, depiction of human body engaging in various forms, was deemed celebration of existence. Old Indian dance forms such as Bharatnatyam
are based on Mudra
- so are the ancient carvings on cave walls. They wouldn't enable someone recreate the universe, but they allowed expressing gratitude. In that sense, Mudra
was considered an expression of devotion, whereas Naad
was that of human pride - only humans had sophisticated oratory skills. Both were, nevertheless, termed Yoga
because they were connected to knowledge .
With passage of many millennia, Naad
is now morphed into elocution, vocals and music; and Mudra
is seen as the origin of performing arts - dance, sculpting and painting. Siva
is believed to have created both art forms to please his soulmate Adi Shakti
- the first force. Siva
is also known as Adi Yogi
- the first Yogi
. One who was connected and devoted to knowledge. Siva
is the highest form of objective intelligence that imbibes the creative process - hence creation of two fundamental art forms - Abhivaykti
Humans developed exceptional sophistication in vocal expression. While Mudra
was a universal language of signs, Naad
had a local touch and hence competitive spirit. In West, vocal expression reached its pinnacle in "opera". On the Eastern side, it achieved perfection in Vaidik
recital — a format so distinguished that spoken Sanskrit
, finds it's roots in Vaidik
recital. Vocals, however, had a limitation - they were not the best storage medium. Reciters always inflicted their own distortions. They often forgot the content if they missed few days of practice. The bigger problem, however, was that of portability - vocal communication needed physical proximity. Written word had to be invented to circumvent these limitations. As the body of knowledge expanded, Naad Yoga
split into two faculties - research and recital. Research was later named Nyaan Yoga
, leaving the original name to pure recital. Mudra
was further refined into Hath Yoga
- the complex body postures (Aasnas
) to stretch and unlock internal energies - the common perception of Yoga
in the West.
A Nyaan Yogi
would conduct Yazna
(the repetitive actions) to go deeper in pursuit of a skill stream. A Naad Yogi
would do the same for the purpose of undistorted rendition. Both were complimentary to each other. There was no point in cumulating knowledge if it couldn't be preserved - over generations. Similarly, there was nothing to recite if it didn't carry specific knowledge. Thus, Naad Yogies
worked in close interaction with Nyaan Yogies
. The role of Vyasa
was of utmost importance in holding these two arms of Yoga
together. It was like a bridge between expertise and expression -> hence, a very sought after title, and one that needed dexterity in both. Vyasas
controlled the flow of information — somewhat like the editors of main stream media these days. They decided what must go to the public consumption, & what could be left to obscurity.
This arrangement for decryption and communication of knowledge through rigorous focus (and gratitude) is called Snatana Dharma
- a faith that has no beginning and the one that never decays. At least ten generations of Vaśiṣṭhas
- starting well before Rama
and going up to the days of Krishna
- practiced Snatana
. During this period, it gathered enormous social and political capital and thus the driver seat on direction of mankind.
With power came the conflict. Some Nyaan yogies
wanted to make their work imperishable by committing it to a text themselves - they probably felt ignored by reciters! On the other side, such attempts were cursed - they were seen as lustful acts to undermine the sacred tradition. They were anyway destined to fail for the written language was not standardized. And writing tools were still in their infancy.
3.1
An ascetic lifestyle was important to Naad Yogies
. Not only was it necessary for extreme focus on recital, rich hosts would select a trusted rites-admin only if they believed the ritual maker didn't want any of the material gains — an assurance that all the blessings would come directly to the host (without any cut). In a way, rites were the marketplace between humans and their deities where a Naad Yogi
acted like a catalytic intermediary. Humans invested their allegiance, time and money while deities provisioned things they wanted in return. No one knew if the marketplace actually worked, but it was a matter of belief, and it worked for those who believed. In addition to apparent divine exchange, the arrangement funded the ecosystem. At the same time, rituals normally followed with charity to the poor. This reinforced the status of the powerful hosts. To the world, it appeared as if Naad Yogies
endorsed their hosts; giving legitimacy to their endeavours. Generational cycles of this model led to a highly federated power structure. Every rich house had the rights to bear arms to protect their wealth with a direct line of command to the king.
