Katapayadi Sankhya

गोपीभाग्यमधुव्रात-शृङ्गिशोदधिसन्धिग । 
खलजीवितखाताव गलहालारसंधर ॥


Gopibhagya madhuvrata srngisodadhisandhiga|
Khalajivitakhatava galahalarasandhara||



Oh Krishna, the fortune of the Gopis, the detoryer of the demon Madhu,
protector of cattle, the one who ventured the ocean-depths, destroyer of evildoers,
one with plough on the shoulder and the bearer of nectar, may (you) protect (us)!

The shloka above, seems to be one of the many written in praise of one of the most enigmatic and divine Lords of Hinduism, Krishna. The shloka, like many others, praises certain attributes of Krishna and requests him to protect the devotee.
So, what is so special about this shloka, that out of all the shlokas dedicated to Krishna, this particular one turned out to be the starting point of this post?

Simple enough, the shloka demonstrates one of the strongest and most intelligent examples of extreme knowledge and wisdom of our ancient men.

Grahacāraṇibandhana based in the year 683 CE and Laghubhāskariyavivarana based in the year 869 CE speak of a certain numerical notation which goes by the name of Katapayadi Sankhya.
Under this system, a number is ascribed to each and every alphabet of the script, a concept highly similar to the ASCII system in computers. The image below would better explain the relation between the alphabets and the numbers

So, based on the above method, if the letters in the shloka are replaced by the corresponding numbers, i.e. 'go' by 3, 'pi' by 1,  'bha' by 4, 'ya by 1' and so on, the following result is obtained:
31415926535897932384626433832792
The number, as obvious, is the decimal representation of pi upto 32 decimal places.
Who could have thought encrypting a mathematical concept in a devotional Shloka dedicated to Krishna?

So, what do they gain out of it by performing such extraordinary feat? The answer is two-fold.
Firstly, they used methodologies like this to check the correct usage and pronunciation of the verses, where every variation from the correct mantra or shloka would result in an incorrect rendition of the pi number(or any other system which they would have encoded)
Secondly, they used concepts like above to perform encryption and decryption so that the message would reach the intended receiver and no one would be able to catch the real meaning of the message.


Karanapaddhati: Written in the year 1733 CE by mathematician Puthumana Somayaji, the book consists of 10 chapters in total. Our  interest, however is in the 6th chapter.
In the 6th chapter, is given a shloka in Malayalam,


anūnanūnnānananunnanityai
ssmāhatāścakra kalāvibhaktoḥ
caṇḍāṃśucandrādhamakuṃbhipālair
vyāsastadarddhaṃ tribhamaurvika syāt

Not exactly Katapayadi system at play here, this is similar to encrypting formulae or constants in shlokas.
The above shloka, when translated simply means
"The circumference of a circle of diameter anūnanūnnānananunnanityai(10,000,000,000) is caṇḍāṃśucandrādhamakuṃbhipālair(31415926536), which, in turn, gives the value of pi till 10 decimal places.

Representation of dates:

palahāre pālu nallū, pularnnālo kalak kilāṃ

illā pālennu gopālan - āṃgḷamā sadinaṃ kramāl

Conceptualized in modern day India, based on Katapayadi Sankhya, the above shloka, which is in Malayalam, when translated, means that "Milk is best for breakfast, when it is morning, it should be stirred. But Gopālan says there is no milk - the number of days of English months in order"

True to its meaning, when the pairs of letters are substituted in accordance with Katapayadi system, yields

31 28 31 30 31 30 31 31 30 31 30 31

 The Vatsyayan Cipher:

Interestingly, the first written example of encryption in the entire history is found in the most unexpected source. The method, not that strong in that sense, is still used by army and security forces in a much more complex and stronger form.

As per Vatsyayan in his book Kamasutra, a girl needs to have certain attributes and learn certain arts and tricks, including how to cook, how to read and write, and how to send her lover secret messages which no one else would be able to decipher. Vatsyayan even goes on to give an example of such a cipher in the book.

The method is based on substitution cipher. Each alphabest would represent a certain another alphabet. The image below would explain the substitution cipher better:

So, the substitution cipher was invented in ancient India.

Validating the Shlokas:
Almost every major deity of Hinduism has a certain "Shata-Namavaali", or a list of 108 names dedicated to that deity. Shiva and Vishnu  have a list of 108 names dedicated to them. 
Venkateswara Ahtottara Shatanamavali is a list of 108 names dedicated to Lord Venkatesha.
Needless to say, if any of the name is forgotten by a devotee, the hymn would never be complete. 
It is always easier to remember a certain list of they are in a certain order.
For the same reason, and for validating the occurrence of all the 108 names in the order in which they are written in the text, a certain Anustup Chanda was composed, which consists of 4 shlokas, which are made up of the first letters of all the 108 names, in that order, thus validating the 108 names.


अनुष्टुप्छन्दसि चत्वारः पादाः भवन्ति प्रत्येकपादे च अष्ट अक्षराणि।श्लोके षष्ठं गुरु ज्ञेयं सर्वत्र लघु पञ्चमम्।
द्विचतुष्पादयोर्ह्रस्वं सप्तमं दीर्घमन्ययोः॥
अस्य छन्दसः षष्ठम् अक्षरं गुरु पञ्चमम् च लघु। सप्तमम् अक्षरं प्रथमे तृतीये च पादे गुरु, द्विचतुष्पदयोः सप्तमम् अक्षरं लघु भवति। सप्तमम् अक्षरं यथाक्रमम् परिवर्तते, प्रथमपादे गुरु द्वितीयपादे लघु तृतियपादे गुरु चतुष्पादे लघु।

Encryption or Miracle?
The most interesting part of this entire post, Sri-Raghava-Yadaveeyam deserves a distinct status altogether. Not exactly a work of the ancient Vedic men, this short text of 30 verses, which was compiled in the 17th century, actually deserves a separate blog post altogether. 
The name of the text itself, is quite curious. While the first part of the name of the text denotes Lord Rama, the latter, Yadava, denotes Krishna.

