arjun uvaach

The all important question — if (or not), there exists one unique righteous path? — what is the true definition of Dharma? - was a matter of regular discussion that ran deep in the family. Vaśiṣṭha, thought there were many paths for one to realize her worth. He believed in power to the people. He felt a farmer was as important as a priest and so was a cobbler. And one may alter the path of her choosing - as many and any time. As a pragmatist, Vaśiṣṭha wished peace to everyone no matter what choices they made. The reason he had much influence among the seven Bramhrishies was his unique blend of knowledge with humility. He defined Dharma as a vigil appreciation of existing reality; and timely adaptation to the change. That said, he never changed his own course !

Śakti Muni added a new perspective to his father's approach. He redefined Dharma. He argued - a righteous person, must stick to one path. If someone stayed flexible, how they were any different from animals! And how would they accomplish excellence? Śakti Muni focused on - Karm Yoga - full commitment to one's chosen path. He probably didn't realize this little change would lead to an upheaval.

Karm Yoga as an idea, was slightly different from the Nyaan and Naad Yoga. The purpose here was still to indulge in repetitive actions, but the knowledge thus gained was a mere by-product. Quite the opposite to the approach of Nyaan Yoga wherein the goal was to accomplish better utility with lesser effort - for example to find the most efficient way to cultivate, transport or the metal works. And unlike Naad Yoga, Śakti's method didn't seek ascetic behaviour. It didn't promote someone conducting Dravya Yazna as an intermediary between humans and their deities. In that sense, it appeared easier to practice - a sustainable path for ordinary people. All it needed was to perfect one specific skill and keep on doing it - like a machine. In a way, he was the first to underscore specialization - an industrial approach to science.

True to his name, Śakti's ideas were powerful. The word Śakti literally means power in Sanskrit, however, ascertaining a righteous path is easier said than done. Every time we focus on one task - the task splits into multiple skills - like the branches of a tree. The definitions get nuanced as soon as we peel the first layer. Every human views the reality differently owing to their Sanskaras - the core orientations. Even the meaning of words are perceived differently based on the narrative they subscribe to. Above all, humans justify their actions as righteous, because they deem their situation unique - sometimes unaware that such claims were rooted deep into desires.

The big question for an individual thus continued to be - what is the righteous path ? The answer demanded rigorous personal discovery - "who am I ?"

4.1

Śakti Muni practiced what he preached, and he ended up sacrificing his life for the sake of his beliefs. That fateful winter morning, he was en-route to the river with rest of the congregation — for the morning dip in Yamuna — a daily routine Vaśiṣṭhas had instilled over many generations. With time, it had shaped into a daily procession - commoners would line up the sides to see their role models - to seek their blessings. A tradition still practiced in many parts of India. The first dip used to be reserved for Bramhrishi, but this morning, he didn't join - winter was taking a toll on aging saint. Śakti's wife too excused herself due to morning sickness - a common condition in early pregnancy. A mother has a sixth sense to protect her unborn - she probably sensed the bad omen!

That cold ominous morning, a self-proclaimed tribal king Kalmashapada happened to be on same path - returning from Yamuna - with his queen and chosen savages — drunk and sleep-deprived. Apparently they had spent the night on the banks, hunting the innocent animals - roasting them alive to eat with local hooch. The shrieks of scared animals were audible to Śakti Muni in the silent night, though his cottage was quite a distance. In the morning he also got the news - that king's men had taken women from the nearby village - with force. And kept them awake whole night — doing whatever they felt right to please themselves, and their Rakshsa lords.

In the rush hour, Śakti Muni expected Kalmashapada to clear the way. The scripture mandated right of path to a sage. On the other side - the king, oblivious to Śakti's ideology - expected a clear path for himself - particularly for his new queen. He had expected the sage would shower blessings on their new union. In fact, he had hoped Śakti Muni would show up the last night - to welcome them on this side of Yamuna - with proper rituals ! Yes - there used to a ritual to welcome the kings in your village or city.

Rumors said the discussion turned into an altercation. Out of anger, Śakti Muni cursed the king and his troupes to turn into monsters - instantly - for the monstrosity they spread on the peaceful range. That did happen but the king, having turned into a monster, killed Śakti Muni and his team. That is what monsters do.

Stories being symbolic, they gloss over the details. Śakti Muni must have questioned the savages for their abhorrent behavior. The righteous duty of a saint is to confront the injustice - at the first opportunity. And the king was anyway a monster!

The news spread like a wildfire. Some saw it at the face-value - a sudden rush of blood that went off the handle. Others saw a deeper message of stars being misaligned. Many thought, it was a bigger conspiracy. Yes, conspiracy theorists existed even back then! One version claimed Kalmashapada was instigated by Vishwamitra - another saint of the same stature as Vaśiṣṭha - one of the seven Bramhrishies. No one knows the truth though Parāśara is said to have acknowledged this later in Vishnu Purana.