The rich hosts and the powerful, as patrons, provided enough alms and homage to allow Yogies
invest their time in spiritual as well as in material research. This primary research led to groundbreaking insights that centuries later influenced at least four major religions — Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism; along with hundreds of factions that thrive in South East Asia - and beyond. Not only religion, it also formed the primitive basis of science that includes linguistics, mathematics, cosmology, medicine, surgery, and lot more. It was like the "open source" movement of our time. Yogies
shared their knowledge free of charge and lived on donations hence collected. That said, the ritual hosts did get early access to the new insights simply because they were close to the Naad Yogies
. These insights led to them excelling in their pursuits; and hence more wealth - a virtuous cycle. Such successes were seen as the blessings of deities.
The formalization of rituals ensured the knowledge stayed immutable over the course of passage from one generation to the next. Imagine a world without written word - no books, no libraries and of course no internet. In that world, Naad Yogies
would recite for days to a gathering of entire village without missing a single beat or breath (Prana
). They were the vessels of knowledge that held water from different streams of Nyaan Yoga
. For example a skill such as a Vaidya
(doctor) may need to know botany (Vrakayurveda
); human anatomy (Ayurveda
); and horticulture (Krushi
). This would allow him to understand the properties of herbs, how to use them to cure diseases; and how to grow them - a complete package. On the other side, a Nyaan Yogi
would focus all his time and energy only on one stream.
Collectively Naad Yogies
were called śatosha
. The syllable śat
stands for the hundred (skills) - a doctor or a metallurgist etc. And osha
means a cumulation - for example in Sanskrit
a treasury is called Kosha
- collection of money; Santosha
means satisfaction cumulated to a saint.
3.2
The literal meaning of Sanskrit
word Naad
is a dense voluminous sound, produced from the bottom of lungs. For example - the roar of lion (Singh
) amidst a dense forest is called Singh-Naad
. Most of the Acharyas
(teachers) were necessarily Naad Yogies
. Through years of practice (and sacrifice), they had learnt to channel internal energies to upper Chakras
1 - in heart Chakra
(Anahata
) for compassion, and in throat Chakra
(Vishudhi
) for vocal cleansing.
Moving energy to upper Chakras
was a distinguished proof of being superior to rest of the species. Other species held the life energies in two lower Chakras
— Swadhishthana
(sexuality) ; and Manipuraka
(consumption). By moving energy up the spinal column, referred to as raising the Kundalini
, Naad Yogies
separated humanity from animal kingdom - first quantum jump that made humans a representative identity of all mammals. Being a representative, they must watch for the benefit of all - Sarv Eva Bhavantu Sukhinah
- peace and prosperity to all. They believed it was Naad Yoga
that made humans bipedal in the world of quadrupedal mammals. Not only that taller you stand, farther you could see and speak ; the vertical spinal column allowed the Kundalini
to rise, thereby opening access to upper Chakras
.
The Chakra
system was linked to five senses. Each sense represented an element - as shown in the graphic below. The way a sense was to an external element, a Chakra
was considered the nerve center of internal traits - Vritties
2.
By bringing life force to throat, Naad Yogies
perfected the repeatable public recital, making it an ‘art of vocal expressions’. If your interest is peaked in what kind of renditions were these, I recommend listening to this one-minute clip of Shanti Mantra
from Brahmin
priest Santosh Mudgal here. Notice the stresses on the syllables and over-all elocution. Vaidik
elocution is a complete genre of rendition practiced standing tall or sitting in upright position. Speech is restricted lying down or any other posture (Aasna
or Yougic Mudra
) that curls the spinal column. A curled up spinal column was believed to obstruct the rise of energy from lower to upper Chakras
.
In a way Naad
was an improvement over Mudra
. We first perfected facial and body gestures that gave us an edge over predators. Once we accomplished physical security, speech took over. Among other things, it enabled barter for value-exchange. Barter was based on immutability of spoken word. A popular quote from Ramayana
in local dialect is Pran Jahi per vachan na jahi
- means one may sacrifice life but never go back on the spoken commitment. It was the underlying principle of barter.