The 30 shlokas in the text, describe glimpses of Rama's life and works. Sample a verse from the text:

वंदेSहं देवं तं श्रीतं रन्तारं कालं भासा य:।

रामो रामाधीराप्यागो लीलामारायोध्ये वासे॥

The above text translates to
I pay my obeisance to Lord Sri Rama, who with his heart pining for Sita, travelled across the Sahyadri, returned to Ayodhya after killing Ravana, and sported with his consort, Sita, in Ayodhya for a long time.

The translation justifies the term "Sri-Raghava" in the name of the text. But, why the reference to Lord Krishna, as in the name of the text?

Now, the above text is read exactly in the reversed order:

सेवायेध्यो रामालाली गोप्याराधी मारामोरा:।

यस्साभालंकारं तारं तं श्रीतं वन्दे अहं देवं॥1

Interestingly, the above translation means:

I bow to Lord Sri Krishna, whose chest is the sporting resort of Sri Lakshmi who is fit to be contemplated through penance and sacrifice, who fondles Rukmani and his other consorts, who is worshipped by the Gopikas, and who is decked with jewels radiating splendor.

Astonishing, isnt it? The 30 shlokas when read in the order which they are composed in, describe the story of Rama, while when they are read in reverse order, describe the story of Krishna. Needless to say, the strong computational attributes of Sanskrit are at play here. And though I have been able to take up only one such Shloka here, the entire composition is an astounding work in itself. 

The text projects the strong computational, and hence encryption prowess of Sanskrit and also how smartly Sanskrit could be played with to create magnificent compositions

With that, I wish to bring an end to my post. The purpose of this post was to bring forward the same familiar concept, that not only were our ancestors religious, but all the concepts around religion and their lifestyle, overall was highly scientific and analytic in nature. Encryption was already in use and in place very smartly, the reason why most of the ancient texts is still considered unsolvable by our neo-modern intellectuals. What people claim to have invented or solved only lately, has been in place in this country since ages.

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Bidding Adieu for now.

Namaste

References:

1.) http://books.google.co.in/books?id=sEX11ZyjLpYC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=encryption+methods+ancient+india&source=bl&ots=8-8qoGBlbD&sig=F9dEDJ8xrwEyZpBXauooNqhCOv0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IbKdUdGJFMzhrAeOjYDAAg&ved=0CIYBEOgBMAk#v=onepage&q=encryption%20methods%20ancient%20india&f=false.
2.) http://ektariovee.blogspot.in/2012/12/sri-raghava-yadaveeyam.html
3.) http://www.cryptool-online.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=148&Itemid=386&lang=en
4.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katapayadi_system
5.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karanapaddhati

1,2,3

"The world owes most to India in the realm of mathematics, which was developed in the Gupta period to a stage more advanced than that reached by any other nation of antiquity. The success of Indian mathematics was mainly due to the fact that Indians had a clear conception of the abstract number as distinct from the numerical quantity of objects or spatial extension."
A.L. Basham, noted Australian historian

In the year 1911, noted Vedic scholar Bharati Krishna Tirthaji, a scholar of history, mathematics, Sanskrit and philosophy. and had made a comprehensive study of the four Vedas, Rigveda, Atharvaveda, Yajurveda, and Samaveda. Studying these texts for years, he was able to reconstruct a series of mathematical formulae, called Sutras. He continued the study for 7 years and compiled them together in a major single volume, which got published five years after his death, Vedic Mathematics, in the year 1965.

Repeated attempts of a few British mathematicians finally bore results duting the years 1981 to 1987, when Vedic mathematics started being taken seriously. A number of London and Indian schools took it up as subjects, and intellectuals started delving more time and energy into the same.

The Content:
The entire Vedic mathematics is divided into 16 Sutras or formulae, which when translated to english and analyzed, makes up 19 major aphorisms and 14 sub-aphorisms. It would be a bit too ambitious to include each one of them here, I would like to pick up a few simpler ones  which would strengthen my point..


Mental Multiplication:
So, what do you do when you are to multiply, say, 78X92?
You jot down the numbers hurrily on a notepad, do a quick 8X2, write down 6, carry over 1...blah blah blah...something like this
    78
    92
  156
702X
7176
Because thats what was taught in schools. Now, what Vedic Maths asks you to do is, think beyond the obvious(am I sounding like some management Guru?)
The nearest 10s base to 78 (and 92) is 100
Step 1) We subtract 100 from both numbers
78 - 100 = -22
92 - 100 = -8
Step2) Add 78 and 92 and subtract 100 from it 78+92-100=70
Step3) Multiply -22 and -8  -22 X -8 = 176
Step4) Carry the 1 from 176 and add it to the result obtained in Step 2 70+1 = 71
Step5)Concatenate the two 71 and 76=7176
And this can be done mentally, which is almost impossible in the first approach. A similar approach could be taken up for two digits or three digit numbers

Mental Squaring:
What would you do if someone asks you to calculate the area of a 42m X 42 m land? Again take out your notepad and scribble?
Or maybe take the above approach and solve it out much quicker?
Or maybe take another better and much interesting approach?
Step 1)Round of 42 to the nearest 10s, ie 40.
Step 2)Now add the remaining amount, ie 2 to 42 ie 44
Step 3) Multiply 40 and 44(much easier), ie 1760
Step4)Now take the number from step 2, ie 2 and square it, ie 4. Add the number to result of Step 3, ie 1764