As many versions, as many mouths! Truth besides, for most it was a time-pass gossip. It continued long after the incident. The conversations of impending doom are naturally sticky. Some of them attributed the mishap to humans trying to be gods. Organized agriculture, burning ore in fire pits, and attempts to tame the winds were clearly not meant for the humans! The idea that bad times are inevitable, makes the best of sensationalism, but for Parāśara it was personal. It wasn't something that happened to others - it was his own story.

Young Parāśara grew in the shadows of this gut-ranching chatter. Such conversations had a traumatic bearing on his child mind. And more so, because he had a gifted imagination. For one, he internalized a deep hatred for the Rakshsas, but more importantly he questioned if (or not) one must stick to one's path? Is there a subset of traits (Vritties) that must be followed by every human - a core set of values - no matter what path they were on. As a youth, he wondered what was that ultimate wisdom?

The question that laid heavy on his mind and kinda morphed into a lifelong quest was to formulate that value system. This is probably where the word "righteous" got added to notion of Karma --> practicing any action was not Karm Yoga - he thought - the actions must be righteous. But then how to define the righteous actions because situations may change unexpectedly. And who gets to determine worth of actions? Who is the final arbiter? Killing someone was obviously bad, but it turns righteous in a war. And what if the war was to revenge his own clan - a challenge Parāśara must engage in to clear his soul.

4.2

One thing was certain in his mind — mere "awareness" of the way universe worked, was not enough to attain peace. Just knowing the existence of "One immutable and omnipresent Knowledge" alone didn't get him the peace he wished for everyone. Not even conducting rituals to appease the deities. The path to knowledge was not in merely knowing its existence. It was in being one with the knowledge. How to get there was the unresolved question !

While young Parāśara had nothing going right for him, there was a silver lining - mother Adrushyanti was a kind grace. She kept his life together. An Aacharya herself, she was probably the only one who knew what Śakti Muni had on his mind. She made sure the child got his father's ideology without aberrations. She explained to Parāśara his father intended to unify Naad and Nyaan Yoga. The only way to get over the growing mistrust between the two streams was to reunify both these streams under one banner - something new. That new unified stream was Karm Yoga.

The way Sakti Muni approached the puzzle was to ascertain the common denominator. He understood the core driver of both the Yogas was life-long dedication to one area of expertise. Naad Yogies dedicated their lives to "recital" while Nyaan Yogies gave up all the comforts for one unique area of exploration. A tight daily routine - controlled food and sleep, endless practice - made the Yogies what they appeared to the external world - the role models. Karm Yoga was an appropriate name for the new unified practice.

Śakti Muni however, widened the scope of Karm Yoga. He argued if consistent actions could lead to divine recital and research, then why can't the idea be applied to mundane works. He believed one can be a Karm Yogi irrespective of the work they were pursuing. It didn't matter to him if one was a "reciter" or a "weaver" as long as they had intense focus on their objective, and tenacity to stick to one thing - generation over generation - just like his own family. He professed it was the lifelong practice that made one excel - it opened new horizons - even for grazing the cows. In fact, he believed one should adopt their family work for a child learns best from her parents. Children should build on the family business. The idea was adopted by many elite houses in letter and spirit. So much so if a child wanted to do something outside the family traditions, they were termed Varn Sankara - the destroyer of family values.

While Śakti Muni's ideas had vision, and he pursued them with conviction, they failed to deliver consensus. The power brokers questioned him. They reasoned - how can a Nishaad (hunter) be same stature as a Naad Yogi? And if someone could attain Karm Yoga living with their families, doing their paternal chores, than who would join the congregation?

The idea of unification meant a natural degradation of the existing beneficiaries. It had commercial ramifications too. If a Chandal (one who burns the dead) is same stature as a Naad Yogi than he too must render his services free. And if everyone worked for donations, it would be a systemic erosion of accountability. They felt Śakti's path would lead to anarchy. They thought his ideas were impractical, since he had no experience of running a state. Vishwamitra - other Bramhrishi wasn't a saint by birth. He was a king in his early life. He claimed the title of Bramhrishi the hard way - through intense work on skills. But more importantly, he understood how to effect a change in society. It was believed he didn't approve the theoretical designs of Śakti - thus, the theory that Kalmashapada was instigated by Vishwamitra. Though no one knew for sure because Kalmashapada was never caught or tried.