3.3
There was no “generally” cherished art of 'writing'. The primary use of written word was to send telegrams through pigeons. Short, cryptic and perishable. There were attempts to write messages on the cave walls, or on those of temples. Small chisels and hammers were adapted (from sculpting) but the process remained utterly time-consuming as well as painstaking.
Some researchers (Nyaan Yogies
), did consider converting the Mantras
into text format — long before Parāśara
, for obvious advantages of durability and portability. What if all the Vyasas
died? What if human race perished though epidemic, or other extinction level event. The ancient wisdom must be preserved beyond human shelf life. Those questions existed, but without the comfort of a Mac, writing was a Herculean task! It was an exercise of solitude - to train our vast neural network - Sahsrara
the top Chakra
. And reading the limited text was akin to deciphering the code - with a cheat sheet - because every writer had their own extensions of symbols. We went through a similar period in computer programming till we got to Unicode standards of text formatting. The idea of a book back then was similar to immersive virtual reality in the fifties - an impossible craving that appeared to have no chance of success.
There were some bold attempts, but they were mostly experimental—often half-baked, grammatically flawed, and contextually incoherent. The focus was not on the content ; it centered on the writing process, and testing the claims of writing enthusiasts. Advocates of the pro-text camp championed the idea of asynchronous freedom. Some of them subscribed to an extraordinary notion: they argued if text could be passed down through generations, it should be possible for information to flow from the future to the past. Why only one way flow? Information was not a physical thing - bound by the rules of decay? They referred to this phenomenon as "divine information". The promise was divine information could be made accessible to everyone. The idea had a circular logic: if someone were to read a book ten generations from now, they could theoretically reconstruct today's world in their minds. What if they could correct our current assumptions? Wouldn't that transform our own world? They believed text was a bridge to the continuum. More one wrote, better his chances of receiving assistance from one’s future self. Some even suggested the discipline of writing opened a portal in the human mind. Since all information always existed, the quest was merely to unlock the pathways within our minds.
Such grand claims aside, there were immediate benefits. In absence of version management systems, Nyan Yogies
could only inform the final construct - they themselves lost the knowledge that accumulated one step at a time with each iteration. In essence, they knew how, but very few could tell why! The "why" was acquitted to deities. Text allowed them remember intermediate discoveries.
Majority of the Vyasas and Naad Yogies
didn't believe written word could ever replace the rigor and authenticity of recital. Some beneficiaries of spoken layer, even denounced the efforts to ‘jail’ the wisdom into written symbols as downright demonic. Somewhat like main stream media's nervousness towards internet aggregators these days! Though writing meant content could be passed on to far-flung places; but the act of writing (and reading) wouldn't invoke elemental powers — they thought! Their arguments, sometimes, sounding sheer absurdities - how would you send the homage , the butter (ghee
), fruits and milk to the deities without proper ritual? Other times the attacks were more vicious - that the written words were insinuated by the demons to digress humans from reality.
3.4
The "recital-model" saw over ten generations of Vaśiṣṭhas
. It was fully saturated by the time of Parāśara's
birth. The reason it warranted a backlash:
Somehow, the ritual got more important than the content.
Superior rendition of Mantras
meant Naad Yogies
could perform the rites for the kings and the rich, in lieu of necessities and niceties. Rich were mandated to perform rites at least sixteen times through their life span — birth, marriage and death being the major milestone rituals. In addition, every year, they must perform a rite for the peace of their dead — Shradha
. Kings had even more rituals at their hands. In all, it was a flourishing economy of rituals and ritual makers. Priests were more important than a family physician! Kings didn't even take on a simple journey without consulting their spiritual guru
. The organised religion was still a thing of future but the clout many leading reciters enjoyed was the beginning of faith intermingling with politics. The nexus of politics and faith is a vicious cycle for they feed on each other. Reciters were turning into the gatekeepers of power.
Writing, on the other hand, had no such incentive. There was no kindle book store, no way to barter the text. It did have a promise to democratize the information and that did appeal to some, but such people were few and far. Most felt a commoner had no reason to access Vaidik
knowledge without a qualified gatekeeper. And most thought the job of a Vyasa
was eternal — fully protected till the end of humanity - immortal. Those who didn't believe in rituals and thus by extension defied the Vaidik
wisdom were named Asuras
— a class of outspoken people just short of being a monster (Rakshsa
).