Cubing a two digit number:
What would you do if someone asks you to find the volume of a 25X25X25 box?
Consider ab=25(where a=2, b=5)
Step 1)Cube a, is 8
Step 2)Divide b by a, ie 5/2=2.5
Step 3) Now write four subsequent products of a with the result of Step 2 and prepare a matrix
8    20     50     125
Step 4) Double the number at 2nd and 3rd place and add them at their subsequent places. Carry over the leftmost digit if the sum is of two digits
8    20     50     125
      40     100
8    60     150   125
8    60     162    5
8    76     2        5
15     6    2         5
The answer is 15625

Multiply and two 2-digit numbers:
If the base 100 method(the first in this blog), still looks tougher to compute mentally, or if you want to explore some more of it, here is another
Consider you have to multiply 12X34. Prepare a matrix of the two numbers.
1     2
3     4
Step1) Multiply ac, ie 1X3=3
Step 2)Multiply bd, ie 2X4=8
Step 3)Add ad and bc, ie 4 and 6=10
Step 4)Prepare another matrix mentally with the results of Step1, 3 and 2 respetively
3     10     8
Step 5) Carry over any extra digit to the left
4   0   8
The Answer is 408

More practical usage of Vedic Maths: Convert kilo to pounds:
Often people switch to Google in the blank of an eye when asked to fill up a form with weight as pounds(when they are more familiar with kilo). Or they would switch to their cellphones.
Well, its much easier to do it mentally, and a better way to keep the mind healthy.
If we have to convert 85 kilo to pounds,
Step 1) Double the kilos, 85X2=170
Step 2) Divide the answer by 10, ie 170/10=17
Step 3) Add the two numbers, 170+17=187, and thats the answer.(to the nearest integer)

Adding to time:
Whats the fastest way to calculate if the current time is 4:15, and someone asks you to calculate the time 2 hours 55 minutes later?
You first add the minutes and then the hours, which is quite simple as such, but then what would you say about this
Step1) Add 415 and 255, ie 670
Step 2) Add 40 to the answer, ie 670+40=710,and 7:10 is the answer

Concept of infinity and zero:
Two concepts highly useful in almost every practical application of maths in daily lives and even for astronomical calculations.
Infinity finds its first usage in the Yajurveda. Vedic men had several terms to describe what is infinity, ananta, purnam, asamkhya being few of them. Consider the following shloka out of the Yajur Veda,


पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम पूर्णत पूर्णमुदच्यते
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पुर्नामेवावासिश्यते 


From infinity is born infinity. When infinity is taken out of infinity, only infinity is left.
Till then, the Greeks used to distinguish between numbers with positional systems, like 27,207,270 would be represented as 27, 2 7, 27 . this system did not provide much flexibility to them to write large numbers with regular instances of 0.
Similarly, Romans didnt have the concept of 0, and had to write numbers like 101,000 as 101MMM.
AtharvaVeda described how the vale of a single digit number increases by 10 by writing 0 in front of it.

Trigonometry:
A fact iterated in the movie Namaste London, Trigonometry even got its name from Vedic mathematics, the word being Tri(three)-kon(angle)-mati(perimeter). Though, now the concepts have already been discovered and have been in use since years, The circular nature of Sin, Cos and Tan finds its mention in the Vedas.
The fact that Sinx/Cosx = Tanx finds its mention in the Vedas.

Currently, as you are reading all of this, researches are being carried on, and undertaken, including the effects of Vedic mathematics on children. Major research is being done on how to develop more powerful and simpler application of Vedic mathematics in geometry, calculus, etc.
What makes Vedic mathematics different from other schools and branches of theoretical and practical mathematics, is the flexibility of Vedic mathematics in providing them freedom with creating their own methods and breaking the "correct answer" jinx.
Vedic Mathematics provides us with quick and fast one-line formulae which speeds up mental calculation. It is a mental tool which not only helps a person solve complex problems quickly, but with repeated practice, also helps a person concentrate better.

Its absolute pity, that in spite of it being such a great marvel as "Vedic Mathematics", some elitist, from within the Indian sub-continent itself, claim it to be a farce. They say that they dont find any such reference in Vedas, and that it was a result of imagination of Tirthaji himself.
The Vedas, primarily, have been known to reveal the true knowledge and meaning of the verses, the hidden secrets to those who are worthy. While this may appear to be a line straight out of a Dan Brown book, it is a mighty known fact that Vedas are written in a cryptic language and a mere translation would mean nothing or may produce some relevant results. The Vedas are believed not to reveal the true meaning to the reader, but rather help the reader find certain answers, which others wont be able to see or even validate.
The irony is, that while the western world is embracing and opening up itself to the charms and secrets of Vedic Mathematics, there are Indians themselves, who claim the Vedic Mathematics to be a lie.
Nothing is greater a tragedy than to not believe in your achievements while the world celebrates them

Realists, as always, would claim that Vedas do not actually teach mathematics on the face of it, but the fact is Vedic mathematics is gradually making a stronghold in the education system of the entire world and is soon becoming a force to reckon.

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The Matrix Reloaded

असतो  मा सद  गमय,
(Lead us from darkness to the light)
तमसो मा  ज्योतिर गमय, 
(Lead us from knowledge of the unreal to the real)
मृत्योरमा अमृतं  गमय.
(Lead us from fear of death to knowledge of our immortality)
शांति, शांति , शांति .
(Peace, peace, peace.)

