Back in her tinsel town, the Fairy couldn’t help share the experience with her friends - first hand account of forest fire was a big deal in her mind. Her intent though was to headline a new definition of “proposal” versus that of “charity”. She probably wanted to rub her charitable friends in high places. Charity was a big component of the social score.

Most her friends had their own tales to tell - about the crazy things humans do! Some of them downplayed her experience as naive because this was the first time she flirted with rules. Some others took a tangent. They indirectly meant she failed to save a life. Not only did they miss the point, they probably wanted her down the guilt trap once again.

Social conversations mostly route to the bottom where one either meets frustration or mockery. Damned if you did good and more if you did not!

Only one of them pondered about Matsya - What happened to the poor girl? Who was her child ? And more importantly - did Maharishi ditch her after he got what he wanted - as expected of the powerful of the day - wizards or men. Even angels were a coin-toss when it came to relationships - less said better for the wizards!

Luckily, that evening, at a social mixer, they got hold of our Angel. The conversation began at a rather skeptic note. How could someone conceive at a sprinkle of water? After all, it was a boat, not a fertility clinic - they asked with a cunning smile - as if they knew what actually went down that evening! Another story of a lion taking a lamb - they thought!

Is there something more to be read between the lines ? - the Friend said out loud!

Unaware that the story got leaked into “social circles”, Angel was taken aback. For a second, he wanted to cover up. He was genuinely concerned - if the incident reached the regulators, his project might get shelved for a period, if not for good. But few martinis later, he too jumped in the discussion. For one the focus was not on the fire incident - it was on Matsya and Parāśara. And second he couldn’t take an epic being distorted. He invoked “first principles” to lay out his point. Being a scientist, his disposition was based in logic rather than getting into “lion over the lamb” arguments - those of morality or righteousness.

What exactly is the birth ? - He asked both of them. And waited a bit for their response.

Seeing their faces blank out - Let’s go outside, it’s too noisy in here. We need a quieter place to talk - he suggested with a smile.

As they stepped outside the crowded hall, the light drizzle had just stopped. And a thick rainbow lit up the evening sky. Three of them, raising their big mugs, took a deep breath. The clean air was restored with enormous efforts from angel scientists. And equal “hue and cry” of the humane activists. The Angel looked at the rainbow. Marveling at the immensity of the nature; he started his monologue. He had decided to sacrifice the evening to a deeper conversation and he wanted to prepare his mind for details.

There are three basic colors that our eyes are designed for - he said - Red, Green and Blue ¹. They mix up to make millions of colors. Our eye are limited to around ten million shades. Possibilities are endless but four new colors are rather stable - Orange, Yellow, Indigo and Violet. Together with three basic ones, the seven colors are, as we all know, the colors of a rainbow. They are normally hidden in one “White” but they reveal themselves when elements meet - after the rain when the sun shows up - the suspended droplets, on tiny dust particles, light up the washed air. As if there is a spectral choreography of all that could be observed. The cosmos shows up it’s true nature and beautiful it is! Isn’t it? - He paused to check if he made sense, and also to make sure he was not overtly poetical.

Seeing them both share the pleasant observation, he continued - they also hold the clues to the very nature of creation - the “birth” as we normally call it.

The statement evoked a “head turn” from both the friends. A sign that he got their full attention.

Each of these seven colors is a statement of separation. For example, Green is a signal that all the other colors left it alone - a separation occurred yet it survived. What color is it that we don’t see when our eyes see the peaceful Green?

He waited a bit for the Fairy and her Friend to respond. Finding them silent but curious, he added - White light minus Green is Magenta. Anything that appears Green must absorb the Magenta out of white light that falls on it to reflect back Green.

Looking at beautiful Magenta, we can never tell it is a shade that conspired against “Green” - left the poor “Green” alone - he smiled. Let’s just call it the “inverse” of Green, or “Anti-Green” ! The key thing is - the inverse is just another shade - we can never tell it is inverse of something. And even if we looked for, it is impossible to fathom the other side without experiments. In fact every observable thing is an inverse of something. It is like a cryptographic public-private key pair - you can never guess one from another.