New rituals were being added left right and center. A new ritual if you wanted to enter a new home. Another if you bought a horse and a cart. Yet another to start the harvest. Younger sages (Rishies
) exploring new facets of knowledge, weren't entirely happy in current arrangement. They were not sure if adding more popular rituals (Dravya Yaznas
) was the right path forward. Old sages who had attained demonstrable mastery in a specific field (Maharishies
) often got most of the attention from Vyasas
— the editors. But new Rishies
had problems in getting their work ritualized - just the way new PhDs these days have difficulty getting their work published in reputed journals. It was hard to get attention from the chanting community. As such, they had no way to preserve their work other than scribing it themselves.
3.5
Parāśara
understood and appreciated this growing concern among budding Rishies
. He also noticed the hardships of writing first-hand, when he scribed his own work Krishi Parāśara
- the first book on agriculture. His lineage and the work on agriculture won him a title of Maharishi
though it cost him better part of his prime. He wanted to invest more time on improving the ‘writing experience’.
He had one more reason for this desire — his first love — Astrology (Jyotish
). Astrology was something beyond the spoken means — it needed charting various planets and stars that were hard to capture for any purely spoken language.
Astrology (
Jyotish
) is the long old ancestor of modern day cosmology. Most people think astrology's secret sauce is somehow foretelling the future - through broad set of predictions that may apply to almost anyone - in any situation. In truth, it is a deep understanding of space and time. Effect of motion of massive celestial bodies, on our physical reality — our tiny box.Effect of celestial motion on earthlings were apparent in changing weathers, and it had already found applications in agriculture - the subject of
Parāśara's
early investigation, but he found seasons impacted the moods. There was something in the extra terrestrial that connected deep with the spirit of not only humans but animals too.
Astrology was considered the ultimate science for it warranted knowledge of all the "hundred skills". One could predict only if s/he knew everything that was there to know. Not only the hundred skills, it needed deep understanding of three potencies of knowledge - particularly Vishnu
- the very source of manifestation. Armed with this ultimate spiritual science, Parāśara
figured out how to predict expression of a specific trait in a newborn — with high degree of accuracy.
Even today, in India, a priest (Pandit
) pictorially draws the state of heavenly bodies at the time of a childbirth — a cosmic birth-chart (Janmpatri
). This document details the exact positions of seven main grahas
(the sun, moon and five main planets), and twenty-seven stars Nakshtras
. It also details the effect of the motion of this system on child's future. It is an important consideration (in many Hindu families) to determine the suitable marital match.
Charting the stars and planets was impossible in spoken word. A proper framework of scribing was a necessity!
An accurate practice of this skill was like controlling the “chromosomal dice”. If someone could predict future at the time of birth, then he could reverse engineer the logic to ascertain the best time to conceive a child - for a specific target future. Though it also meant long wait for the appropriate planetary alignment — sometimes, many generations in the future. Krishna Dwaipayana
was one such awaited child. His birth was predicated by Maharishi Parāśara
— the astrologer extraordinaire - very rightly known as the ‘father of Astrology’. His epic book Brihat Parāśara Hora Shastra
is considered the starting point of Astrology.
An English translation of this epic work is embedded here below for reference ...
3.6
Maharishi Parāśara
was excited at the prospect of organizing information, and he believed written text was the way to pull off such a miracle.
At the same time the issue was about freedom of expression. Siva
invented dance (Mudra
) and spoken word (Naad
) for everyone to enjoy the art-forms. But the spoken word was getting corrupted. Greed had made in-roads into once ascetic Naad Yogies
. Not only did they preach the things favorable to their powerful patrons, they also supported suppression of ideas that were not in line with the vested interests. In the guise of keeping the society in checks and balances, the balance of expression was tilted in favor of rich. Thus, more focus on rituals that glorified the kings instead of helping researchers get their word out to the world. While absolute freedom of expression was still a long way, there must be a legit path available to keep important research from getting lost.