One of the biggest and most successful franchises of all times in the world, ends their trilogy in the year 2003 with four simple lines taken from Brihadaranyaka Upanishada.
Composed into an adrenaline rushing melody by Don Davis, he named the track "Navras".

Epic, for the first time in the history of cinema, had truly found a new address. The address was by the name of The Matrix. The grandest and the most complex phenomenon had hit the world, and till that day, Nolan wouldn't have even conceptualized Inception and Cameron had already given up the idea of Avatar once. Though, some would argue that The Matrix is much more complex than Inception and much more grand than Avatar, and believe me, I would not argue back on this.

Ever thought, what made the Wachowski Brothers end their most grand, most colossal and most ambitious project with a verse out of the sacred books of Hinduism, with all the cultures of the world at their helm to look into? Of course, they had to choose something eventually,  one could argue. And that seems true for a while. But as we try to dig in deeper and try to see more than whats easily visible to the eyes, reality confronts us on its own. There are obvious signs of Hindu symbolism all over The Matrix, and the verse was not a mere chance.

Namaste and welcome to the ninth post of the blog. I wish to take up yet another used and majorly discussed topic of all times. Understanding the pan-Indian philosophy of The Matrix. While its a mighty known fact that the entire movie was based around on the concept of Karma and the notion of One-ness (Neo being an anagram of One), I would still like to talk about the lesser talked about signs and symbols present in the movie. A special thanks to my friend Rohit Batra for giving me idea about the topic.

There is no spoon: "Sab Moh Maya hai" :- One of the heavily used jargons in engineering colleges around India. The line finds its heritage in various ancient sacred texts. The word 'Maya' appears 70 times in Rig Veda and 27 times in Atharva Veda. In the earliest of texts, Maya is believed to be an illusion which lets you forget your original nature or consciousness. Scientifically, this state is equivalent to being in a state of dream. A human falls into deep sleep, and then transcends into a state of dreaming. This transition of mind from deep sleep to dream state is Maya. Maya is creation out of nothing. In other words, The Matrix itself was Maya. From Morpheus, Neo learns that how he had perceived himself in the Matrix was simply "the mental projection of your digital self".

Sati: Sati is the first person which is shown after the Matrix is destroyed. Sati, being the wife of Shiva, the god of destruction is symbolic to resurrection and peace after mayhem.

"No one can be told what the Matrix is": One of the most famous lines of the Matrix, "No one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself", seems to have been directly picked from various chapters out of Bhagvad Gita and Shiva Purana, Ramayana, etc. In all these texts, more than explaining the concept of God and his divinity, the emphasis is on the devotion towards God, and understanding him, experiencing him.

The Unbalanced Equation: "Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix."- The Creator to Neo, The Matrix Reloaded.
Bhagvad Gita claims that evil is as important a part of the entire existence as the good. A concept well explained in Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code", this is the concept of duality. For the earth to spin, the good has to exist along with the bad. Destruction is as important as creation.

The Lotus: Neo sees a lotus towards the end of the movie. Lotus, again is a sacred symbol as per Hindu mythology, and Lord Brahma of the Divine Trinity sits on the lotus flower. Brahma is known as the creator of the Universe, and after Shiva plays his role of destruction, Brahma begins resurrection. The flower is seen at a point when the Matrix is going to be destructed, and a new Matrix will be created.

Krishna-Arjun: And now lets talk about the most interesting part of the entire Matrix-Hinduism symbolism. Doesnt the entire sequence where Morpheus introduces himself to Neo and subsequently to the Matrix and its semantics have a close resemblance to some well-known concept??

Yes, thats Krishna and Arjun for you on celluloid.

When Morpheus gives both the red and blue pills to Neo, and asks him to make a decision, he has yet not told anything about the after-effects. He lets Neo choose his destiny, much akin to Krishna asking Arjuna that acts of an individual is his sole choice. God can only be his helping hand, but the individual makes his decisions controlled by mother nature and his past Karma. This concept of Neo in total control of his own decisions and destiny comes up time and again during these sequences. When Morpheus takes Neo to meet Oracle, he says, "I can only show you the door, but you are the one who has to walk through it."

Krishna-Arjun(II): Morpheus' revelations that Neo's soul(trapped inside the Matrix) and Neo's body(trapped in the human battery farms) are completely distinct from each other and Neo, which he learns after taking the red pill, is again similar to Krishna telling Arjuna that his duties of the soul are different from his duties as the body. One can only experience the soul if he lets go of the false conceptions of the body.

To say that The Matrix was solely based on Hinduism alone, would be baseless. To claim that The Matrix was the only movie based on Hindu concepts, is again baseless. However, Hindu themes did form one of the most important baselines of the entire trilogy. Though we may find certain obvious and hidden references of Hindu symbolism in a number of movies like Inception, Avatar, etc, I chose The Matrix as it perfectly embraces Hinduism concepts like the Karma, Holy Trinity, etc and presents its own implementation of it, much to the viewer's delight.
Maybe, and just maybe the Wachowski brothers didnt have this much "Hinduism" in mind when conceptualizing The Matrix, but then that further strengthens the scientific base of Hinduism. It automatically applies to every modern and scientific concept of the world.

दैवी  ह्येसा  गुणमयी  मामा  माया  दुरत्यया 

मामेव  ये  प्रपद्यन्ते  मायामेतम  तरन्ति  ते

(Bhagvad Gita ShlokaII.4)

In other words,

"Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?"

I would like to end the post as of now, and would like to know what you thought about it.
Coming up with a book based on Indian history/mythology.
Please join the Facebook page and invite others as well to do the same.
Please help me promote the book and the page and make it a huge success.