Sakti's approach cast a spell of uncertainty on the barter system ¹ too. The concerns were not totally out of place. Barter system was fine for high value transactions, but it was not scalable. Most of the families were self-sufficient in terms of growing their own food and cattle for milk. They built their homes themselves. Barter was used in rare events that could be easily memorized. If everyone was expected to master one specific skill, there must be a barter value attached to every service. The open door society was not used to exchanging meal for a meal. One could simply knock on a door for food or shelter.

On the other side, the "old" wanted status quo - the jungle rule. They saw Sakti Muni as a dangerous bridge to the "new world". Up until now, the path of Yoga was for a select few - those who would sacrifice the pleasures to take on the hard life of Ashramas. Śakti's ideas could spread beyond the confines of Ashrams. They feared Karm yoga might become a household name. They saw Śakti as the emerging face of revolution that could carry a commoner with him. If a "skill oriented society" as a concept was mass adopted, their power to recruit people free would be severely restrained - particularly in crunch wartimes.

No one knows for sure, but targeting Sakti appeared to be an easy way - to crush the new revolution! And probably Śakti Muni, in a hurry to change the world, forgot to handle the balance of power his father Vaśiṣṭha had so carefully navigated. He didn't know abrupt change might cause ruptures never seen before!

4.3

It wasn't that Śakti Muni made up a new word. The idea of Karm yoga was definitely older. Later in Bhagwat Gita, Dwaipayana scribed that Karma was the basis of manifestation and evolution. He wrote: the supreme knowledge shared this secret first with Vivswata (Sun) who told it to Manu (the first man) at the dawn of Humans. In the first verse of Chapter four, Krsna - the embodiment of supreme knowledge said to Arjuna...

This imperishable (system of) Karm Yoga I declared to Vivaswat: Vivaswat declared it to Manu; and Manu communicated it to Ikshaku. Descending thus from generations, the Royal sages came to know it.

Sun is the deity of light and time. It does change its course with seasons, but it does show up every day - to work. This repetitive nature was described as Sun's Yazna and of it came the four parts of the day - the most ancient measure of time. In Vaidik Science, each part was called a Prahar. With advent of sophisticated time keeping, we have divided the day into hours and minutes, but our new system has detached us from the motion of Sun. In Vaidik Science, the first Prahar started with Sun Rise and fourth ended with Sun Set. The Prahar could be longer in summer and shorter in winter. The daily routine or Yaznas ; time for food, rest and play; were designed to synchronize Praharas, by those who studied the eternal motion of Sun and it's effects in different seasons on different work streams. The effects on agriculture and medicine were quite evident though the system got extended to all skills in due course. Even different moods of music (Raagas) were tied to the parts of day (or night). Designers of the time system were jointly represented as a Deity - Sun. In essence there was a full body of knowledge on time keeping. Underlying goal was to render humans a predictable lifestyle that focused on regular and repetitive Karma.

Manu was the beginning of bipedal humans with well-developed hands to indulge in actions. This ability, available only to humans was the effect of immense practice by Manu - a humble reciprocation to emulate yazna of the sorcerer of life - Sun. In fact, humans are the only bipedal beings on planet earth. They dedicated two front legs to develop hands to indulge in sophisticated actions. Human hands are called Karmendriyas - the work organs. It is because of our hands and fingers that we could indulge in a vast range of actions (including scribing and typing).

Even prior to Manu, the story of evolution through various incarnations of Vishnu is the story of intense practice. Sirla Bhaktivinoda in his 1873 book Datta-kaustubha and again in his 1880 book Kṛṣṇa-saṁhita premised Vishnu an evolutionary force. Vishnu, through his incarnations , takes consciousness to ever higher levels. From Matsyavtara (fish) to Krsna, Vishnu's incarnations kick-start a progression in consciousness through Karm Yoga.

• The first incarnation of conscious beings was Matsyavtaar - the fish. Life was born in water with singular sense of touch (possibly Amoeba). A fish, expanded the consciousness with the ability to see.

• After millions of years in the water and a consistent goal to explore beyond water, led to the next incarnation of Vishnu - Kurma - the turtle. How much consistent effort must a fish had done to accomplish this change! This effort was depicted equivalent to churning the entire ocean - Samudra Manthan.

• Again after trillions of trials, the turtles developed a backbone and legs to lift them above the ground. The next incarnation of Vishnu is known as Varahavtaar - the incarnation into a boar. The first four legged being.

• There was a period when quadrupeds started experimenting standing up but the hands and the tools for survival were not available. During this phase, Vishnu incarnated as a Lion-Man combination - Nar Singh to keep the bi-peddling efforts safe from the predators.