He, however, had no illusions. He knew scribing technology, might take more than a lifetime to reach maturity. There was another reason for this wait. Every new generation appeared to get a new version of the ‘core kernel’. Something that made acceptance of newer convictions' lot easier. He, himself, was working hard on many inscription strategies that were promising, but still not ready for the prime time, particularly for his generation subsumed in the magic of spoken words. He thought, it would take a generational shift to gain acceptance for these tools. That was probably the trigger for craving to have a child who could further his work into next generation.
Even today, we are not beyond “generational shift”. For example, Baby Boomers were comfortable with their landlines and emails. It took a generation for the internet to take firm hold particularly with smartphones. Boomers were happy with their cable TVs. Our generation takes streaming video, as a commodity. We assume smartphones and streaming is forever, while the Gen Z and Gen Alpha may wonder how could people block their hands — the most important organs of human body, with smartphones. Why would someone watch stuff on a tiny five-inch screen when VR allows them to jump right into the experience? The next generations will have implants to let them talk, walk and work simultaneously. Their reality may seem like a virtual reality to us, just the way our way of life is living in a VR for people three generations back. With every generation, new tools become effortless and universally acceptable simply because new tools become part of the
Sanskara
- the first steps of learning.
And it wasn't just the tools — the pen and the paper; he must find ways to wrap a payback method around ‘writing’ to make it a self-sustaining model like Dravya Yazna
. And he must steer this ship safe from the ones with vested interests in then existing paradigm of spoken rites, because labeling someone Asura
was easy for the power-brokers — even for the slightest clue of non-compliance. Even today, changing the existing power-structure isn't free from risk. Music labels killed Napster. China banned free internet. Central banks hate Cryptos. The play of vested interest is to sustain the past through "suppression of information"; while progress demands "fearless expression" for rapid innovations.
It was an ambitious and tall order that might bear fruits in next generation — Maharishi
thought — he must perpetuate his life's learnings, and those from his ancestors to a worthy heir. He believed fate blessed him the Astrology, to ensure he found one.
notes and stuff:
Chakra System and Hathyoga
- In
Hath Yoga
, human energy system is said to have seven interference points calledChakras
. The bottom mostChakra
is calledMool-adhara
- theChakra
ofSanskara
. Rising from the bottom areSwadhishthana
,Manipuraka
,Anahata
,Vishudhi
,Ajna
, andSahsrara
. - At the time of birth, the energy is situated at the bottom most
Chakra
. During the course of life, just like animals, energy rises to secondChakra
for procreation and to the third for consumption. Humans have the capabilities to raise energy to fourth and fifth points that enable them to have compassion and communication. These two qualities formulate the knowledge graph and are relevant forNaad
andNyaan Yogies
. - Rise of energy beyond this point is possible only through intervention by spiritual
Guru
who uses sixth pointAjna
to invoke her energy into disciples. A relevant point for theBhakti Yogies
. - The last point
Sahsrara
is the final destination forHath Yogies
. This is whereKarm Yoga
is said to invoke itself.Sahsrara
means one thousand. Humans are said to have fifty traits -Vritties
, each with its own mirror image. EveryVritti
expresses itself through ten senses. Thus, eachVritti
has twenty expressions. MindChakra
thus controls one thousand expressions. One who has full control on all the thousand expressions is said to be aKarm Yogi
. However, accessingKarm Yoga
through this approach is like walking on the water. Managing one thousand variables on 24 by 7 basis is almost impossible. There must be a better way!
A SENSE explores variations in one unique Tattva
- the Element, and it is the primary mechanism to invoke a perception for the associated Vrittis
- traits related to the specific sense. The elements represent Prakriti
the "Intelligence". There are five innate elements - Panch Bhoota
. Let us not confuse these ELEMENTS with the chemical elements such as Oxygen or Carbon. The chemical elements are based on number of electrons they have to understand their electro-chemicals properties. The ELEMENTS Bhootas
described in Gita is a different way to categorize. Just as we can categorize the population by gender or orientation or by ethnicity or by countries.