O - you mean what happened on the boat was a public view and more complexity was hidden beneath - said Fairy - her tone borderline diffident. She was still pissed at the responses to her post last week.

We are getting there. Let it sink in for a bit - he said, as he gulped the last sip from his tumbler - what we observe is the public key but the private key is always hidden. What appears trivial has certain underlying parity - it is a knot! The color and it’s anti color are tied to each other though only one appears observable.

Ya, I am with you! - it was time for the Fairy to reflect - conscious perception is in the separation. A magnet personifies this idea - we can see the separation of dipoles on a magnet - though the tenet is applicable to everything we observe or even feel. Even abstract things like great riches have their inverse in extreme poverty. Love - hate, care - indifference, and respect - impudence. Everything manifests in the separation. Everything is a knot - an inseparable pair.

Exactly! - said the Angel - Now here is what they didn’t teach in the classrooms - kinda secret that is still kept in the wraps. His voice lowered as if he was sharing a deep insight - In this separation, something potent gets locked in. We can’t perceive this “locked-in” knowledge except that it appears Yellow, or Red or Green as the case may be. This locking in of something potent in a knot is root birth - manifestation as we call it.

He continued after making sure of the heightened curiosity of both his listeners - The thing (knowledge) that is locked-in is complete in itself - the way a seed has all the knowledge to grow into a vast tree. In this case the expression is a specific color - Just like in case of a seed the expression is ..well ..that of a tree. Our conscious experience may interpret the locked knowledge in infinite different ways because the knowledge is always complete. A full copy is distributed in every animate and inanimate expression - from a super massive black-hole to a puny quark. Everything is a full node in this vast network.

He paused only to restart immediately to drive home the point - The curious question then is what happens when Green is mixed with anti-Green (Magenta) ? Does it maketh the White or does it make the Black?

The Friend, who had recently learnt Abstract Algebra jumped in - group operation under addition dictates a color and it’s anti-color put together must give us the “Identity” of the group - a “White” in this case. Simply because anti-color is “White” minus the color we see.

There you go - said the Angel - this exactly is the anomaly. The general physics teaches us a particle annihilates ² with it’s anti-particle. Whereas the truth is, they are complimentary. A color mixed with it’s anti-color shade gives us the White light. The “White” is thus the identity of the “group” of seven rainbow colors. We also say “White” is a quantum jump for it assimilates in it all the colors. It represents the entire palette of colors.

The complementarity gets evident when we study the “group” as a whole - a single system … but we are digressing - Angel continued - Let’s get back to our group of seven colors and their singular identity in “White” - he took a pause to clear his throat - seven colors of the rainbow, along with the identity element “White” are what we say the expanse of “information”. Keep in mind we assumed seven colors to keep our model simple. The truth is there are infinite color and anti-color combinations. Thus expanse of information is infinite. In fact every piece of information has infinite possible shades of interpretation. All the possible shades are collectively submerged into one “identity” - the White light.

This identity has it’s own inverse - the utter darkness. In other words, the white light is born of seven underlying separations - Seven knots in Vaidik speak , and it separates itself from the darkness. No matter how complex an identity, it always has it’s inverse - it must separate ³ from something else to become observable.

Sure, I give you that - said the friend - But how is this related to the birth of a child? She didn’t make any attempt to hide her impatience.

It is - smiled Angel - you must be patient if you want to understand the ancient Vaidik Science.

Okay - smiled the Friend - I am listening!

Imagine the time - thousands of year back - long before the periodic table - continued the Angel - the broad categories of the matter were - solids, liquids and gases. Every thing that may be observed must be one of these three. And the eight colors were considered the means to observe the matter. The matter, be it solid or liquid must have a unique color, air being the transparent white light. So they concluded - All observable things, at max may have eleven transitions - eight colors (the state of information) and three states of matter itself - solids, liquids and gases. At any given point in time only two were observable - one state of matter and one color. The notion of “work” was to change either of these two - for example if you heat a metal, first it changes the colors and then it becomes liquid.

