From Confusion to Illumination – A Letter

Shri Agniveer,

Let me put down my own experience.

I have spent about 35 years of my life TOTALLY CONFUSED about the purpose of life, existence of this universe, different stories of creation, etc., but being born in a middle class family in Kerala, the basic foundations of THE UNITY IN DIVERSITY AND THE ONE-NESS OF THE UNIVERSE, THE ALL-PERVADING CHARACTER OF ISHWAR, ETC., was imbedded through various spiritual platforms during childhood.  Basically, I was looking for the PROOF FOR THE CONCEPT OF “THE ISHWAR WHO IS IN THE IRON PILLAR AND IN ITS RUST TOO”, AS WAS TAUGHT TO US THROUGH BHAKTHA PRAHLADA STORY, and various other stories.

I admit that even though there was a Sanskritham School just 4 furlongs away (half a kilometer away) from my home, the prevalent notion in the society was “WHAT IS THE USE OF LEARNING SANSKRITHAM ?”. TODAY I REALISE WHAT I HAVE MISSED BY NOT LEARNING SAMSKRITHAM AND I AM OF THE FIRM OPINION THAT SAMSKRITHAM SHOULD BE OUR NATIONAL LANGUAGE, ATLEAST OF ALL TRUE BHARATHEEYANS, AS EVERY SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS EXPOUNDED THROUGH infinitely vast THE VEDIC SCRIPTURES AND LITERATURES (2,280 foundational, over 10,000 main commentaries and over 100,000 sub-commentaries of them).  No other language can claim such a vast amount of literatures, because almost all of them deal with BRAHMAM / BRAHMAN which/who is so infinite that none can see an end to describe “IT”.

I can continue explaining the first nine mantras of RG VEDA for the rest of my life non-stop and even then, that would be a small fraction of that INFINITELY VAST PHENOMENON called BRAHMAM / BRAHMAN, of which / whom we are all indivisible part. BRAHMAM is the ADHISTAANAM on which the entire universe sprang up / functions / will dissolve at the end of every KALPA, even as we wake up from the deep sleep, move through the waking state and dreaming state and going back to deep sleep state.  IN FACT, the deep sleep state is when we are one with this ADHISTAANAM when we do not have the “I” (ego-self) in the active / working mode.

Coming back to my searching for the scientific proof, I had to go through bible and quran also to see the divine qualities which i could not find.  I was left with more confusion reading these books because there was none to clear the thousands of genuine doubts arising out of reading these books.  Then, these traditions do not encourage “questioning minds” and are therefore, autocratic.  We can see the ills of such systems in different parts of the world, including america which claims to be the most technologically developed country, followed by europe and japan too, THE SOCIETIES IN WHICH SUFFER FROM “LACK OF TRUE SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE”.

It is then that I came across with an article “Hinduism & Quantum Physics” in www.hinduism.co.za which instantly put my ever-frustrated mind at rest.  In fact, that was a discovery sort of experience for me. That moment onwards, i became a vegerian (used to take non-veg food 2 -3 times a week), gradually, lot of changes took place in me.  The horizons of my visions of the whole universe got expanded and are still in the process of grasping the magnanimity of BRAHMAM / BRAHMAN existing as this universe.  My depth of understanding of Bhagavad Gita keeps on increasing everytime i go through every sloka.
All these are to be experienced within one’s SELF and I have some unique experiences which keep on coming back in different expressions.  I have experienced a bodiless state of my “self” when i am in deep prayers and have seen lots of fireworks within the SELF.
 
ONLY EXPERIENCE WITHIN ONE’S SELF (ANUBHOOTHI) CAN BE SHARED AND ONE SHOULD STRIVE WITHIN (THROUGH MEDITATION) TO SEE THE ENTIRE PHENOMENON CALLED THIS UNIVERSE AND THE CHAITHANYAM BEHIND THIS EXISTENCE.
 
EINSTEIN’S formula E=MCsquared itself means in the words of Einstein that “THERE EXISTS NOTHING ELSE THAN ENERGY AND WHATEVER SEE IN DIFFERENT FORMS AND SHAPES ARE THE SAME ENERGY WITH THE DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF THE BASE PARTICLES.” In forms that have consciousness, humans have the highest evolved states of consciousness AND EVERY INDIVIDUAL’S STATE OF EVOLUTION IS DIFFERENT IN CALIBRE AND SPEED.
 
Einstein’s above formula’s equivalent in Bharatheeya spiritual thought is “BRAHMAM SATHYA, JAGATH MITHYA”, BRAHMAM is that single unified energy and THE CONSTITUENTS OF JAGATH are the ever changing forms within that enveloping energy of BRAHMAM.
 
Vedas as nothing but science, and the scientific truths in vedas can be realised by every individual by enlightening experiences within the SELF.

One example of Samskritham Prayers and Slokas containing mathematical formulae are given below :
 
Poetry in Math

One of the foremost exponents of Vedic math, the late Bharati Krishna Tirtha Maharaja, author of Vedic Mathematics, has offered a glimpse into the sophistication of Vedic math. Drawing from the Atharva-veda, Tirtha Maharaja points to many sutras (codes) or aphorisms which appear to apply to every branch of mathematics: arithmetic, algebra, geometry (plane and solid), trigonometry (plane and spherical), conics (geometrical and analytical), astronomy, calculus (differential and integral), etc.