- Skin (Touch -
Sparsha
) - Earth - Touch explores variations in the texture of SURFACE. SURFACE is represented by solids and thus by EARTHPrithvi
. Earth is the element linked toMooldhara
. Beyond obvious perception of touch , it contols fourVrittis
- Extreme joy , natural pleasure , delight in controlling passion , blissfulness in concentration. You have probably seen animals rolling in the mud to express the natural pleausre. On the opposite side of specturm, look at the absolute concentration hunter animals sport before they attack to take their pray down. - Toungue (Taste -
Rasa
) - Water - Tougue is the only part of the body that can tell the difference in taste. The "taste" is enabled by the liquidsRasa
and thus WATERJala
represents its eleement. The water is linked to the secondChakra
- known asSwadhisthana
. The six petals of thisChakra
represent the following modes of consciousness: affection , pitilessness , feeling of all-destructiveness , delusion , disdain , suspicion.Swadhisthana
is often associated with pleasure, sense of oneself, relationships, sensuality and procreation. It is blocked by Guilt. Svadhishthana is also associated with the unconscious and with emotion. It is closely related to theMooldhara
in thatMooldhara
is where the differentSamskaras
lie dormant, andSwadhisthana
is where theseSamskaras
find expression.Swadhisthana
contains unconscious desires, especially sexual desire. Thus, in addition to sense of taste (the tongue) it is linked with reproduction (the genitals). - Eyes (Vision -
Drishti) - Fire - Eyes explore variations or different shades of LIGHT. Nature produces the medium of light through element -FIRE
Agni. In traditional
Hathyogathe Chakra for fire is
Manipurathat comes with the Vrittis : spiritual ignorance , thirst , jealousy , treachery , shame , fear , disgust , delusion , foolishness , sadness.
Manipurka Chakrais considered the center of dynamism, energy, will power and achievement, which radiates
Pranathroughout the entire human body. It is associated with the power of fire and digestion, as well as with the sense of sight and the action of movement. Through meditating on
Manipurka`, one is said to attain the power to save, change or destroy the earth (living soil). Being related to the sense of sight, it is associated with the eyes, and being associated with movement, it is associated with the feet. - NOSE (Smell -
Ghrana
) - Air : The variations in SMELLghrana
are enabled by the AIR. If there is no AIR there is no smell. TheChakra
related to air isAnahta
. Thevrittis
of this Chakra are asha: wish, desire, hope , chinta: thoughtfulness, anxiety , chesta: effort , mamta: possessiveness, fondness , dhamba: arrogance, vanity , viveka: discrimination , vikalata: languor , ahamkara: conceit, egoism, pride , lolata: covetousness, avarice , kapatata: duplicity, hypocrisy , vitarka: indecision, argumentativeness , anutapa: regret, burning misery - Ears (Hearing -
Shravan
) - Space: Like two dish antennas, ears are always open to observe the variations in the sound of SPACE. SPACE is the fifth element calledAakasha
. The Chakra for space isVishudha
. This chakra is known as the purification center. In its most abstract form, it is associated with higher discrimination and is associated with creativity and self-expression. WhenVishuddha
is closed, a person undergoes decay and death. Just like ears , when it is open, negative experiences are transformed into wisdom and learning. The success and failure in one's life are said to depend upon the state of this chakra, whether it is polluted or clean. In addition to the element Akasha, or Ether, and the sense of hearing, thisChakra
is related to the action of speaking.
So five SENSES of conscious agents to measure variations of the MEDIUMS of five Elements. In other words - five Sensors to calibrate five Fields. The collection of these five fields is CONSCIOUSNESS FIELD. We can't observe anything that's not described by sight , touch , taste, smell or space. This, however, doesn't mean there is nothing beyond our senses. There is lot more beyond our sense observable universe.
Shruti
meant the spoken word when the humans used to sustain knowledge, only in the vocal format. Maybe because scribing was difficult. With the advent of writing tools, many Shruties
were scribed. In essence the scriptures were born out of Shruties
. The words that got written down, entered the collective memory of humanity. Such written down early scriptures were called Smrities
. For example Manu Smriti
is among the oldest written down scripture, trans-encoded from Shruti
to Smriti
. The Sanskrit word Shruti
got deformed into Shutri
in Hindi with passage of time. It is important to bear in mind that every thing that we talk (chatter) is NOT Shruti
. Shruties
were consciously identified pieces of wisdom, preserved through formal recital to enable passage of knowledge from one generation to the next.