Please click here and like the page which comes up - Finders, Keepers
If you are on Facebook and are interested in such topics, please click on the link below and like the page which comes up.Khoj-In Search of Lost Signs

References:
1.) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gadadhara-pandit-dasa/the-matrix-through-hinduism_b_1925721.html.
2.) http://forums.gameaxis.com/showthread.php?t=1436777
3.) http://www.scribd.com/doc/16880/The-Matrix-Decoded
4.) http://thematrix101.com/revolutions/symbolism.php
5.) http://forums.gameaxis.com/showthread.php?t=1436777
6.) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/?ref_=sr_1

The 9 Divine Nights-Navratri

Namaste!!
My previous post Mahadev turned out to be a very special post for me, in more than one ways.
The post was indeed very close to my heart and the super positive comments I received from people on social media and various forums was more than any of my previous blog posts. So, thanking all of you once again for all the praises and positive feedback.

All through our lives, we would have celebrated and even observed fasts on the nine continuous days of Navratri. In the year 2013, 10th of April marks the beginning of yet another version of Navratri celebrations all over the Indian sub-continent. We all know the notions and the implications of Navratri as such. Nine different Goddesses are worshipped each day of the entire cycle, the ninth day marking the completion of the festivities. Did any of us wonder the spiritual and scientific attributes of these nine days? With the onset of Navtari from this day, I decided to write something about the celebration of the nine days, not the semantics, but the radical part of it.

As per legends, the inception of Navratri celebrations was when Goddess Durga, defeated the demon Mahishasur in the very famous fight, which lasted for nine days. It is believed, each day Durga introduced a new dimension of her divinity, finally slaying the demon down on the ninth day. As per other legends, Narad was the first to observe fasts during the nine days of Navratri, to pray for the victory of Rama over Ravana in the epic war of Ramayana.

There is no mention of an exact time or date in history, or a mention of any king under whom, people started celebrating Navratri for the first time ever. But, it is believed that the soldiers used to take off for the nine days form their relative duties and used to worship the Goddesses for the nine days, before setting off for wars again.

Symbolically, each of the nine days is symbolic of victory over a sin. The nine days denote worship of nine attributes of Goddess which help one defeat nine evils of humans. Each of the night has a certain significance with respect to the evil and the Goddess one worships to defeat those evils.

First Day: The first day is dedicated to Shailputri, or the daughter of the Himalaya. She is also called Shakti, the companion of Shiva. She is worshiped on the first day of Navratri and is often shown riding a bull. She is known to destroy the evil of Ahankaar or ego.

Second Day: The second day is dedicated to Brahmcharini, who helps a person in Tapa or penance. She is known to destroy the evil of Kaam or lust.

Third Day: The third day is dedicated to Chandraghanta, the symbolic representation of beauty and bravery. Worshipping her helps one to fight the evil of Krodh or anger.

Fourth Day: This day is dedicated to Kushmanda, who is also called the creator of the entire universe. She is known to destroy the evil of Pashchatap or Guilt.

Fifth Day: Skand Mata is worshipped on the fifth day of Navratri. She is known to be the mother of chief of the army of Gods, also called Skanda or Kartikeya. She destroys the evils of Moh or attachment.

Sixth Day: This day is dedicated to Goddess Katyayani, with three eyes and four hands. She is known to destroy Irshya or Jealousy.

Seventh Day: The day is dedicated to Goddess Kaalratri, who, symbolically, is known to make her devotees fearless. Another avatar of Durga, she is known to destroy Bhay or fear.

Eighth Day: Dedicated to Goddess Maha Gauri, the symbol of calmness and eternal wisdom, as per legends, she is intelligent, wise and very patient. She destroys the evils of Jadta or Inertia.

Ninth Day: Sidhhiantri is the ninth form of Goddess Durga. She is the known to be the ninth form of Durga. She is known to destroy the evils of Lobh or Greed.

Scientifically, Navratri's onset was devised perfectly at a time, when it would be fulfilling certain other purpose. Navratri is celebrated at a time, when one of the seasons is giving way to another season. Due to the same reason, the mind and the body undergo certain considerable changes. It is, therefore, advisable to practice fast for a few days, to maintain the metabolism of the human body. Further, Navratri falls at a time, when the heat (or tama) inside the body reaches a level which could be harmful for urinary, digestive and respiratory system. Fasting during these days help the body clean itself, give rest to internal organs and even increases the lifespan of digestive systems.

Other than the above mentioned symbolism, Navratri, as such is manifestation of the intent of the Vedic or ancient men to impose upon everyone the superiority or the significations of feminine attributes. Various attributes and forms of women were respected and worshipped, the attributes and symbolisms blooming out of all forms of feminism around a person. It’s really unfortunate that people have knowingly or unknowingly forgotten the very intent for which these symbolisms were incepted. They would like to worship the face of Goddess in the temple, but not the ones around them.

With that I would like to bring my post to an end. I would love to know what you felt about it.

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Khoj-In search of Lost Signs

Goodbye and Namaste!!

Mahadev

I really pondered upon in my mind and all over the internet, trying to choose what to write upon in my next blog post. A plenty of symbols yet to be uncovered, scores of traditions and customs yet to be analyzed, and hundreds of historical marvels yet to be investigated. I was still confused when a notion struck me hard enough. Indian mythology and Ancient Indian imagery has been resplendent of symbolic references and scientific analogies, OM being one of the most multifaceted and supreme out of all these concepts. What about someone so celestial, so legendary, and such supreme, that horde of such multifaceted symbols form small pieces of the complete ascendancy of his divinity. A supreme figure, each and every attribute of whom speaks volumes of scientific and symbolic attributes, Shiva.