He paused a little to think the qualifying remarks - even today, with all the science, that basic design of “observability” stands good. Now, in modern science - we we have covered many miles on the observability (of matter) but what about the “Observer”? What is the dichotomy of an “observer” ? Unfortunately we didn’t focus much on the “observer”.

Well, technically speaking , an “observer” is also matter but we have five senses that are unique to us “observers” - said Fairy.

You are on the right track - Angel was happy to see his ideas getting registered - but there is little more than mere five senses. First, there is a notion of “space”. If senses are incapable of observing the three states of matter and don’t see any of the (eight) colors, we say it is dark “space”. In addition, an observer has a natural tendency to observe things - we must continuously use our senses to observe - we just can’t stop ⁴ our sensory apparatus. This quality of sensory system was termed “Fickleness” (Mana).

Not only “Fickleness” - he added - there is sophisticated mechanism to analyse what we observe. This capacity was termed “Intelligence” (Buddhi). It is the intelligence that weaves random events into a narrative. So in all, an observer is “matter” that has eight additional assets to process the information - five senses, perception of space, fickleness of senses and intelligence.

It was time for both fairy and her friend to get appreciative. No one ever told this perspective to them though it appeared simple and made sense. It didn’t take any complex knowledge of math or science to derive this mental model - just observation.

The Angel continued - So eight colors and three states of matter - that is eleven basic dualities that we “observe”. Now add to this the perceptual facets of the observer - the five Senses (Indriyas), Fickleness (Mana), Intelligence (Buddhi) and Space (Kham) - these eight are stable knots that make the information gathering aspect of an observer. But there is little more to it .. an “observer” too has three states of its own being ..

Just like three states of the observable matter, the observer too has three states - in Vaidik speak these states are called Gunas. The three Gunas are - Sattva, Rajsa and Tamsa. The notion of “Work” (Karma), on the observer side, is to transition with in these three Gunas.

To put it simply, the three states of matter drive “actions” in the matter - exchange from one state to other - for example solids convert into liquids - liquids into gases. The three Gunas do the same in the observer. An observer continuously moves from Sattva to Rajasa to Tamsa or vice-versa or some other order. Unfortunately there is no English word to describe Gunas. Just think of them as three states of mood. For example when you play just to participate, it is Sattva, when you play to win - it is Rajsa, and if you rather sleep when it is time to play, it is Tamsa.

Effectively - three states of what is observed and three states of the observer!

Thus a conscious observer inherits eleven physical facets of matter, plus eleven perceptual facets of observation. These twenty two knots combined create an identity. In Vaidik system the identity is called Ahmkara - a perceptible and conscious shape what we call “I”. In Vaidik Science, all of these twenty three together, is what we know as the “field” of consciousness.

The more important question, however, is - what is it that thing that is held with in these twenty three knots? And the answer is - the way “darkness” is a separation from white light; the “identity - I” (Ahmkara) is separation from “knowledge” (Atma).

Well, I’ll need another drink before my mind blows up - said Fairy as she pointed to her empty glass. Three of them walked inside. They found a quiet corner with ample food on the table, after filling up their fancy tumblers with sacred poisons of their choice.

But we still didn’t get to the “Birth” - said Friend as she pulled out the chair and checked the food. She was on strict diet - eating once a day and it was well past her dinner time!

Okay - let me reveal my little secret - In Vaidik Science the human body is the field. It has twenty three fundamental knots as I said. They call this field Kshetra. As a bio-scientist, I was intrigued by this idea because we have exactly twenty three pairs of chromosomes! Ever-since I learnt it from my mentor, I am trying to link our genetic makeup with this ancient science. No wonder that the ancient hyperbole was ..

If someone understood this field of consciousness - these twenty three knots, conception may be triggered in any container that could keep the embryo safe for nine months. They say Maharishi Parāśara not only figured it out, he passed this science onto Dwaipayana (his son) in his mother’s womb.

The fairy and her friend looked at him in disbelief. They were not sure if they believed the pseudo science they heard from a qualified bio engineer. But the Angel was pretty sure of his theory - he added - such a birth is called a birth through Yog Maya. Instead of calling it a normal birth - a throw of chromosomal dice - they call it a birth targeted for a specific orientation - Avtaran (incarnation).