• The next incarnation of Vishnu - Vamanavtar - a dwarf was the first with somewhat vertical back. Being able to stand on two feet, not only freed up the hands for sophisticated actions, in Hathyoga it is said to have opened the route for higher consciousness. As said earlier, Naad Yogies attained the skill of recital by moving the life energy to the upper Chakras.

• The next one Parshurama was full human wielding an axe as a symbol of tools that conquered the lands. Parsuram was in lineage of Manu. The supreme knowledge imbibed from the Sun, invoked Karm Yoga into Manu. It explained to him that his generation with vertical spinal column and sophisticated hands were there to indulge in Karm Yoga - the very practice that led to their ability to stand tall. Only with practice they could survive and flourish. They must build skills to answer the final quest - understand the nature of supreme knowledge held with in.

Adrushyanti explained the purpose of Vishnu's ever evolving incarnations to young Parāśara in narratives that accommodated him imagination. She explained to him there was no way for the waterborne and the amphibians to know who they were. The quadrupeds were able to recognize their fleeting reflection in the water and on the lands. They chased their shadows not knowing why could they never touch their own reflection. In absence of vocal communication, they couldn't even confirm (with their network) that the reflection was actually their own selfie - and that the selfies are always just a fleeting reflection. They can at best be a starting point of the eternal quest but by no imagination the true shape, for the true shape is in the reflection of universal mirror. All that we see and feel and touch is nothing but us. Our "reality" is our true selfie.

Young Parāśara was captivated by the ideas of evolution and the ultimate purpose but much like everyone else, he had no clue how to be one with the knowledge. How to find himself in million shades of the reality! As he grew up, this knowledge took shape of Vishnu Purana.

4.4

While Maharishi Parāśara was pondering over the ideas of Karm Yoga, there was another parallel movement happening on Naad Yoga side — Bhakti Yoga — the Yoga of extreme devotion. Many of the Aacharyas had built a mass following. Almost like a cult. Their ideas based in grand vision of public good, but the underlying goal, to (also) promote their own moat. Many walled garden were formed. The followers developed blind faith in the words of the high priests. They even translated their narratives (or discussions) into local dialects and narrated them in poetical stories. So much so, the followers started believing mere chanting the names of their Gurus could get them to eternal peace. These narratives, mostly in spoken format, were called Puranas - the old stories.

In a way, Puranas are essential for proper appreciation of Vedas, for they provide the historical context. As we alluded earlier, thanks to the stories of Vishnu that mother roped in his Sanskara, Vishnu Purana was recited by Parāśara himself (later scribed by Dwaipayana). He told these stories to his disciple Maitreya, and they are among the most cited conversation in Hindu Mythology. Sometimes referred to as Puran-ratna — a gem among Puranas.

The oldest English translation of Vishnu Purana is available at internet archives. The book was published by H. H. Wilson (in 1864) in five volumes. The first volume is embedded here for reference.

Maharishi Parāśara witnessed Bhakti Yoga evolving first-hand. The popularity of this tradition had Maharishi reassess the integrity of Naad Yoga. He was convinced that extreme devotion did open the entry into the power structure and thus material success, but he was not sure if it was a legitimate path to eternal peace (as promised).

At the same time he would wonder if he, himself, was on right trajectory. He thought the intense dedication of Bhakti Yoga was good, if it motivated the followers to indulge in Karma, but mere chanting didn't appear to him a passage to the eternal solace. In modern times we have many schools of meditation. There are numerous apps to help people meditate. All that is good as a relief to confused and tormented souls but they in themselves are not the solution. For the eternal peace is not in forgetting ourselves, it is in knowing who we are? The question was how?

There were many questions that still remained unanswered. Many mysteries unresolved! A Nyaan Yogi was caught in ‘duality’ — Karm Yoga or Bhakti Yoga.

4.5

Age, didn't treat Maharishi any different. Despite his extensive work on understanding the manifestation Vishnu Purana, scribing of Krishi Parashra and path breaking research on Astrology, the quest to know the supreme knowledge was still unfulfilled. He knew he must have someone to carry the torch forward. And the answer was in Astrology. He believed it was a gift to fulfill the dreams of his lineage ..

After years of careful study of motion of heavenly bodies and their co-relation with birth of human intelligence, stars were finally aligned. Maharishi Parāśara was ready to take a child as his born son. And he named him long before the physical birth — Krishna Dwaipayana — Someone who would go beyond duality just like an island between two never-meeting banks of a river. Someone who could establish a middle spot among two never concurring ideologies — for the truth lies somewhere near the center. The literal meaning of Dwaipayana is ‘born on an island’.

And he saw the potent qualities in Matsyagandha, as prospective surrogate mother. Despite her ordinary circumstances, she honed in her, the curiosity and poise and the imagination, to gift this world an immortal writer !

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