Symbolically, Shiva's supreme form has volumes to speak of. 

Unclad body smeared with ashes: This attribute represents the transcendental aspect of his nature, he is above all physical phenomenon. The cemetery ash symbolizes him to be the God of destruction, that Shiva is beyond the realities of life and death. Scientifically, ash is the residue of burning any fuel. Hydrogen fuel burns to become helium ash. Helium burns to become carbon ash. Carbon ash burns to become oxygen ash. In short, every element matter is made up of, is ash. Shiva smearing ash on his body would signify the entire existence. A person smearing ash on his body, thus has spiritual significations, him being unattached to anything earthly.

Matted Hairs: The flow of his matted hair represents wind or Vayu, a subtle form of breath, Shiva thus being Lord of all living beings. Each strand of his hair, also denote desires, and he has knotted them together, keeping them in control, thus asking all his devotees to control their desires. As per legends, he has controlled the fiery water of Ganga in his matted locks. The three matted locks on the head convey the idea that integration of the physical, mental and spiritual energies is the ideal of yoga.

Sacred Ganga: Ganga, owing to its mystical healing attributes, thanks to the presence of certain bacteriophages, denotes fertility, knowledge, peace and prosperity. Ganga flowing from his hairs denotes Shiva as the master of knowledge and prosperity. One of the most sacred rivers in mythology, Ganga gains further ascendancy, being in the matted hairs of Shiva. The water is found to be resplendent of healthy minerals and antiseptical attributes, and is thus considered healthy.

The Third Eye: Symbolically, the Sun is said to be his right eye, the moon being his left and the fire his third.  The two eyes indicate his activity in the physical world, while the third eye is the eye of spirituality, one who sees beyond the obvious. His third eye can look beyond obvious and annihilate any negative energy. The scientific implications of the third eye are rather interesting. 

As per a few notions, ancient humans used to have an actual third eye in the forehead. With time, this eye sunk deep into the forehead, into what we know today as the Pineal gland. Proper activation of this gland can help in proper meditation, spirituality and intelligence. Interestingly, Sodium Fluoride destroys the Pineal Gland, and aerated drinks like Pepsi, Coke etc. comprise of Sodium Fluoride. Pineal Gland is also known as the "All Knowing eye" in certain traditions, a symbol of Illuminati

Half Open Eyes: Shiva's closed eyes denote destruction and mayhem. His open eyes denote creation of a new life. His half-open eyes denote that the worldly affairs are still in progress, without a beginning and without an end.

Crescent Moon: The moon is the measure of time, and a new moon being on his head denote his control over time. The time is a part of his divinity and not the other way round, the reason why moon is not wore on his body, but just as an ornament. It also denotes cool mind and foresightedness, if a decision is taken with a calm mind, the results are mostly positive.

Neelkanth: Symbolically, the blue throat denotes him being willing to undergo any distress for the sake of happiness of others. The blue color symbolizes poison or negative thoughts. Thoughts, which should neither be digested or spitted out, but kept temporarily, to neutralize at an appropriate time. Think of anger as an example of slow poison. Expressing our anger or outrage not only causes social disharmony, it can also rupture a heart blockage and precipitating a heart attack or brain hemorrhage. Suppressed anger, on the other hand releases harmful chemicals in the body causing acidity, asthma and even blockage of blood vessels. Only a balanced positive alteration of anger is helpful.

The Snake around the neck: Shiva is shown with a snake coiled three times around the neck, each coil representing the past, the present and the future. Shiva, again, wears the snake as an ornament, signifying he is above time and death. The snake also denotes dormant energy of a man, also called Kundalini energy.

Kundalas: Interestingly, Shiva is always shown with a larger Kundala in the right ear and a smaller in left. The right Kundala denotes the male attributes of existence while the left Kundala denotes the female aspects. He wearing them together denotes male-female equality in the universe, akin to Shiva-Shakti.

Rudraksha: As per legends, Rudraksha means eye of Shiva. Literally, Rudra means uncompromising and strict, and Aksha means eye, Rudraksha thus denotes uncompromising attributes of Shiva. Scientific studies have revealed that wearing Rudraksha beads relieves a person from stress, depression and anxiety. Rudraksha also symbolizes being close to nature and healthy living.

Damaru: The hourglass-shaped drum kept near Shivam, when shaken, produces a sound called Nada. Nada is said to be the cosmic sound of AUM. When a person goes deep into meditation, he experiences the same Nada sound deep in his consciences. As per a lot of legends, Nada is the source of all creation, a fact well explored in my previous blog The Multifaceted OM.

Such is the divinity of Shiva, and such is the ascendancy he commands, I have been able to compile only a few of his attributes from scores of other symbols and concepts. The list, though may sound quite exhaustive, is actually not even close to completion. The symbols that I have chosen, though, are more of his famous and better known symbols.

Ancient Indians, particularly those of Vedic times, used to assign healthy and beneficial customs and practices to Gods and other deities. This helped the general public perform those practices as part of their daily living, thus helping them live a healthier life. 

In the past few days, I have seen Shiva anarchy on a regular growing spree. Modern people are more comfortable connecting to Shiva and his attributes. Add to that the earthly attributes of Shiva, him being consumer of opium, which as per legends, he did to keep his anger in check. The earthly attributes make Shiva even more close to his devotees. Successes of recent works like “The Immortals of Meluha” or “Devon ke Dev Mahadev” only confirm this theory. I also hope this post is as much liked by you much more than previous ones and you keep showering your appreciation in form of comments, page views and social media presence. 

With hopes that you keep liking my posts, time for me to say good bye.

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Har Har Mahadev!!!!

Ancient UFOs of India

Lets start this post with a small assumption. Lets assume that the tales and legends of Ramayana were more of a historical curiosity than mythology. That Ram, Sita and Laxman did spend some 14 years in jungles, and actually covered the entire length of the Indian subcontinent, reached Rameshwaram, prayed to Shiva, and then fought and won the epic war with Ravana. That Ramayana and Ramcharit Manas actually talk of history and not of some mysterious and hypothetical tales, though I personally still believe it to be history itself.

Anyways, having made this small assumption for the non-believers, lets move directly to the day when Rama has just defeated Ravana, the day, we celebrate even today as Dusshehra. Now, Ram was a pious king, so he would have made sure that the bodies of all soldiers were ceremoniously cremated. He also waited for Vibhishana to be crowned king of Lanka, or whatever remained of it. He would have bid adieu to Sugriva, Jamavant, Nala, Neela, and others. All of this could have taken a day, or two, when Rama along with Laxman and Sita would have started back for Ayodhya. All of them reach Ayodhya and the entire town broke into celebrations, the day, we still celebrate as Diwali. Which means, it took all three of them some 18-19 days to travel back. This certainly seems to be a bit far fetched, especially knowing that they crossed sea, and high altitude mountains and dense forests, not to mention they didnt have any maps. How did they do it then? Ramayana mentions a certain Pushpak Vimana, but could they fly in those days?

Year:1895;Place:Chowpatty, Mumbai
A mid-size crowd which included come general public, certain journalists and government officers waited with bated breath as a Sanskrit scholar by the name of Shivkar Bapuji Talpade performed nothing short of a miracle. Eight years before Orville Wright proved that it was possible for a 'manned heavier than air machine to fly', Talpade had created an aircraft designed purely on Vedic writings and had it take off unmanned in full view of the crowd. The aircraft, named Marutsakha-friend of the air, flew some 1500 feet before it came crashing down. The technology used by Talpade, mercury bombardment unit using solar cells, is now being deployed by NASA in building spacecrafts for future

I brought up the above two examples to prove a simple point, our ancient ancestors did have the knowledge and intelligence to be able to build a proper flying manned aircraft, Vimana.

Not only the Ramayana, Mahabharat talks of Krishna fighting in sky with his enemy. Samaragna Sutradhar talks about the semantics of building an aircraft. There are 230 stanzas talking of construction, take-off, cruising, normal and forced landings and even collision with birds. In 1875, Vaimanik Shastra, perhaps the most descriptive of all the texts dedicated to aircraft building was discovered in an ancient Indian Temple. The text was written by Sage Bharadwaj, who is known to have taught neo-modern sciences like aerospace sciences in his Ashrams.

The Vaimanik Shastra comprehensively explains the methods of steering, precautions for long distance travels, and a way to switch from fuel to solar energy. It has diagrams depicting building an aircraft, mentions apparatus which would not catch fire and can sustain at high altitude, and is based completely on verses and stanzas from the Vedas. The fuel used was a "yellowish-white liquid" and the text even talks about combustion engines and pulse-jet engines, a technology which was discovered not a long time ago. As per the text, there are 32 secrets which a pilot needs to learn and such a pilot could fly a plane, immobilize a plane, make his plane invisible to others and even destroy enemy planes.

There seems to be no doubt that Vimanas were powered by some sort of "anti-gravity." Vimanas took off vertically, and were capable of hovering in the sky, like a modern helicopter.


 It is interesting to note, that the Nazis developed the first practical pulse-jet engines for their V-8 rocket "buzz bombs." Hitler and the Nazi staff were exceptionally interested in ancient India and Tibet and sent
expeditions to both these places yearly, starting in the 30's, in order to gather esoteric evidence that they did so, and perhaps it was from these people that the Nazis gained some of their scientific information.

A piece of writing was found recently, at Easter Island near South America. The writing,still undeciphered is strikingly similar to texts found in Mohenjo Daro civilizations. Ramayana and other ancient texts related to Rama also talk of flying Vimanas to far lands in the pursuit of strengthening their military warfare.

Rig Veda and Yajur Veda comprise of hymns which talk in detail about Vimanas. The difficulty which scientists face today is the mention of a number of alloys and metals, which the historians are not able to decipher and understand.

I have often seen people wondering and even laughing at such knowledge, claiming it all to be nothing but a hypothetical imagery of ancient science. Why would ancient Indians not publish all this knowledge and keep it to themselves? The reason was pretty simple, and understandable. The knowledge was highly futuristic, and dangerous if fell into the wrong hands.It was for this reason that the knowledge was never published and was  taught to a specific group of students.

Needless to say, Indian ancient science was one of the most advanced, and highly futuristic, even when measured against today's parameters. This was the land of great intellectuals and philosophers. The various dynasties and empires which ruled India, robbed Indians off the intent to think beyond the obvious. The knowledge of the Vedas, the intelligence of the ancient Indians, is still out there, all around us. The reason, why Vedas should be considered more than religious books, and be rightfully called the powerhouse of knowledge.

With that I wish to end this post. The intelligence of ancient Indians, and the knowledge of Vedas, something I am a huge fanboy of. Would like to touch more of such sciences in coming posts. Thanks again for all the appreciation shown in terms of comments, page views and likes on FB. Your appreciation keeps me going.
Namaste!

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The Multifaceted Om

Namaste!!!
A very warm welcome to the second post of my blog. I received very positive comments for my first post 'Namaste' from the online community as well as a few people around me. The positive comments helped me to come up with my second post, and I really hope you find this likeable as well as informative. Thanks once again for liking the earlier post.

When I am bringing up the topic of symbols, and pan-Indian symbols in particular, one can’t help but take up one of the most diverse, sacrosanct, and multifaceted symbols of all times, around the entire world. The diverse faces this symbol takes up, the flexibility it offers, the acceptability it boasts of, and the respect it commands, certainly makes it one of the most divine symbols of the world.

So much has been written and said about this symbol, that to take it up as a topic to discuss certainly has its demerits. And thanks to movies like Koi Mil Gaya, every other person seems to know a bit or more about AUM or OM. Every time I would bring up the topic of AUM, the other person would snap up, "Ohh yes I have seen Koi Mil Gaya, AUM has all the frequencies of the entire Universe". Well aware that most of it is already known, I would like to take up the lesser known and lesser talked about attributes of the symbol.

As per Hindu sacred texts, before the inception of the world, there was nothingness all around, also called Shunyaksha. No wind, no light, no sky, and no realms. Then came the sound of AUM, and from that sound, everything else evolved, a prime reason why every single atom is said to be vibrating with the frequency of AUM.

The symbol thus encompasses whatever has existed in the past, whatever exists in the present and whatever will exist in the future. AUM is also termed as 'Adi Anadi', which has no beginning and which has no end. Needless to say, AUM is said to be the frequency of God.

Literally. AUM is made up of three sounds, where the first letter 'A' denotes birth or creation, the power of Brahma. U denotes preservation, the power of Vishnu, and M denotes destruction, the power of Shiva. Together, the three form up the entire existence cycle of the earth, the divine energy. As per some sacred texts, it represents another important triad, the earth, the atmosphere and the heaven. Another triad which AUM represents is the concept of A-kara, which denotes everything that has form like the trees and the water, U-kara, which denotes everything that is formless like wind or fire, and M-kara, which denotes everything which is neither with form nor without form like the darkness. Needless to say, the prime emphasis is on AUM being the sound of the entire existence.

Symbolically, the symbol consists of three curves together, along with one another semi-circle and a dot. The larger curve(Curve 1) symbolizes the waking state, or the jagrut-awastha of the human mind. The larger size of the curve indicates that this is the most common state of the human mind. The second curve(Curve 2) denotes the deep sleep, or the sushupt-awastha of the human mind. The third curve(Curve 3) denotes the state between the deep sleep and the waking state, the dream state or the swapna-awastha. These are the three states of an individual's consciousness representing the entire physical phenomenon, a fact well exploited by the movie Inception.

The dot denotes the utter quiet, peaceful and blissful state of the human consciousness, the state where all the three other states are illuminated. The semi-circle(Curve 4) denotes maya, and separates the dot from the three states of consciousness. Needless to say, it is maya which separates the consciousness from reaching the highest state of bliss. The maya semi-circle, as can be seen, never touches the dot, it always touches the three states of consciousness.

A more interesting insight would be the way AUM is pronounced, A starts from the back of the mouth, thus encompassing every spoken sound from the mouth. M is shaped or created by the closing of the lips, so M encompasses the completion of all sounds. And U encompasses every sound in between, symbolized by the shape of the lips. AUM thus encompasses all the spoken sounds.

The symbolism would just not stop there, AUM is such multifaceted and such diverse, it represents a number of other important triads, like the time (past, present and future), the seasons (spring, summer and winter), periods (morning, midday and evening)...the list is endless.

The divinity of AUM does not stop at it being a sacred symbol or a mystical sound. AUM has as many scientific and medical significations. According to a number of scientific studies, when AUM is chanted ten times in lower pitch, internalized attention is produced. In simpler terms, the attention of the being turns inwards, thus improving concentration over a regular period of time.  The mind experiences a state of calm and peace, thus decreasing anxiety and depression. Sleep pattern is improved as a result of psychological relaxation.
When one chants AUM, he creates within himself a state of trance. One such scientific study on AUM is given here http://paper.ijcsns.org/07_book/200901/20090151.pdf

Now, let’s take a moment and make a slight assumption. Let’s assume the symbolism, the interpretations, the triads are mere assumptions made by our ancestors and sacred texts. Let’s assume the divinity of AUM or the knowledge of the diversity of AUM, the scientific and medical implications of chanting AUM, were somehow known to our ancient Indian scientists, or was already a widely accepted notion during those times. Maybe the intellectuals of those times saw the potential of AUM, particularly in the field of Neuroscience and in an attempt to bring the chanting of AUM to practice, made it a mandate to pronounce AUM at the beginning of every Vedic Chant. Let’s assume the mystical attributes of AUM were already discovered, the intellectuals of those times only built up its ascendancy attaching it to every sacred aspect of worship.

 I usually walk my way from home to office, and as soon as I am out of my home, I see restlessness and rush almost everywhere. People trying to reach their office as soon as they can, overcrowding the elevators, working for long stretched hours, and then coming back home to complete their quota of sleep. Sooner than later, hypertension and other related malfunctions crop up and all the hard-earned money is paid in the form of medical bills. Chanting AUM won’t reduce the rush of life, but can certainly help in bringing back some peace back into the mind. I accept it’s hard to make a habit out of anything, specially chanting AUM, which is largely held as a religious phenomenon, and a large number of pan-modern Indians shy away from such acts, I would still request everyone to try this out once, it certainly has its benefits. And think of it, AUM may not be a purely religious aspect at all, it may be a purely scientific marvel, designed as religious phenomenon.

With that I would wish to end my second post of the blog. The posts which I have picked up till now may make me appear as a Hinduism-fanboy, but believe me I am not that big a fanboy. I actually am a fanboy of something else, a concept which I would like to touch upon in my next post. Till then, Namaste and keep chanting AUM.

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