It is not that Parāśara was the only one with this ability. Mahabharata has many stories of such targeted incarnation. For example Arjuna was incarnated by king of all deities - Indra, Karna was incarnated by Sun. One may argue if the science had reached such advance back then but one thing is quite certain, gene edited babies are are a common place today. One possibility is information has no past or future. It reaches every place where ever it is sought. Or we may say there is no past or future - it is simply a continuum.

Okay, I am done with the science of spirituality - smiled Fairy - tell us the story now. What happened on the island ? She didn’t know Angel was a believer though she liked his new found persona.

Avtaran

She found herself in a bed made of flowers when she woke up. It was early morning. Light was slowly filling up the entrance of the cave. She quickly fixed her rags and hair, and stepped out of the cave. Maharishi was sitting in a Samadhi (sitting upright in a trance). There was holy fire burning in front of the Yogi. The place smelled of Sandal wood. Later she realized this part of the island was full of Sandal trees. She sat there, grasping the serenity of the space, trying to make a sense of it all. The events of last night played in her mind. She tried hard to sequence the things but there was no recollection after she lost herself on the boat. Entire evening felt hazy and distant as if a memory was pulled off her brain. Last thing she knew was a sprinkle of cold Yamuna water on her face.

While she was thinking of the night that she missed, a thick fog surrounded the cave. It was as if the smoke from the holy fire froze into smog to make an invisibility cloak around. She felt comforted in the seclusion — free from her painful past. She also felt a strange feeling in her lower belly. As if, a life had taken place in her.

Am I pregnant? — She didn’t intend to disturb the Samadhi but the words just came off her mouth. Parāśara opened his eyes. He gazed at her with a welcome look — Yes — he said. Do you need anything? There is fresh milk and fruits, and he pointed to a grotto next to the entrance of the main cave.

The main cave led to a cavern that had sweet Yamuna water flowing at it’s base. She also saw her boat moored there. Now she understood why Maharishi loved the island. It was a replica of heaven on earth. She also got an inkling that the place was given ghostly character to keep the tourists and wanderers away. For the first time, she felt as if she was part of something bigger. She felt excited and curious at the same time. What exactly is going on? She wanted to know. Maharishi could guesstimate what was playing on her mind.

“Hope you found the place comfortable !” — She heard Maharishi at her back. She turned back to him. A smile on her face conveyed she was happy and was on board.

9.1

Next few months were magical for Matsya. She would wake up to the slow chants of hymns and the smoke from holy fire surrounding the caves as a shield. She would go out with Maharishi to pick up fruits. There were goats to get milk. Maharishi showed her the skills to survive in a jungle. After first full moon, Maharishi told her the time had come to start Dwaipayana's education for the things he would learn in the comfort of motherly womb, would last him a lifetime.

Maharishi taught her Sanskrit. She quickly picked up the difficult language. Maharishi himself chanted all the Mantras to her. It became a daily ritual. Learning Sanskrit got lot easier for her, because Maharishi used the method that he had learnt from his grandfather. In this new learning process, reciting and scribing, go ‘hand in hand’ . And he used palm leaves for scribing. The island was the only place in and around Mathura with Palm trees. Maharishi would stack a dozen palm leaves every night on the fire such that they were slowly smoked inside out. They both used these leaves to scribe the Sanskrit alphabet — first Maharishi wrote, and then Matsya copied the alphabet to simple words. Slowly she started scribing simple sentences and got at ease in conversing in Sanskrit. She realized that the language was natively developed to speak poetry on the go!

There was subtle, but planned experimentation , Matsya noticed, Maharishi gradually increased the smoking duration, temperature and distance from the fire to get the best possible texture in palm leaves — and flexibility like a cloth. And that he was refining the ink as well. Starting with simple Henna paste, he had mixed number of soils and heated the mixture to get a permanent impression of inscription. Now she understood why Maharishi was carrying the Palm leaf with him when he returned from the island in their first meeting.