Utilizing the techniques derived from these sutras, calculations can be done with incredible ease and simplicity in one’s head in a fraction of the time required by modern means. Calculations normally requiring as many as a hundred steps can be done by the Vedic method in one single simple step. For instance the conversion of the fraction 1/29 to its equivalent recurring decimal notation normally involves 28 steps. Utilizing the Vedic method it can be calculated in one simple step. (see the next section for examples of how to utilize Vedic sutras )

In order to illustrate how secular and spiritual life were intertwined in Vedic India, Tirtha Maharaja has demonstrated that mathematical formulas and laws were often taught within the context of spiritual expression (mantra). Thus while learning spiritual lessons, one could also learn mathematical rules.

Tirtha Maharaja has pointed out that Vedic mathematicians prefer to use the devanagari letters of Sanskrit to represent the various numbers in their numerical notations rather than the numbers themselves, especially where large numbers are concerned. This made it much easier for the students of this math in their recording of the arguments and the appropriate conclusions.

Tirtha Maharaja states, “In order to help the pupil to memorize the material studied and assimilated, they made it a general rule of practice to write even the most technical and abstruse textbooks in sutras or in verse (which is so much easier-even for the children-to memorize). And this is why we find not only theological, philosophical, medical, astronomical, and other such treatises, but even huge dictionaries in Sanskrit verse! So from this standpoint, they used verse, sutras and codes for lightening the burden and facilitating the work (by versifying scientific and even mathematical material in a readily assimilable form)!” [8] The code used is as follows:

The Sanskrit consonants

ka, ta, pa, and ya all denote 1;
kha, tha, pha, and ra all represent 2;
ga, da, ba, and la all stand for 3;
Gha, dha, bha, and va all represent 4;
gna, na, ma, and sa all represent 5;
ca, ta, and sa all stand for 6;
cha, tha, and sa all denote 7;
ja, da, and ha all represent 8;
jha and dha stand for 9; and
ka means zero.

Vowels make no difference and it is left to the author to select a particular consonant or vowel at each step. This great latitude allows one to bring about additional meanings of his own choice. For example kapa, tapa, papa, and yapa all mean 11. By a particular choice of consonants and vowels one can compose a poetic hymn with double or triple meanings. Here is an actual sutra of spiritual content, as well as secular mathematical significance.

gopi bhagya madhuvrata
srngiso dadhi sandhiga
khala jivita khatava
gala hala rasandara

While this verse is a type of petition to Krishna, when learning it one can also learn the value of pi/10 (i.e. the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter divided by 10) to 32 decimal places. It has a self-contained master-key for extending the evaluation to any number of decimal places.

The translation is as follows:

O Lord anointed with the yogurt of the milkmaids’ worship (Krishna), O savior of the fallen, O master of Shiva, please protect me.

At the same time, by application of the consonant code given above, this verse directly yields the decimal equivalent of pi divided by 10: pi/10 = 0.31415926535897932384626433832792. Thus, while offering mantric praise to Godhead in devotion, by this method one can also add to memory significant secular truths.

This is the real gist of the Vedic world view regarding the culture of knowledge: while culturing transcendental knowledge, one can also come to understand the intricacies of the phenomenal world. By the process of knowing the absolute truth, all relative truths also become known. In modern society today it is often contended that never the twain shall meet: science and religion are at odds. This erroneous conclusion is based on little understanding of either discipline. Science is the smaller circle within the larger circle of religion.

We should never lose sight of our spiritual goals. We should never succumb to the shortsightedness of attempting to exploit the inherent power in the principles of mathematics or any of the natural sciences for ungodly purposes. Our reasoning faculty is but a gracious gift of Godhead intended for divine purposes, and not those of our own design.

The advantage with Bharatheeyans is that we are sons of the SANSKRIT soil and therefore it is easier for us to get to the roots of the whole SCRIPTURES and into the minds of our Maharishis than any other race, due to our 52 alphabets INDIAN languages derived from Sanskrit.

we should not be wasting time atleast to pass on the IMPORTANCE / URGENCY / VALUE/ WORTH / SERIOUSNESS OF THE ISSUE OF LEARNING SANSKRIT TO THE FUTURE GENERATIONS.  MY GENERATION WAS TAUGHT TO LOOK DOWN ON INDIAN CULTURE (THOUGH WE GREW UP DOUBTFUL ABOUT OUR HERITAGE DUE TO FALSE ENGLISH EDUCATION VALUES FOLLOWING FOREIGN WHITE-SKIN SUPERIORITY COMPLEXED DESHI BABUS AND FOREIGN FAITH FOLLOWERS WHO ARE OUT TO DESTROY EVERYTHING BHARATHEEYAN), BUT BY THE GRACE OF ISHWARA, MOST OF THE PEOPLE ARE GETTING BACK TO THE ROOTS)

WITH REGARDS,

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