It was probably a daily mud bath followed by a fresh water swim in Yamuna; Sandal wood lotion that Maharishi himself made for her; or a vegetarian diet of milk and fruits — Or the growth of internal knowledge; that made her beautiful. But she assumed it were the blessings of Maharishi! And who knows?

As Matsya was learning, her mind took on new dimensions of thought. She started asking more and more questions. More she asked, more did Maharishi explain. Not only her mind, but her body started taking a new shape. Her skin glowed. Her hair got long and silky and her smell was gone, replaced by everlasting musk. Songs came to her lips. She learnt to dance slow with setting sun — to exhale the excess energy. And she learnt to recite Vedas with rising sun to fill the universal energy back in. She attained fine equilibrium with universe as she got proficient in breathing techniques (Pranayama) — the core of Naad Yoga. Maharishi started digging deeper into the hymns, beyond the superficial meaning that met untrained eyes. And Dwaipayana heard it all, in the safety of his mother’s womb.

She gazed and understood the motion of stars in the night sky. And she understood the effect of lunar phases on the waves of Yamuna. She knew it was Yamuna's holy water that blessed her with this baby but she wondered if Maharishi ever embraced her! Ever made love to her like a man would do to his wife. She wanted to know but she was too shy to ask. And she wouldn’t change an iota of this new relationship for it felt divine. Even if she was a surrogate, it was well worth the time and the experience. But she didn’t know the darkness of that night also got carried to her womb. The boy would be darkest of complexion. And thus the name Krishna that meant born out of darkness. But his spirit also captured all the stars of that dark night. He would see depths of the space that no one in the sun-lit day could ever. He would see beyond the motion of “Time” and bind it to the words. Words that would flow like Yamuna to carry all other opinions along with. And just like Yamuna they would span the heights of Himalayas to the depths of the ocean.

9.2

Time moved fast. She was carrying the weight of a divine child. Her breasts swelled up as motherhood took over her. She wanted to be close to Maharishi but he knew better. He knew this joy was transient. Enormous pain (of bondage) was waiting for Matsya when she must let a part of her own body go — the curse of motherhood. If you create something complete, you must let it go to prove the “completeness”. But her curse was bigger of all mothers. She must leave him behind and even break the bond of vicinity. For a mother, the biggest pleasure is to see her creation (child) grow.

Maharishi knew, every ride of joy must follow with equal load of sorrow. He wanted to keep his distance. He knew it was a divine grace that Matsya was turning into most beautiful woman, but he had underestimated the desires that might take on his own mind. It took all his learning and then some, to keep his heart unflinching, and yet fully attached in every chore. Never letting Matsya (and yet to be born Krishna) feel the absence of his strength, but never crossing the line. He knew it was a test. A test he must pass to pave a new path for the rest. Every night and every morning, he burnt his desires in the holy fire and turned them into hideous smog. He knew he was only a father — not a lover. And he knew his sacrifice was a minion, for the biggest sacrifice was for a mother to leave her offspring behind, with someone else: even in the hands of a trusted Yogi.

The question that haunted him: how Matsya would bear the pain that his plan must inflict upon her - separation from her child. He must give her the tools to understand the truth — see the dualistic reality as it was. And that he did. He named her Satyawati — bearer of Truth. He showed her the truth lies amidst the extremes of dualities - beyond our conscious perception. We only see one side of the coin. If we are lucky, we may be able to comprehend the other side. We can ascertain through logic that for a “Green” to exist, there must exist a “Magenta”, but this is just the beginning of the quest. The true journey begins when we take baby steps to understand what is the nature of “knowledge” held with in …

In a slow subtle manner, he imparted to Satyawati, life learnings of his quest, to make her worthy of the name! And also to impart this “information” to Krishna - information about potential doors to initiate the true quest ..

• First: that the desires were the root of all pains. In that he denounced Dravya Yazna as it was rooted into desires. Satyawati asked then why would anyone work!, for she thought desires were the basis of all that we do. Maharishi pointed her to the nest that a bird-pair made atop the tree where they were sitting. He asked her if these birds made the nest out of desires or was it their Karma? He then pointed to Yamuna — Does this river flow out of desires? Smiling to confused Satyawati, he said — Desires are not the basis of actions, for nothing in this universe may stay action-less even for a moment. “Action” is fundamental. In fact, “action” is the present - the life. Desires, on the other hand, make us action-less for we invest time thinking about desired objects, or chasing specific outcomes. And channeling our natural actions into the ones that appear to get us closer to a desired goal. He further added — Desires are the source of our wave nature. Waves of joy and grief. If we get what we desired, we feel happy, if we don’t we feel miserable. In essence desires lend wave nature to conscious observer, that makes our reality dualistic. He cited his father Śakti Muni who postulated that most humans change their ‘one chosen’ path because of failure to meet desired goals. They than chase another goal, another deity, and thus get caught in the web of bondage. Thus, it is the desires that take one away from their righteous path. Śakti means power. His father was named Śakti Muni because he demonstrated that dominion over one’s desires was the only way to sustain inner power over duality.

• Second: that the only way to overcome desires was to stay busy in ‘actions’. Desires lead to momentary elation (followed by sorrow) — ‘actions’, on the other hand, lead of peace and knowledge.

What kind of actions one must do? — asked Satyawati — If one must not be driven by the desires, then how was she expected to know what are the right actions for her.

That is exactly what Krishna is supposed to figure out! — smiled Maharishi— How do we overcome desires and still be indulged in actions? Is it one set of actions for all the human beings or is it different for everyone? How does it change with time and situation? The righteous actions.

This was probably the birth of Karm Yoga that young Krishna learnt in his mother’s womb. And, among many things, it also stayed with Satyawati. She , truly subsumed herself into a new identity along with birth of Krishna. As Satyawati took him for first holy dip in Yamuna, the mighty river rose to touch his feet. It washed over Satyawati too, to give her the true perspective. Truth that we are all bound by the waves of joy and grief. Bigger the rise, deeper the fall. Truth that the child in her hands was not hers alone. He must go on to strife the world off duality. And that she must enable him with all the right actions. How could she let duality take over her mind when she was literally the mother of the one made to define the ‘righteous path’.

Krishna Dwaipayana was born on full moon night of Summer. Satyawati forgot the pain of carriage and the pain of labor, as she looked at the child. The day is celebrated to this date, as Guru Poornima.

9.3

Two years of hiatus, away from Ashrama, had two goals for Maharishi. Birth of an heir who would carry forward his mission, and to fine tune the scribing technology. However, his two years long absence was an opportunity that many Asuras were waiting for — particularly Kansa — son of Ugrasen.

With Maharishi gone, there was no one to stop Kansa from whatever he wanted to do. As he got sure that Maharishi was gone for good, he house arrested aging Ugrasen and became a king for all practical purposes. Exposure to independent rule, further flamed his lust for power. He needed more to improve his army, cavalry and elephants. But more so because his needs for pleasures were endless.

Driven by equally ill advisors, Kansa announced a major decree on the Ashrama. Half of all bovine wealth and precious metals must be sent immediately to king’s exchequer for the past dues, or vacate the holy land of Vaśiṣṭha, Sakti and Parāśara. And hence forth, he demanded an annual tax. That was quite reasonable — he thought — given the congregation was literally awash in wealth - Kaam Dhenu.

Maitreya, who was running the congregation in absence of Maharishi, didn’t take the new rules without contest . He approached Ugrasen for the excesses of Kansa only to find that Ugrasen was even more helpless. He then approached Vasudev, Kansa's brother-in-law, who was a rational man as much as Kansa's sister Devki. Both of them raised the concern to the council of clerics in Ugrasen's court but they found all of them pawns, playing in the hands of Asuras. Vasudev and Devki were deeply worried and wondering if or not continue building their new wedding in Mathura or move to the nearby empire across Yamuna where king Shantanu was heard to be just and peace loving. And his son Devvrata was a true leader of good men.

Before Vasudev could take further action, Kansa limited his mobility too — a house arrest till he be tried under fake charges of treason. Without Maharishi , Maitreya was at a stalemate except that he had a trusted friend in the council who sent him daily updates of Kansa's plans. Unfortunately, those updates only aggravated his worries ..

notes and other stuff: