SMRITI Le`fr

SMRITI Le`fr

Anumanam vuqekue~ 95

Panch k a n y a : s m r i t i

96

ON BEING AND KNOWING

Smriti jumped down the stairs and entered the well-kept garden. From there she climbed up the flight of stairs which led to the attic. There was a way up to the attic from the house too, but if a detour could be taken, Smriti couldn’t just resist it. Up and up she climbed till she reached the terrace. She had stuffed her personal diary in small hollow on the terrace when her friend had come over yesterday to spend the day with her. The whole day they had only roamed all over the city enjoying themselves. And now after yesterday’s experience, she had so much to write about! Smriti Sanghi was a MÀrwÀri girl. She lived in Mumbai with her parents. Both her parents were Chartered Accountants. Smriti’s birthday was on 10th of June and this year she was going to turn thirteen. She was a good girl, as everyone agreed, a perfect bookworm with a brain, which was quite above the rest and worked exceptionally well in literature. Smriti took out the diary from the hole and sighed in relief as she saw that it was in perfect condition. This was her most precious possession. She had a lot of friends but, as she often liked to say, paper, especially her diary, was her best friend. Anything and everything worth telling anybody went first into the diary and then, if she felt like it, she told it to somebody else. Although what she was going to write in the diary today was something she could tell any friend. But still after writing about every single important thing in her life in the diary, it just didn’t seem right 97


to her to not inform the diary of any incident. Nobody but she knew that the diary still existed. She had got this diary on her tenth birthday and the reason why the diary had not yet been used up was that SS (as she liked to call it, they were her initials) was not one diary but a big binder of numerous small diaries. One diary got used up in about a year or so and therefore it was only her second diary which would be soon getting over. Smriti got up to get a pen but then she remembered that she had stuffed it in the hole with SS. She bent down again to search in the hole but instead of finding a pen, she found a note. Quickly, she opened it. It read: How do we know that we know? Smriti was first surprised, but then she remembered the letter her pen pal ShikhÀ, who lived in Srinagar, had written her. She had told her she had been receiving letters from a person who picked on intelligent girls who had their birthdays on 10th June to be his pupils for a course in philosophy. ShikhÀ had another friend in the same situation. So, as ShikhÀ had concluded, ‘you may be the next one to receive a letter.’ Her prophecy had come true. Smriti read the letter again. How do we know that we know? It was quite a logical question. How could we be sure that what was being talked about was correctly imprinted in our brains? But then, she thought, if suppose she knew how a tiger looked like, wouldn’t she be able to recognise one if she looked at it? Wouldn’t that incident tell her for sure that she knew how a tiger looked like? So Smriti decided to send an answer to the philosopher. She went down, with SS, of course. In the backyard of her house, Smriti had a small shed like room, which she had made herself. She had taken the inspiration from the Secret Seven series of Enid Blyton. She had been an ardent reader of Enid Blyton until about a year ago, when she switched over to classics and the modern English authors. She took out a note pad and a pen. Then she sat down and began writing. Respected Sir, Before I get down to any serious talk, let me tell you how glad I am to start 98

on being and knowing

this course in philosophy. You might wonder how I came to know about this course. But, since I do not revel in keeping anything secret, I shall tell you that I have a friend named ShikhÀ who lives in Srinagar and has also been receiving letters of this course. ShikhÀ has intelligently guessed and told me before hand that I must prepare to be soon counted as a philosophy student since my birthday is on the 10th of June. From her letters, I have come to know that you send questions in your letters and then ask us to send answers according to what we have understood from those letters. I also know that you want anonymity and no spying on you. I respect these wishes and will do so unless I am forced to disobeying you. I will try to follow all your wishes. Thank you for selecting me as your pupil. I received your letter or, rather found it, in the hole on the terrace. I shall keep my answers also there. Please inform me in your letters if you would like anything else. I have understood something from your question. I think that we really can’t be sure whether what we know is correct. But we surely know that we know. This can be found out from the fact that if we have seen a tiger before, it is imprinted on our minds. If we see a tiger sometime again, we will be able to recognize it since it has become a part of our knowledge. Since this knowledge is stored in some part of our brain, it is an action of the brain, which helps us to recall what we already know. We know that the memory portion does recalling. This ‘recall’ is probably a test of whether we are aware that we know something. When we are able to remember something again, we are aware that we know. 1 will give an example. We have examinations in our schools. To write them, we learn our lessons properly. Then we go and answer our examinations. If we get the answers correct, then we have knowledge of the fact that we know the facts in our textbooks. This answer is just thought of an ignorant teenager. I would like to know what other people think about this question. So, I hope that you will take up this topic again. Your student, Smriti Sanghi. Smriti went up and put the letter in the hole. Then, she gave a sigh. She always worried about first impressions. 99


THE RAINBOW

Smriti came down to her shed and took her library card. She was member of the Shemaroo library and a family member of the British Council Library. Then she went to her room to change. Although she had taken the cards of both the libraries, she went to the BCL. She was thinking of seeing some books on philosophy. She reached there in about half an hour. She went to the section on philosophy. She selected some books and then began writing some notes. She also issued some books. When she got home, she read the notes she had written. They were quite useless, she gathered. The real thing she wanted was not there and since she had just begun the philosophy course, she was in no position to comprehend if the other things she had taken down would be very important to her. All this came to her mind while she had been sitting in her room. She glanced up at the clock and saw that it was almost time for lunch. She thought she would just run up to the terrace to peep in the hole and check if her letter was gone and another letter had come. But her mother beat her to it. Just as she was going up, she was called downstairs for lunch. So, she had to contain her curiosity till another about half an hour. When she reached there, buthowever, she was not disappointed. Her letter was gone and there was another letter in its place. She clutched it in her hand and ran down to her shed. Making herself comfortable, she began reading. 100

The Rainbow

Dear Smriti, I know that you must be surprised at receiving the first letter and even more so at this one. However, please let me explain my rude entrance in your life with a disturbing question. You might know me, you might not. But just in case you don’t, let me enlighten you on this subject. I am a person who enjoys jerking people out of their routine existence and ask disturbing questions, right out of the blue. By now you must have understood that you have been chosen to be my coveted victim. My procedure is quite simple. Sometimes I give you questions which you may answer. Usually I am content with giving you food for thought in the form of these letters. Even you can communicate with me in the written form. And the only condition I have is that I must remain unknown to you till I wish otherwise. If you agree, then let us start without further hindrance. Your friends have been getting a lot of letters about: “What is memory?” “What is zero?” “What does ‘I’ mean?” “Who art thou?” “What is the world made of?” et cetera, et cetera. We know a tot of things about the world. We kick a stone and feel the pain. We know that it is a stone. There is a famous this century joke about one philosopher proving the existence of the world by pounding on the table. He thus proved the supremacy of matter over mind. But how do we know that we know? You must try to understand this problem. Then, I shall let you know what we know about: “How do we know that we know?” First you write me a letter. Do I have to tell you how to send me a letter? I think you may already know. Of course, all these questions can be had through a lot of commentaries and ‘TikÀs’, and ‘VirtikÀs’ et cetera. All systems of philosophies have been dealing with these types of problems. They have been propounding and proclaiming from tree-tops, almost from the days of Āranyakas. Their positions have been unassailed for quite some time. NyÀya –– Realism; 101


MimÀmsa –– KumÀrila Bhatta, PrabhÀkara; Buddhist –– Dharmakirti, Dignaga; Vaishesik –– Kanad; All have their positions on this topic. Try to collect your material from different sources. You can also write how you feel about this topic. I could improve upon this version of philosophical chess. Tens of positions and propositions vying for a single move T1 to T10. Some like one type of T to another type of T. Now do not get too much curious about these Ts, you will soon come to know in the letters to follow. Bye till then. Yours sincerely, I-never-sign-don ‘t-me-ask-why. A thing she couldn’t understand is why the preceptor wanted to remain a secret. Was he some wanted man or something of the sort?! The thought gave her a shock. But then she relaxed thinking that such a person would not like to put himself in danger by running up to terraces and planting letters in holes. This gave her another thought. How did he manage to do that without anyone in her house noticing? One thing Smriti could say for sure about this person was that around him revolved a lot of mysteries. She was quite sure by now, after seeing the sort of correspondence he kept up that there were two people doing the philosophy course, one in DharamshÀlÀ (where ShikhÀ was at present) and one in Mumbai. Smriti had been trying to read a rather boring book of chemistry, which had bland language, black and white pictures and awful print. It was so boring that it even made her school textbook look like a nice, colourful story book. But the preceptor would make sure an uninteresting book would not make Smriti lose interest. So when Smriti got up and closed the book, frustrated with her attempts to do something in preparation of the next academic year, he had something interesting waiting for her. 102

The Rainbow

Smriti went to the usual place where she would find her letter. But surprise, it was not a letter. Instead, it was a parcel wrapped very neatly. Excited but a bit apprehensive, she took it up to her room. She unwrapped it and was quite painfully astonished to see that it was a jar, which looked, as if it was out of a chemistry experiment. She groaned as she read the title, ‘The Chemical PramÀna’. Now what was ‘PramÀn’? Something like proof? She looked at the bottle. It contained about seven different coloured liquids, which were immiscible in one another. So they all made seven multi-coloured layers. But what were they for? They looked bare without labels. Smriti searched around for a letter or a note, which would tell her what the bottle was meant for. But there was only one small piece of paper, which said, The first layer is PramÀn of perception of the CÀrvÀka. First she didn’t quite understand. Then she remembered something the preceptor had told her that all the major schools of philosophy had their own means of rectifying their knowledge. And rectification is proof. CÀrvÀka must be a philosophical system. Over the next seven days, Smriti kept receiving similar kinds of notes with different names and different PramÀn. She stuck all these as labels on the jar. On the seventh day, the jar had all it labels. It was something like this. CÀrvÀka –– Perception Buddhist and Vaisheshika –– Perception and Inference SÀmkhya-Yoga –– Perception, Inference and Verbal testimony NyÀya –– Perception, Inference, Verbal Testimony and Analogy MimÀmsa (PrabhÀkara) –– Perception, Inference, Verbal testimony, Analogy and Postulation. MimÀmsa {Bhatta and VedÀnta) –– Perception, Inference, Verbal testimony, Analogy, Postulation and Negation, PaurÀnika –– Perception, Inference, Verbal testimony, Analogy, Postulation, Negation and Mythical accounts. And there was also a letter on the seventh day. It read:

103


Dear Smriti, I hope you liked the Chemical PramÀn. You might know what PramÀn is. It is something like proof or means of valid knowledge. Many ignorant people have taken the Vedas to be Supreme and have said that they are authorless, not written by man. But it is foolish to call a work authorless if we don’t remember or know its author. So, the philosophical systems of India and the philosophical traditions say that there have to be some certain ways through which we can prove for ourselves whether what we know is true. They all believe that perception is very important in this rectification and it comes first. But what you will see is that the different philosophical systems don’t agree on this matter beyond perception. They all have something more to add to this verification. Perception and inference are said to be the most important since other PramÀns can be said to be encompassed by these two or are nonentities. Perception is non-illusive cognition, devoid of all thought determinations. Inference is inseparable connection. It is beyond all thought determinations. Western philosophy does not really go beyond Shruti and Smriti (Perception and Inference). But this system of PramÀn that I just told you about was an epic-making (epoch-making?) exercise. Beyond the six ways of knowing lay the epical model––the mode of fables and stories, myths and legends, accounts and puranas. So you see, how important it is to know that we know. Anyway, your answer was quite intelligent. Remember, in philosophy, a single question can have many answers. Contradictions are what it is all about. The Preceptor. “It’s a nice way to put things,” thought Smriti.

104

THE GUPTA PERIOD: HINDU RENAISSANCE

Smriti was no ordinary girl. She had a passion for reading. Her readings were very peculiar. She liked to go to the source. She was an epitome of knowledge deduced from source. She had a strange habit of taking notes in a very unusual way. She had learnt it from her father. She used to have a card system. All references to a particular topic were contained in it. References, cross-references. And the sources were varied. “The Speaking Tree’ appearing in Times of India was a favourite. She was just glancing through her cards. There was a whole set of assorted topics like birds, animals and mythological creatures. She was stuck by Garuda. She was intrigued by the fact that the letters of her friends (as she had come to know from ShikhÀ) were always delivered by vÀhanas of particular Gods or Goddesses. Was there any special design in the mind of the Creator? Could she play with the design herself? Was her will important in interacting? Can we change the world we live in? Or is it totally destiny? Who shall know these answers? Garuda? The vÀhana? Or the Lord Himself? She didn’t know. But may be there was someone who knew besides the Creator. The philosophers might be having a plan to acquaint her friends and then may be her with these varied messengers. Since she had finished reading the letter, Smriti got up and put the 105


letter in place in the special safe she had for keeping her things. She had kept old letters, friendship bands, money, jewellery, memorable photographs and now of course, these letters. Smriti’s well-loved subject was History. At school, they were studying about the great developments and achievements of the Gupta period. Her textbook acknowledged it as the golden period in Indian history and the Hindu Renaissance after the wide spread of Buddhism and Jainism. With Sanskrit returning as lingua franca (the court language), there was a torrent of writers, commentators, refuters and counter commentators. Smriti had got some books issued on this period from the library. She saw that there had been a lot of development in philosophy too, during this period (not that philosophy had lagged behind any time). BhÀrtrihari, VatsyÀyana, are to name just a couple of them. She saw a maze of names that had commented or refuted these two alone. And then there were several fields of philosophy reigning in that span of 600 years. NyÀya-Vaisheshika, Jaina, MimÀmsaka, are just to cite some. It looked like a game of snakes and ladders to Smriti. Some commentaries were better than the works, some refuters were better and some times the work itself was non-pareil. See the figure “Dialectical Interplay between Indian Philosophers” for more on this. Today, she was studying for a history test on the same topic. As usual, there were many other books on her table about the same period and soon the real textbook was completely lost in the crowd. In the end when Smriti was finally putting the books back in the place, she just had a glimpse of the school book , and lamely thought, as an excuse, that her teacher wouldn’t mind the she hadn’t read the assigned chapter. The facts of history are facts, right? It doesn’t matter which book you study from.

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THE TEST

The next morning, Smriti got ready to go to school. The history test was to be in the third class before break-time. As her class quizzed each other before the test, they were surprised to hear answers out of the oblivion. They told her that her answers were nowhere to be found in the book. But she only gave a smug look and said that she would be able to manage. The history test was quite short, as their teacher did not believe in writing essays for answers. The question paper had the following questions: Give the other names for the Gupta period and state some reasons as to why it is called so. Give examples to show that the Gupta period saw a lot of development in writing and artistic skills. It did not take Smriti long to finish the first question. She wrote about the fact that the Guptas were Hindu rulers and after prevalence of the two offsprings of Hinduism –– Jainism and Buddhism for a number of years, Hinduism came back, resplendent in newly attained glory. So this age is called the Hindu Renaissance. She also said that since there was so much development in all walks of life, the peace and prosperity, the birth of new fields of thought and art and the numerous achievements that mark this age that it has come to be known as one of the golden ages of Indian history. 107


So far, so good. She hadn’t missed any points and as far as she remembered was sticking to the facts that covered the over all scenario of those times. But doing that would be difficult for the next question, she thought, as she carefully read through it. She sat thinking for some time before she began writing. She wrote about the development in painting during this time, citing the example of the painting of the Bodhisattva at Cave I in Ellora. She described the beauty, grace and compassion to be found in the figure of the Bodhisattva. She wrote about the special features seen in the painting like the white lotus, the jewelled crown and the apsarÀs, yakshas and the other celestial creatures around the main figure. As for the other example she wrote a full-fledged account of what she had read last night on the various writers of the same time. She was aware that modern historians have cast some doubts about the ‘golden-ness’ of Gupta period. Among them she could count a few definitely, D. D. Kosambi, R. S. Sharma and their followers. They had started doubting the circulation of golden coins, and suggested that there was a spurt in the circulation of golden coins. But the other coins have started deteriorating, thereby suggesting that there were changes in the means of production, and the mode of production, and the relationships amongst all of the related parties. Last night, she had also read about the fact that cities had begun disappearing during this time, providing evidence that trade had begun decreasing or that the reign was not good enough to support the cities. The ancient cities like Patliputra had completely disappeared by this time. Smriti wrote the fact stating it to be according to the thoughts of many people as already stated before. She also mentioned that this thought had yet to come in the school textbooks but nevertheless was quite widely supported.

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THE GOLDEN PERIOD

At the end of the day, the teacher sent for her. A bit apprehensive, she went to the teacher’s table. The teacher asked to read her answer out before the class. She was frightened at first, but she started reading out her answer. She was thinking that the teacher might have found something absolutely out of place or totally wrong, that is why she had asked her to read it out, and that too loudly. Anyway she started, with fear and excitement. She read: The Gupta period is also known as The Golden Period of Indian History. It was the efflorescence of various trends of Indian sensibilities and sensuousness in Indian Art and Literature. There was stable governance over a vast stretch of Indian subcontinent. The coins of gold were issued for the first time in India. Earlier we have punch-marked coins, copper coins, silver coins in Mauryan, KushÀn and SÀka period. The glory of Guptas is written in golden words, Sanskrit has taken over as court language and there is a prolific literature of exquisite type in oilfields of dance, drama, poetry, and prose as well. Some of the best poets, prose-writers, philosophers can be safely put in this period. For quite some time, the two offsprings of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism had enjoyed great privileges and wide spread popularity. Now we see Hinduism, or Brahmanism comes back in its full glory, looking resplendent under the patronage of the Hindu Gupta kings. The rigid rites and rituals that had arisen in the later Vedic age and were the reason behind the fact that many people had embraced Jainism 109


and Buddhism are cleansed away as Hinduism acquires a new form. The expensive and back-breaking rites and rituals are no longer necessary for salvation and pilgrimage becomes important. This important change for the better of Hinduism has named this age the Hindu Renaissance. When she had finished reading the first answer, she looked up apprehensively at the teacher. But she was not released yet. She was asked to read the next answer too. With Sanskrit as lingua franca now, thousands of works in Sanskrit appear. KÀlidÀsa writes his gems of Sanskrit literature like Ritu-SamhÀmra, Meghduta, Vikramovarshi, et al. There are many other writers were found like VishakÀdutta, Shudraka, Harisena, BÀna Bhatta, etc. But before the writing achievements are elaborated the artistic skill of those times has to be taken into consideration. A classic example to show this skill is the painting of the Bodhisattva at the Cave I at Ellora. It is a masterpiece depicting a main figure, the Bodhisattva, surrounded by celestial creatures such as ApsarÀs, Gandharvas and Yakshas. Many of the paintings could very well be a leaf from the contemporary poetry or drama. This is one of the most famous paintings of this time and is oft seen in books on Indian art. In the painting, which is set in natural surroundings, shows the Bodhisattva as compassionate and this presents a lovely impression. The head of the main figure is slightly tilted to show grace. In contrast to the somewhat dark surroundings of the painting is the pearl white necklace of the Bodhisattva, which is indeed beautiful. There is a jewelled crown on the head and a lotus depicted in the hand of the figure showing beauty. This period saw a lot of development in the writing skills. Not only that, but also many scientific and philosophical treatises were written. Many of them are famous tilt today and are so beautiful and powerful that they form bases for many important laws and theories in science today. To illustrate this fact, we have to speak of Āryabhatta, the famous astronomer and mathematician who wrote Āryabhattiyam and Surya SiddhÀnta. Āryabhattiyam deals with algebra, geometry, trigonometry and arithmetic. It throws light on place value of numbers and use of zero. It also shows the value of pi and the formula for the area of a triangle. It shows his ability as an accomplished mathematician. 110

The G olden period

In Surya SiddhÀnta, he proves that the earth revolves round the sun and also rotates on its axis thus discovering the reason for solar and lunar eclipses and also predicting them. He also is said to have stated that the moon and other such bodies are spherical and shine with reflected light. To commemorate his great achievements, India sent a satellite into space named Āryabhatta. The ideas that are found in the philosophical texts of these times contribute so much to our Indian philosophy that they are second only to the supreme Vedas. In this context one must speak of Bhartrihari, the philosopher-cumking. Thus, we see the numerous magnificent achievements that mark the Gupta Age. Smriti gave a sigh of relief and unfortunately, the teacher heard the sigh. But she merely said, “You may drink water, if you please.” A bit ashamed, Smriti went back to her seat. But she had to leave the paper in the teacher’s hands who then elaborated on some points the class could use from it. Before giving the paper back to Smriti, the teacher asked her if she had studied from the book or had studied from some other books. Smriti could sense that she could be scolded for not doing her homework but then she told her that she had referred to other books. The teacher gave her a long look and then she thanked Smriti and returned the paper. When the bell rang for dismissal, Smriti was applauded by many girls and congratulated by several but not without a touch of jealousy or sarcasm which generally accompanies such incidents at school. Smriti went home, quite elated. She was seeing sure signs of the success of the philosophy course. Not only was she learning philosophy but as the preceptor put it, she was learning how to question things (like her history textbook). She was also learning how to widen her scope and lo! look at the results. She was sure none of the other girls who were the preceptor’s students had reaped such harvests so soon after starting the course. When Smriti’s parents came back home, they too were told in ecstatic terms, the adventures of the day. Then to celebrate, the three of them went to a restaurant and thankfully, the preceptor did not 111


disturb them as he disturbed poor ShwetÀ and make her break her promise to never spy.

112

SHUNYA

The next day Smriti had no school; so after breakfast she went to have a walk by the sea. When she returned, she went to her hollow. There, as soon as she entered, her eye caught a long white envelope kept on the sill. She picked it up and found it to be pretty heavy. It was a letter, from the philosopher, she presumed. It read: Dear Smriti, As this course is about the development of philosophy in India right from the ancient times and also because Indian science and mathematics were never independent of philosophical content, I write this letter to you on zero. Zero is mathematics’ most philosophical number believed to have evolved in our very own India. Emptiness is a philosophical idea, but it is also a spatial category, although one that is admittedly difficult to locate. The invention of zero marking an empty place in the calculation with a symbol was a great innovation in mathematical thinking. But, as the saying goes, Rome was not built in one day; zero had a long way to go before it became a number and not merely a symbol to mark the absence by a presence. Zero went through three significant stages to reach this pedestal that it occupies today. But before it did reach this place, it was merely a symbol of notation. In this capacity, it was simply functional, a symbol that was not a number. It was only used to signify the absence of something. 113


In the second stage, it became a digit. This was done for the idea of place value to be developed. Its digits being placed in the corresponding column of units, tens, hundreds, and so on represented each number. In the case where no quantity of the power occurred, there was a blank, to fill this blank a graphic symbol was needed and zero was used. In the last stage, zero became the number, as we know it. In this power, its capacities were fully explored. It was assigned greater purposes and had deeper meanings, of which some are unfathomable even today. Its mathematical definition is the result of subtracting any integer from itself 0 = n - n. To India goes the credit for inventing the complete zero, with all the three functions. The notation for zero was shunya, Sanskrit for emptiness. This became translated into Arabic as zifr, then in Latin as Zephirum, then zephiro and then Zero. The mark was a small circle. This concept first occurs in the manuscripts of the 5th century AD. The zero that we know, that is the number, blossomed in the realm of calculation after its misuse as a digit and symbol. It gave fascinating distinct effects in different operations. It is powerless in addition, n + 0 = n, but it is very powerful in multiplication, n times 0 = 0. Raising it to a power has an interesting effect, if a is not 0, then a0 = 1. But dividing by zero is the supreme prohibition; n/0 is an indefinable number. I sincerely hope that I have made you eager to learn more about this fabulous, indigenous invention. I shall continue in my next letter. The preceptor Smriti was absolutely fascinated with zero after reading the letter. And to think of it, it was an Indian invention. And that too invented so long before. Over all the three stages, that zero passed through in its creation India held major credit. It made her feel so proud of her country. It was a lovely feeling, this patriotism. She was badly waiting for the next letter.

114

ON NOTHINGNESS

She quickly stuffed the letter back in the cupboard she had kept the other letters in when she heard her maid call her. She went outside and saw that two of her neighbours who were also her classmates had come. Smriti didn’t especially like them; they were too much of fairweather friends. But there was no way she could avoid them as often as she would like to. They wanted to know from where she had got the answers that she had read out yesterday. Smriti wanted to tell them that she did not share her answers for which she had worked, but she could not be so rude. So she told them that she had read it in the library she was a member of. They wanted to know which one but she just told them that the library would not allow non-members inside. She was sorry she could not help them. Thankfully, they got the hint and cleared out. When Smriti went in again, there was a letter on the out window sill, waiting for her. Without thinking how it came there, she tore it open and began reading. Dear Smriti, Today, without much ado, I will begin where I left last time. Just to tell you the importance of the number and the place value system it helped to create, I will give you an example. Because of the place value system, a number that is bigger has more value, like 1001 has more value than 888. But compare this with the Roman numerals, which have no zero and hence no place value. 1001, the bigger number, is MI, merely two digits while 888, 115


the smaller number is DCCCLXXXVM, with twelve digits. So you see, zero had to happen to numbering systems for mathematics to be comprehensive. Emptiness is the absence of something and zero signifies this absence with its presence. We also believe that zero signifies ‘nothing’. The creation of zero merged the two categories of nothingness –– spatial emptiness and philosophical non-existence. This caused a radical transformation in the status of the number. The statement, ‘there is not anything’ was transformed into ‘there is nothing’. This was not a change of syntax, it signified the change of zero from zero of logic to zero of arithmetic. You may very well ask, how can we call all this marvelous things Indian? The nine digits appear in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC. In 458 AD, there appears an Indian treatise on cosmology written in Sanskrit, ‘LokavibhÀga’ –– parts of the Universe. In it, the number fourteen million, two hundred and thirty six thousand seven hundred and thirteen was written using the place value system and requiring only eight digits: 14,236,713. In the text the digits were written entirely in letters from right to left: three, one, seven, six, three, two, four, one. The word Shunya also appeared. This was the earliest document to use what we call Indian positional notation. We do not know who wrote this fantastic book. But since you are learning about the Gupta period, let me tell you that this book was written in roughly about the time the last Gupta king, Skandagupta was battling with the invasions of the Huns and the Sakas. After the death of Skandagupta, the Gupta kings could no longer hold out against these invaders and the empire fell to them. Before zero, every number, except one had a number before it and another before it. With zero coming into existence, even one had a number after it. But what was to be put before zero? We know that negative numbers come before zero but since they are not used in measurements or for geometric magnitudes; the Babylonians, Egyptians, Arabs and Greeks had no use of negative numbers. Here again, Indians made their contribution. They were used for accounting purposes. Eventually they broke away from the practical, financial purpose for which they had been invented and abstract thinkers began to explore the

116

on nothingness

pure concept of negative quantity. For the concept of negative numbers, zero was the equilibrium. Since we have come to negative numbers, let us go a step further to decimals. The decimal system of writing numbers was definitely in use in the 15th century by the Persian mathematician and astronomer Al-KÀshi, director of university of Samarkand, in his treatise “The Key to Arithmetic’. It is also thought that Simon Stevin, who wrote ‘The Tenth’ and to whom the West owe their decimals was inspired by Al-KÀshi So much for now, good bye. The preceptor. Smriti knew another example of the advantage of using a system with digits and place value system. We have just crossed last year of this millennium, 1999. There are three ways to write this year in the Roman numeral system. It can be short and sweet as MIM, one less than two thousand or MM. It can also be written as the long-winded MDCCCCLXXXXVIHI. Another economical way is MCMXCIX. So, we see that this unpredictiveness could result in messy, nonstandard usage in that year. So what can be done? We don’t even know for sure whether 9 should be written as VIIII or the modern day conventional IX. And although we would like to stick to MIM for 1999, it was better if we wrote MCMXCIX. This is because since 49 was always written as XLIX rather than IL, most people settle on MCMXCIX for the year 1999. Of course there is no doubt about the millennium. We could date our checks MM and hope there was a bank left (because computer systems are not programmed for 2000, Y2K) to cash the check. Smriti, as she was thinking this, had an idea that she could tell this example of hers to the preceptor.

117


FROM ZERO TO HERO

It was almost lunch-time when Smriti got up. The two letters had indeed taken a lot of time. They were so informative and interesting that Smriti had read them over and over again so as to remember every little bit of information that the preceptor had given her in his letter. Her own recollections on the topic were also written in the margin of the letters. Smriti had kept the letter very properly in her cupboard’s safe. But then she did that to every important thing. When Smriti reached the house, she was so tired, that she sat for lunch and then went straight to bed. And it is well known that when you work well, you sleep well. So Smriti was also allowed to revel in this pleasure and she slept fitfully. Smriti got up at sunset. Her house allowed a good view of the sea and Smriti never missed the chance to see the sun set in the sea. It looked so beautiful; setting the clouds afire as it went out of sight. Sometimes it set right in the middle of the sky, its descent into the sea being blocked to her view by the clouds. Smriti could also see the rocky shore. Sometimes, she saw painters setting up their canvas to capture the fading glory of the sun. Sometimes Smriti went to a park nearby to watch the sunset. The park ended in the sea and the rocks there were approachable. So she went to watch the sunset from the rocks, with the sea spraying its salty water around. After watching the sun recede behind the horizon, Smriti went out to play basketball in the neighbourhood. She loved playing basketball. 118

From zero to hero

Thus she was shooting up and was one of the tallest girls in her class. Today there were lots of children playing. Most of the schools had closed for the summer vacation and the kids were playing without any restraint after a number of days. Smriti joined in the fun and enjoyed herself to the fullest. After the game, Smriti and a few of her friends went to sit in one corner of the park just to chat a bit. They talked of how their tests had gone and how they were happy to be over with school for so many weeks. When it got a bit late, Smriti said goodbye to them and went back home. When she reached home, she remembered that her parents were to go to an official party and she would be left lonely. But then she remembered that she had thought she would put her philosophy course into order so that these letters that had been written for her would be easily reached any time she wanted to refresh her memory. But Smriti had forgotten that the preceptor was not one to let her be idle. Just like once he had not let her bored at her attempts at Chemistry, so too, tonight she had a letter waiting for her when she came home from the park. When she glanced at the topic of the letter, she was not surprised to see that the preceptor had reverted back to zero. Not that she minded. She had read enough nonfiction to realise the importance of zero and the idea of nothingness and how it was important for her o know in a philosophy course all about such a great inspiration. In fact she had been doing some research on her own on this topic. She was a naturally curious person and she was determined not to Jet the philosophy course be lacking on any part from her side. Dear Smriti, While in Mathematics, zero means naught, for the Indian thinker the zero or ‘bindu’ is an unlimited entity, the productive point of potentiality. Zero and NirvÀna are both ‘Shunya’, the void which means excessive or swollen. Heimann calls zero ‘the no of all figure, the only mathematical symbol which extends beyond every temporary value’. In other words, by reason of its 119


coincidence, the zero refers to a plane higher than that of empirical reality, of the flux of things, while signifying the point where empirical reality dissolves into transcendental reality. Both void and plenum, it subsumes the positive and negative signs. Similarly, ‘NirvÀna’ is called the ‘Whole’. Any attempt therefore, to equate NirvÀna with negation, or to take fat off the zero idea, is unwarranted. Rather, the zero should be regarded as the matrix of negative and positive, the fulcrum, and the hub of the wheel. A numerical system must precede the idea of zero. We know that before the fourth century AD, the Arabs, the Indians and the Chinese left a blank space in their numerical systems where zero should have been. But the question of who actually invented the place system and decimal point is still a matter of learned debate among scholars. That the Indians, with their algebraic gifts, invented the zero is in little doubt; the Arab texts of around the eighth century AD describe it as an Indian invention. This momentous innovation was preceded by centuries of speculation on the idea that ‘nothing’ was a kind of thing. Shunya, the earlier term for zero, connotes the point at the outer reaches of what either language or art can state. The ‘bindu’ is something, which mysteriously embodies mathematical truths. The quick silver wheel of Buddhism, paradigm of the unchanging beyond temporal appearances, is the most vivid example we have of the application of the self perpetuating zero principle. Eternal present, still point in the eye of life’s cyclone. Indian zero ever veers away from the science of mathematics towards speculation into the enigma of life itself. The Preceptor

120

URVASHI

After she had read the letter from the philosopher, she decided to continue with her original plan of going through all the letters again. So, Smriti took a ring binder from her father’s study and taking the transferable safe with her to her room, she locked the door to give, herself privacy from prying eyes. She carefully went through the letters. The first letter was confusing. The preceptor had not got her answer to his question and had started talking about some Ts. She hadn’t understood a word. After that the preceptor had begun following a set pattern (er well, sort of). He was supposed to be very eccentric in his choice of subjects for each letter according to ShikhÀ, her friend who was a veteran of the course. But luckily she had been spared this. He began on zero from the second letter and had continued that on it for all the letters he had sent her. She had also put the answer sheet she had got for the history test. It was a very pleasant memory to have been called upon to read her answer and she would like to keep a remembrance of it. Also, it was a very good answer, combining a lot of her search on the subject in the library. She was thinking of UrvashÁ. She was the same friend, with whom she had gone to shop and roam in Bombay the day before she had got the first letter. UrvashÁ and she were best of friends. Well, you could call them best friends. They usually did all their things together and stuck by each other, loyally, never fighting (well, trying not to –– not fighting was impossible). 121


In the sixth standard, Smriti had read the Anne of Green Gables series and had been greatly influenced by the lovely, kindred, imaginative soul Montgomery had portrayed in Anne. She had been greatly influenced by the friendship of Anne Shirley and Diana Barry, even in the most trying circumstances, like the going away of Anne to Redmond College or Diana’s marriage. She too had tried to keep up a friendship like that with UrvashÁ. The ring of the phone roused her from her reverie. It was UrvashÁ. After finishing the conversation, Smriti remembered the superstition that if a person you have been thinking of comes by (or calls up, in modern circumstances), the person will have a long life. She sincerely hoped that for UrvashÁ. She was thinking could there be some thing like a telepathic communication, happening especially in people who knew each other well? She would ask the preceptor.

122

FROM SHUNYA TO INFINITY

Smriti would have loved to know about times and lives of philosophers of the epoch in which zero was discovered in India. The Indian subcontinent started putting a symbol for zero also. She was sure that Buddhism also flourished around this period and there was a feverish activity in Buddhist metaphysics around this time. Philosophy flourishing at this time was euphemistically called ‘ShunyavÀd’. So she wrote a letter to the preceptor to that effect. When she was going to put it in the hollow, she saw a letter waiting for her. It was strange how she still got all excited when she saw a new letter. Anyway, she opened it. Dear Smriti, NÀgÀrjuna was one of the primary persons to whom the idea of zero is assigned to. This does not mean that he on his own thought all about the concept of zero. It is essential for you to understand that the concept of zero came into being by the work of many a scholars. It is a legacy that was handed down through generations and perfected on the way to us. You see, Rome was not built in a day. Yes, I know that you wanted to know about NÀgÀrjuna and his times. So, here you have it. The aim of NÀgÀrjuna is to show that nothing negative or positive can be asserted of reality. It is, therefore, Shunya. Even to think of it, as Shunya, is a mistake because the concepts, vacuity and emptiness are understood with reference to fullness. Then, there will be two opposites, vacuity and fullness. But the Shunya is beyond all opposites as otherwise 123


there cannot be NirvÀna and the goal of life: and, so, reality should not be called by the name of Shunya also. Say, we call it by Shunya, because we have to denote it, not connote it, by some word. It was again NÀgÀrjuna who first enunciated and worked out the doctrine that the world was never born and is not there (ajÀtivada) which was also later adopted by some of the Advaita Vedantins. If everything is false and unreal, am I unreal? NÀgÀrjuna says I am not, nothing is. The world was not, is not and will not be there. There is no question of the world of action even, because action, like all other concepts, is self-contradictory and therefore false. Then, is there any difference between the Shunya and the false world we experience? Truth must be different from falsity and Shunya, which is truth, must be different from this world, which is a falsity. NÀgÀrjuna says that the two cannot be different. If they are different, we have to think of two entities: but there are no two entities, all is one. Then, is the Shunya the same as this world? What is denoted by Shunya is beyond all self-contradictions, but the world is full of contradictions. The two cannot be, therefore, the same. Then, one may ask NÀgÀrjuna, ‘How am I to understand you?’ He will say, “Leave out the understanding which requires concepts”. NÀgÀrjuna does not like to call Shunya by the name VijnÀna (consciousness), because to call the swapna conscious is to characterize but the Shunya is without any characteristic. He is not really a nihilist, alleged by his opponents. He repeatedly pointed out that Shunya was neither positive nor negative, neither Being nor non-Being. The Shunya is not Nothingness. Because, he rejected both alternatives he called himself a middle path man, mÀdhyamika. Besides, the Shunya is a concept not without value. It is a source of infinite possibilities. If it is determinate, it will be the source of only a limited number of possibilities. A small child can understand its value, as he applies it to arithmetic. Shunya means the zero also. But is zero negative? For instance we have negative and positive numbers -5, -4, -3, -2, -I, 0, I, 2, 3 124

From shunya to in finity

The zero stands in between -1 and 1. But is zero itself positive and negative? It is neither, NÀgÀrjuna would say. Yet, we cannot say it had no value. It makes infinite series of negative and equally infinite series of positive numbers possible. Similarly, the Shunya in NÀgÀrjuna’s philosophy makes the infinite number of affirmations and positive characterizations possible. It is significant that the word Shunya is used to mean zero and it is equally significant that the word ‘puma’ (completeness) is also used to mean the same number. IsÀvÀsya Upanishad used the word Purna+ to mean the infinite and says that if we divide infinite from infinite, the remainder is also infinite. purnamadah purnamidam purnaat purnamudachyate purnasya purnaamadaya purnameva vashishyate The preceptor. To say the least, Smriti was scared. How in the world could anybody do that? Write a letter to her about exactly what she wanted to know? Such unerring conditions were enough to bowl over the toughest of people, she thought as she unconsciously tore the letter she had written to philosopher into tiny pieces.

$ ¬ iw.kZfen% iw.kZfene~ iw.kkZr~ iw.kZeqnP;rs A iw.kZL; iw.kZeknk; iw.kZesokof'k";rs AA

125


BLACK CAT IN A BLACK ROOM

Does the world change by our perception of it? Smriti was getting more and more puzzled by the minute. She was holding a letter from the philosopher, which read as above. She was at the end of her wits and thought that it was really wicked of the philosopher to invent problems like this. How in the world could something change by our perception? That way she could score cent-per cent in her examinations since nothing would be wrong. Everything would be her perception of it. You could not change things like dates just because you perceived it that way. She took a deep breath and decided she would wait for the philosopher to elaborate further. She had been getting interested these days in the philosophical aspects of twentieth century Quantum Mechanics. The modern elementary particles had a world of their own. They were almost schizophrenic. Sometimes they used to behave like a particle and sometimes like a wave. This was also true about particles of light, photons also. (See chapter on SyÀdvÀda, MahÀvir.) Electrons have a world of their own. They also behave like waves or particles both. Other elementary particles had also shown similar behaviour, like neutrons. One of her uncles was working in Neutron Physics Division of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. He had been discussing his results about neutron diffraction as if neutrons were 126

B lack cat in a black room

behaving like waves only. But she had read in her textbook that neutron is a constituent particle of the nucleus along with another particle proton. All other elementary particles were showing this dual characteristic. She had also gathered much knowledge about uncertainty principle. None could get more information about the velocity and position of an electron beyond a certain limit, i.e. determined by Planck’s constant. She had once read an article about the way a scientific controversy proceeds. The author had taken up a controversy that happened way back in 1989 over a phenomenon called the cold fusion. Apparently, the experiment that had been performed by two chemists of the Utah University showing this phenomenon could not be successfully re-done by other scientists. It was then that they began having doubts about the credibility of the experiment. Physicists began saying that this phenomenon was possible, only theoretically. Thus, what began as a seemingly gold rush in science, ended in a controversy blown horribly out of proportion and of course, the conclusion remains to be drawn. The cold fusion is the name given to the development of fusion power. It is the way the sun is powered and it is still not sure whether it can be done. ‘Heavy hydrogen’ atoms fuse together to form helium and in the process, there comes out enormous amounts of heat, neutrons and the super heavy atom of hydrogen, tritium. Two men of the Utah University in the States tried to bring about this cold fusion in reality. They were Pons and Fleischer and according to them, the fact that there was evolution of a lot of heat suggested possibility of harnessing fusion power chemically. But when the attempts of other scientists to try this experiment again failed, a doubt arose about the credibility of these chemists in the domain of physicists. The article, however, was not about the facts of the experiment but that of the way the controversy had hit the scientific world and how scientists realised the importance of observance of conventions and rules of a community. It was also cited as an example of an incident when people were misled by the folly of two people. It did not do 127


any good, only stirred up strong feelings of mistrust among a very sensitive community. She was all the time thinking, could this have happened in olden times. How could it have? It was simply not possible. How could a Sutrakaar, still in his teething problems, announce to the whole world his sutras before completing or contemplating on the whole structure of his sutras? He simply could not have. Are there no checks and balances in the modem scientific community to avoid such accidents in future? She guessed that there must be, but she has been hearing about many incidents like this. She has read in nature about some Indian geologists who had tried to re-write Himalayan geology with false samples. But she had got a glimpse of this fact after it was exposed in that journal itself (Nature). She heaved a sigh of relief. She could get a feeling of satisfaction by having thought all of this herself. Soon after breakfast, Smriti had seen her parents off and she was just loitering about, unable to get out of a lethargy that had possessed her since UrvashÁ had left town with her parents. She didn’t even feel like going to the hollow even though she was sure there was a letter waiting for her. Actually, she thought to herself, with a jerk, she had not read a complete novel since the day, her vacations had started. She hurried into her room to see whether her library membership had expired or not. Seeing that it had not, she got dressed and rushed to the bus stop to catch a bus to the library. She was going to do some tough reading. Only when she was settled in the bus, did she realise that she had forgotten all about the letter! Well, that would have to wait, she thought as she paid for her ticket. Once in the library, she completely forgot all about the time. She sat and watched a documentary on human cognitive powers. Then, she chatted to one of her acquaintances in the library, someone that was her regular quiz partner. She had met him once at a particularly low moment, when she was in the quiz room, knowing all the answers in the qualifying test, but having no partner, she wasn’t allowed to 128


enter. Then, she had met Bobby, who had proved to be a common acquaintance with UrvashÁ. When she finally realised that it was way past lunch, she broke away from the heated debate she had been having with Bobby about whether karate was invented in Japan or in India and then taken to Japan by Buddhist missionaries. She quickly got some books issued and rushed home. After a hearty, lonely lunch with the company of the book she had got issued, Smriti finally wejit to read the letter. Dear Smriti, I will tell you something about the Indian ideas of ‘mind’, also known as the “Sixth Sense”. It has been recognised for long now that the Indian theories of mind are a vast range of ideas produced in an unbroken cultural tradition of about three thousand years. One of the main topics of conceptual interest has been in philosophical psychology: how the mind is to be analysed, and developed in order to explain the religious goal of enlightenment and the release from the cycle of rebirth. Manas, from mana, to think; citta or cetas from cit to perceive; buddhi from budh, to be awake or aware; vijnana, from jna, to know or be conscious and finally in many philosophical contexts, the term, antahkarna, literally meaning, inner activity or inner organ are all some examples of words which can be translated as mind. Antahkarna is used to refer collectively to a variety of perceptual, intentional and cognitive functions or agencies. Some times these terms are considered as synonymous, but in particular philosophical systems they can be considered as different things altogether. The first point that comes to mind when we think about Indian theories of mind is that they are elaborately derived or at least in constant association with religious ideas and concerns. The basic structure of the religious world-view is given by the following three terms –– sansÀra, karma and moksha. The world of becoming is called sansÀra. It can be reduced in the typical style of Sanskrit: samsÀrati iti sansÀrah, meaning thereby that the world is that changes constantly. The theory of karma is all pervading. It affects us all. It affects us in our 129


birth, worldly living and death as well. The laws of karma are all pervading. It affects us all.(Rebirth) The Moksha has been the constant striving of all Indians. All philosophy can be classified according to the approaches to NirvÀna, which can be said to be the Buddhist equivalent to Moksha. In fact, K.H. Potter is editing the ‘Modern Encyclopaedia of Indian Philosophy’. His classification of different philosophies of India I am sending you. We will let the time take its own course, but if you ever meet the other girls all of you can enlighten each other. The preceptor. Smriti folded up the letter and sat thinking for sometime in the shed where she was sitting. The preceptor had talked about girls. Were they only ShikhÀ and herself or more? Well. ShikhÀ could enlighten her without a meeting. The rest will have to wait.

130


Moksha - centric Spectrum

Indian Philosophical Systems Courtesy: Presuppositions, Karl Potter

131


MANAS RESORT KHANDALA

This vacation, Smriti’s parents had not planned to go out of town, and Smriti was more than just happy at this decision. But they did go to a resort quite near Bombay, but far enough to escape the pollution and on an altitude high enough to be suitably pleasant. But the perceptor was not a man who could sit still for a very long time. If he did not appear, he took care that a letter from him would appear under Smriti’s pillow. It was a lucky coincidence that the letter was unobserved as it found its way there. When she had time, later, she read it. Dear Smriti, Forgive me for the intrusion, but my natural tendency is to appear in the most unexpected places. I shall here continue with the theories of mind. This conceptual system is understood at least in two main ways. Firstly in a literal way or mythological sense, it can be taken straightforwardly to refer to a sequence of births, lives and deaths, to escape from them. Secondly, it can be interpreted in a psychological or ‘demythologized’ sense –– that is, as referring to different ways perceiving and evaluating the temporal, rather than to different life histories or destinies within it, or beyond it. In this sense, sansara is best taken as something like ‘differentiated perception’, or ‘unenlightened understanding’ –– that is seeing the multiform and in itself Unreal ordinary as ultimately real and desirable, as in contrast to moksha, which is seeing the world in its eternally true light (a true light, of course, very differently described by different systems). Here, instead of the 132

Manas resort khandala

religious goal of enlightenment being taken in a horizontal perspective, as something awaiting the holy man at the end of his earthly life –– it is taken in a vertical perspective, as a possibility of moral mystical experience now. (Of course, these two perspectives are not mutually exclusive; the symbolic, the psychological sense can be, and is regularly taken to be the means of operation of the literal, religious destiny.) A fine expression of vertical demythologized interpretation of these concepts is given by the tenth-eleventh century theologian Abhinavagupta, for whom the ultimate subjective reality of the self and the objective reality of experienced are both God. It is God’s essential nature, as pure consciousness, constantly to manifest or emanate the individual sense and objects of the ordinary world (sansÀra) as both its efficient and material cause. In this general religious context, ideas of the mind depend on different notions of the enlightening realization, and specifically on different notions of what is the soul or self which is realized and liberated. Answers to this latter question vary greatly: there is the view, as we see that the single and ultimately real self is (a personal) god; the real self which can be seen as the impersonal cosmic spirit or essence, usually called Brahman (as in the VedÀnta); it can be a separate, eternally monadic person or soul (as in Jainism and SÀmkhya. These two systems are atheistic: elsewhere such a monadic is also related, devotionally, to a god); and finally, as in Buddhism, the ultimate realization is that there is no self at all In all these systems, what we call the human mind is not a part of what is released; it is in itself either an obstacle to or merely an instrument of release, on par with the physical senses. One system which exemplifies this and which was used in various developed forms by many later traditions, is the classical SÀmkhya. It is a dualism, but not at all in the Cartesian sense. On one hand, the real self is called the ‘purusha’, person; it is eternally inactive, a mere spectator at the show of existence. On the other hand, ‘prakriti’, matter, or nature evolves from within itself a whole drama of rebirth and release. From an undifferentiated state of equilibrium, at the start of each cosmic aeon, there will evolve something called the ‘mahat’, the great, or buddhi, will, or determinative awareness, or ‘ahamkÀra’, I maker or ego, and then 133


‘manas,’ mind, conceived as a sensus communis, a cognitive organization and recognition of sensory activity and experience. Subsequently there evolve five sense organs of action, these together with manas, in fact evolve together and are called the eleven faculties –– five subtle elements, the sense data perceived by the senses, the five gross elements, the external substances thus perceived. The first three evolutes are together termed antahkamna, inner organ, or in a general sense, mind. This mind is constantly changing, moving and being moved in the ordinary world of action and experience, in itself it is unconscious and inanimate, it is only in the presence of the static and inactive purusa which, as an animating catalyst, transforms mental activity into conscious experience. This conjunction of the purusa and the material mental/sensory apparatus is likened to that of a lame and a blind man: separately incapable of movement and sight but together capable of progress (towards enlightenment). The preceptor. Smriti smiled wryly as she went over the letter once more and saw the first part. She was getting used to it. The resort was set in the Western Ghats, the hill range that runs on the western side of the Indian peninsular. They had two rooms like cottages and Smriti had a room to herself. The hill sloped away into a valley right in front of their cottage. There were railway lines on the other hill, which also had a tunnel. It was lovely to see a train disappear into the tunnel and then reappear on the other side again. There was a hammock very suitable placed so that one could enjoy the view while comfortably suspended on the hammock. Smriti indulged in this pleasure as many times as she could. Besides, she frequented the pool and the library there. She had found a friend while in the library and the two of them also went trekking together, down into the valley above which the resort was.

134

SHANKARACHARYA

When she returned after a whole week of fun and relaxing, she found a letter waiting for her. Dear Smriti, This course is now about to come to an end. You might feel that you have known a precious little, there are others who you might want to seek help from. Before we take leave of each other, I would like to give you some information about two great Indian philosophers –– here I talk about Shankaracharya. He lived and worked in the 9th century AD. He is a most highly revered sage, ranking below only perhaps Buddha. His system of thought is known as the Advaita, non-dualistic. Its central theme is an examination of the Brahman, the divine power of the cosmos and the atman, the individual human self. It is also the last of the six schools that developed from extremely ancient roots. Shankara held that reality is ultimately one and individual selves are Illusionary. The individual self is not essentially different from the One self, the Brahman. The western understanding of Hinduism is largely derived from Shankara’s Vedantic thought. So his school of thought is the nondualistic one. Shankara was born in the priestly class, the Brahmins, and in due course, he trained under a renowned teacher and became a guru. He was accounted to have supernormal powers, if not supernatural. He was a religious reformer, highly skilled dialectician and a gifted writer of devotional hymns. You may 135


know of the institution down in the south of India which still has the same ambience as ShankarÀchÀrya’s ashram had. The head-ÀchÀrya is believed to be a direct descendent from Shankara himself. The institution still teaches young men (bramhÀcharies) the Advaita VedÀnta and works all over India to spread the message of VedÀnta. The foundation of Hindu thought is the unquestioning acceptance of its tripartite doctrine of sansÀra, karma and moksha. I have already explained these terms well to you. The source of Shankara’s ideas was the Brahma Sutra, which actually dates back to the 1st century AD and is an interpretation of the Upanishads. Shankara asserts most of his knowledge from parts of the Vedas that show in a sense that Brahman and Ātman are one. But he develops the notion of comprehending the world at two levels. According to him, the lower level is the MÀyÀ, which is loosely translated as illusion. But it has been pointed out the word MÀyÀ has at least three different meanings in relation to each other. In a sense it is the tendency to regard appearance as reality and reality as appearance. It could also signify human ignorance concerning the difference between appearance and reality. It could also refer to the creative power of the Brahman. MÀyÀ is creative power of reality by virtue of which the world of variety and multiplicity comes into existence. That is the reason why MÀyÀ is sometimes said to be the sheer cosmic playfulness of reality. Shankara says that the world of appearances is neither real nor unreal. It is merely the incorrect conception of true reality. Shankara uses the concept of sublation to depict a person’s progress from appearance to reality. Sublation is a process of correcting errors of judgement. A wrong conception of something is sublated when experience enables it to be replaced by a less erroneous conception. It is thus then, a person draws closer to reality –– through successive sublations of appearances. There are three kinds of existents, says Shankara, real existents, illusory existents and existents. Reality itself, since it is one and undifferentiated, and since sublation requires distinct objects, is unsublatable. At the other hand is unreality, or 136

shankaracharya

non-being. Unreality cannot be sublated, because it cannot be experienced. Shankara holds that the Brahman is the basis of the whole apparent world while in its true and real nature remains unchanged. Basically, Brahman is formless and beyond description. It is the totality of pure knowledge. In reality, there exists no such thing as modification. The western philosopher whose thought has the most common points with Shankara is Arthur Schopenhaur. Schopenhaur’s ideas of the quieting of the individual will and the resulting attainment, through nullification of the individual striving, of ecstasy, rapture, illumination, union with God, bears a very close resemblance to Shankara’s views concerning recognition and experience of unity with Brahman. Shankara’s thought became popular in his lifetime and it is till today very influential. But its unequivocal non-dualism had a reaction –– an interpretation of VedÀnta and a necessity for differentiation within the unity that is Brahman. I hope you are much more enlightened about this great saint than you were before, fie is an important figure in Indian philosophy and it’s his commentaries on the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutra that give us more insight into how these works interpreted than anything else. The preceptor. She sat thinking for sometime after she had finished reading the letter. There was the mention of the other girls again. But why did the preceptor surmise that she knew about them? She only knew ShikhÀ. Was it an indication that she had to find the others for herself? But that was too much to expect! She couldn’t possibly do that!

137


RAMANUJA

Smriti was sitting in her bedroom. Nowadays the shed would become too stifling in the heat and she preferred the coolness of her room. She was flipping through a book she had got from the BCL. It was by Rosemary Sutcliff, a writer whose books were in great numbers in the library. The book was called ‘Song for a Dark Queen’. It was about how the lives of an ancient British tribe changed under the Romans. It was more about how a lone queen mustered up courage and strength to fight the Romans and how she was glorious, even in defeat. The book was quite thin and very soon Smriti had finished it and was feeling bored. Her friend had gone for a vacation to Italy and she was thinking how much fun she would be being there. She was not to be going to any other country but, thought Smriti, Italy is interesting enough to provide entertainment and food for thought for the whole vacation. Her friend had been sending her e-mail describing most of the places she saw and also some pictures. She had been saving her pocket money and had bought many souvenirs. She had bought many clothes too, in Venice, which was great for clothes and things like that. She herself had gone once to Alleppy in Kerala, which is known as Venice of the East. She could visualise the gondolas and boats easily. Smriti was getting itchy to do some shopping too, after the delicious 138

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accounts she had just heard. She was a loyal Mumbaiite, and thought that the city of her birth as good as any other in the whole wide world. She was off for some serious shopping. Smriti was a very passionate person. Actually, not many people realised it, because she was passionate about so many things that her energy was not centred on one thing. It was dissipated into many different directions, so a person was already knee deep into trouble before he even came to know that Smriti had trapped him into admitting what he didn’t want to admit. This is exactly what happened with Bobby, her friend from the library. She met him in a music store, and soon she had won a bet with him on another challenging topic, whether Einstein’s theory had been still completely understood or not. The loser had to treat her to lunch and she went home with a heady feeling of victory. She unpacked her shopping, put on the new cassette she had bought and went to fetch the letter she knew must be waiting for her. Settling down comfortably, she began reading. Dear Smriti, We have covered a great deal. Of course, you can write letters to me, but the surety of that correspondence, I cannot assure. In this last letter, I would like to tell about RÀmÀnuja. He lived around the 11th century. He is also a very important VedÀntic, besides being a revered saint and follower of the Vaishnava religion and its PanchrÀtra Àgamas. He interpreted the three basic texts on the basis of those Àgamas. At the age of sixteen, he got married and went to KÀnjivaram to study. He was to learn at the feet of the revered saint RÀmuna of Srirangam, who died before he could reach there. So his disciples taught RÀmÀnuja their doctrine and after being sworn to secrecy at eighteen different times, the secret knowledge of the mantra, the ritual of his community, the Sri Vaishnavas was revealed to him. It is said that as soon as this was done, RÀmÀnuja shouted out the mantra to the rest of the Sri Vaishnavas assembled at the temple. He explained to his teacher that his disobedience should be rewarded by the condemnation to hell. At the same time he remarked that the people who now knew the knowledge 139


would be saved by contact with the faithful disciples of RÀmunja. This observation so impressed him that he recognised him as a leader for the community who would reform for the better. At the age of thirty, he denounced domestic life and began to travel as a religious teacher. He established a math (monastery) at Puri. A Shaivite king, then, persecuted him. So he took refuge in the kingdom of HoysÀla, in a place which is now called Melkote. It is now near modern day Bangalore. There is a big temple there with an Academy of Sanskrit Research. RÀmÀnuja’s doctrine is a bit loosened form of ShankarÀchÀrya’s doctrine. Shankara was a rigid non-dualistic, saying that the Ātman (the soul) and the Brahman (the supreme power) are all but one. All distinctions are unreal and inferior to true knowledge. RÀmÀnuja’s doctrine is not dualistic but is a qualified non-dualism. He maintains that matter and soul are ultimate unity along with Brahman. But he says matter and souls are essentially different, if not independent of the Brahman. This is dualism not of Brahman and the world but a qualified non-dualism which is characterised by a certain kind of plurality. RÀmÀnuja also rejects Shankara’s theory of MÀyÀ and maintains that the world of change and distinctions is entirely real. He also says that we cannot ascribe properties to Brahman and what Shankara says about it being pure consciousness and so on is ascribing properties. Perception reveals something that had characteristics and there is no source of perception that can reveal something that has no characteristics, like the Brahman. Shankara describes MÀyÀ as ‘neither being, nor non-being, nor both, nor neither.’ RÀmÀnuja says that there is nothing that can exist like this. If it is being, it cannot be non-being, and vice versa. If it is non-being, then it cannot be the cause of the world, because non-being cannot be the cause of the world. Then it is being. But the first sentence already declines that. RÀmÀnuja says that the Brahman is unchangingly perfect, and we cannot comprehend its glory because it is infinite, free from limitations and from any constraints of substance, time and place. The universe is the body of the Brahman and the texts that give attributes to it are giving only false or finite attributes. 140

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He says that any reality that is separate from the unified reality of Brahman is false. But he rejects that the famous scriptural pronouncement ‘tat tvam asi’ to be a declaration of absolute oneness of Brahman with the individual soul. They are two meanings belonging to one substance. This is the basis of RÀmÀnuja’s theism. So you have seen that RÀmÀnuja philosophy’s structure was more comprehensively explanatory than Shankara’s austere conclusions, thus being more satisfactory. The preceptor. Smriti went over the letter three times, twice to understand the theories of RÀmÀnuja and how they differed from Shankara’s, and the third time because it was tough for her to believe that the course had actually been getting over. With a strange feeling of nostalgia she went to put the letter in its place among the others. It was an unsettling feeling that the course would no longer be there. She was glad UrvashÁ was going to return the day after the next. Otherwise she would have perished of boredom.

141


MADHAVA

Smriti was waiting to receive a letter, and lo! She has got one. Dear Smriti, As I have told you, this will be the last letter from me. Today I want to continue what I was telling you about the great thinkers who helped in the development of VedÀntic philosophy. Two of the thinkers I have already told you about –– Shankara, and RÀmÀnuja. Now I shall tell you about MÀdhavachÀrya. You know that Shankara’s theory was monism, which led to the qualified non-dualism of RÀmÀnuja. This then led to the conception of a fundamental dualism of god and souls and plurality of world substances. MÀdhava develops his metaphysical system by employing a series of distinctions. He first identifies three main elements of reality: god, souls, matters; and the latter two together comprising the dependent element in a fundamentally dualistic reality. He then names a five-fold set of differences that obtain between three elements named above. God and individual souls, God and matter, Souls and matter. Souls and souls. Matter and matter. Again these differences are not just merely apparent, as maybe Shankara would have deemed to be. They are willed by God and therefore are real and perceivable. Souls and God are fundamentally alike in the fact the both are unchanging, even though the former have external and material aspects. But God is an independent reality while souls are dependent, wholly, on God. MÀdhava rejected the monistic doctrine of Shankara (soul and Brahman are one and the same). He postulated an ultimate reality that was an undivided and spiritual whole. He believes in a fundamental dualism, but he 142

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still maintains that an ultimate unity is grounded in the fact that physical order is entirely dependent on God. He also says that there are two orders of reality, independent and dependent. MÀdhava’s theory that reality consists of an infinite different things is known as the relative particulars. But he maintains that qualities be understood as aspects of substances rather than as distinct entities. He counters the argument that if the quality disappears, the thing disappears too, by saying that anything a conglomeration of features that we refer to it by. This theory is a part of MÀdhava’s doctrine of Vishesa. MÀdhava nominates three sources, or PramÀns of knowledge –– sense perception, inferential reasoning and scripture. Truth is exact agreement of the knowledge with its object. He describes avidyÀ, ignorance, as the kind of negative thing that clouds natural intelligence. Just as every man’s avidyÀ is different from someone else’s, each person is able to seek release from sansÀra, the wheel of life, traversing a different path to knowledge and salvation. MÀdhava’s rejection of the soul’s absorption into the Brahman constitutes a radical and controversial element in his thought. It had significant implications for the way in which the scriptures were understood. In particular, we must remember that MÀdhava was not denying that most important of scriptural pronouncements, tat tvam asi (that art thou). In this ‘tat’ is generally taken as the Brahman so that the words are taken as an affirmation of the identity of the human soul with the Brahman. MÀdhava resolved this difficulty by saying that this statement is not an assertion of the identity of God and soul but a statement that points out that the essence of the soul has qualities similar to God’s. His interpretation of the other passages seem to suggest that an undifferentiated union is possible is similarly emendatory; they reject or qualify apparent claims to absolute oneness and offer instead an understanding of them in terms of close fellowship or devotional accord with Brahman. The preceptor.

143


CONFUSION!!! WHO AM I: ShwetA OR SMRITI?

As Smriti went over her junk mail, she realised that she had been out of touch with her normal life since the course had begun. True, there was UrvashÁ to pull her back if she went overboard, but since she had also gone to Italy, Smriti was feeling alienated. But she didn’t mind. The course had made up many times over for it. She suddenly remembered that the philosopher might have left a letter in the hollow. Even though he had ended the course, the fact was remembered only after she had reached the hollow. She was about to turn back, when she caught sight of a familiar white envelope. She was right. There was a letter for her. She took it up to her room. It read: Dear ShwetÀ, Here, I shall explain the evolution of a language in terms of the structure of constructs of three constituents. The prescription is as per Bhartrihari. Evolution being an event or action, verb or action in a sentence is the most important phenomena in grammar. The VIVARTA or evolution contains two kinds of phenomena: SIDDHA or accomplished, and SADHYA or the process of accomplishment. First group is arranged in a spatial sequence, and is called MURTI 144

Co n fu s i o n ! ! ! h o w am i: Shwet A or smriti?

VIVARTA (nouns including subject and object): space-wise imaging or picturing Second group is arranged in a temporal sequence –– the process and action of accomplishment is called KRIYĀ-VIVARTA: time-wise imaging or storing These two are the basic potencies of Sabda Brahman or consciousness — space potency, and the time potency, operating through the three constituents of Prakriti. Other important items of the grammar of Sanskrit, such as gender, number, person and case etc. are all interpreted in terms of the combinations of the three constituents as per Sankhya tradition. The grammatical structure, therefore perfectly matches the phenomenal structure in the VAIKHARI level. Vaikhari reveals the objects of both Siddha, and SÀdhya group of objects. Three levels of language are interpreted as three stages in the process of utterance of Vaikhari. (a) This stage is the intrinsic form of speech where Sattva predominates: SPHOTA, (b) This stage indicates the dynamism of the process that is predominated by Rajas: PRĀKRITA DHVANI, (c) This is the physical sound predominated by Tamos and therefore much limited by its revelatory potency in comparison of the first two above described. It reveals the object of Nature: VAIKRITA DHVANI. In this classification, Bhartrihari has modified Patanjali’s concept of Sphota and Dhvani. Sphota, for Bhartrihari is not merely a sound pattern, it is a transcendental entity, over and above the sounds taken individually or collectively, which bears the meaning primarily of the sentences and secondarily of the words. I do not know whether you have seen the game of chess played in the history of Indian linguistics and theories of language. Bhartrihari’s modifications in the theory of Sphota was very seminal, and did promote his organised system of metaphysics of language as well as of general linguistics. See the game of chess as sent to ShikhÀ for more details. His consideration of the sentence as the primary linguistic unit is a very bold move which did open up fruitful debates which, as I shall show you 145


as the moves of chess between two great MimÀmsa critics KumÀrila and PrabhÀkar. Bhartrihari’s theories resolve the crisis regarding the in-apprehensibility of the uttered sounds that perish immediately after their utterance. It also provides a holistic logic of language that the whole conceptually precedes the parts. This perfectly matches with the older tradition of Pumamadah pumamidam purnÀt pumamudachyate. I shall tell you the meaning of this beautiful Shloka from Ishavasya Upanishad later. Your guru. Smriti was astonished. How did her name change to ShwetÀ? And all these technicalities of grammar? She had never studied anything like this in the course. What did it all mean? Then she turned the envelope. On it was an address. Suddenly things became clear to her. Just like the philosopher had a student, ShikhÀ in far away Kashmir, so too he (or could it be somebody else?) had another student, this ShwetÀ in Calcutta. How did they manage so many students in such farflung places at once? This thought strengthened her idea that there were actually two to three people involved in this course, working in coordination, not just one. She then decided she would communicate with this girl. She took out some notepaper and began writing. Dear ShwetÀ, You will be very surprised to know who I am. I am a fellow philosophy student, learning from some mysterious philosophy teacher. Will I be right to guess that your birthday is on the 10th of June? So is mine. If you are still in the dark, I will clarify some things. I have a pen pal, ShikhÀ who lives in Kashmir. She shares my birthday date. She, too, is the recipient of the mysterious letters. So, she told me that he might make me his student, and he did. She claims to have even seen the philosopher, but we will leave that for the time when we meet. 1 believe that there maybe two or three teachers instead of one. Maybe you could be of help in this area.

146

Co n fu s i o n ! ! ! h o w am i: ShwetÀ or smriti?

You will be surprised that I am talking about a meeting now. See, I got your letter by mistake and thus found you and your address. Now I want you to do something. If you know of any other person who is a part of this philosophy club, please let me know. I am giving you both ShikhÀ’s address and mine. I would like all of such girls who have been receiving such letters to meet each other because we are all interested in Indian philosophy and coming together will only increase our interest and knowledge in the subject. Yours truly, Smriti SÀnghi. With a sigh of satisfaction, Smriti wrote ShwetÀ’s address on an envelope and pasted the stamp. It would be interesting if ShwetÀ finds some other people in this course, thought Smriti. Then she wrote a letter to ShikhÀ, describing what she had found and done and also told her the same thing she had told ShwetÀ. Soon she had two envelopes ready to be posted, which she kept side by side. She rubbed her hands with childish glee –– she could see her plan coming into action. Smriti was quite sure that one of them would turn up with another girl, whose birthday would be on the D-Day. And they had to do something special this time. After all, she would have so many people sharing the fun. And Smriti’s seemingly overconfidence was not unbiased. Even she was to be taken by surprise with the events that followed. And it was a good plan, it turned out well, with Smriti and all her fellowmates coming to some intriguing conclusions by the end of it.

147


CLOUD NINE

Smriti was quite surprised at the little time in which she received a reply from both of these girls. First, she got a reply from ShwetÀ and was quite surprised to know that she was thirteen and had had absolutely lovely handwriting and was taking quite a tough subject in the course. Her letter read: Dear Smriti, I was quite pleasantly surprised to receive a letter from a fellow philosophy student. It was interesting to know that there is a still another student, besides the two of us. I am sorry to say I have no definite proof that another girl exists but if dreams count, then 1 know of two other girls. It might seem a bit weird to you but once I did have a dream about meeting two other girls in the same circumstances as us. One of them was a girl living in BenÀres. She is very much interested in gymnastics and loves philosophy. I merely had glimpsed her as if she was in a tree house. The other one is a girl living in a cottage near Madras. It might seem a bit eerie that I know so much, yet so little about these girls. But trust me, these dreams were so vivid I could swear I was actually there. At that time I really thought as if somebody else willed me into it. Like a flash which leaves you feeling certainty unsettled. Needless to say, I will surely try to find something out. You have interested me immensely and you have my full support in this philosophy student148

Cloud nine

hunt. If the teachers make any more slips of the kind they made with you, I shall certainly let you know. Also, I think it is a great idea of yours that all we philosophy students should meet and maybe visit a place. We could even get together on the DDay of the course, which of course is 10th of June. It will be a nice change from the usual birthday party routine. And, thanks for giving me ShikhÀ’s address. I’m sure she will be an interesting person to know. I think I go with your idea of there actually being four or five teachers, not just one. No mortal can juggle around to all parts of a vast country like ours without some help. And these people have to do just that, even if my dreams are untrue. ShikhÀ and you and I are in three corners of the country. Will write again soon. Hope you will too. We are going to be great friends. Yours truly, ShwetÀ Sengupta. In the end, the writing had become a scrawl. Maybe somebody was calling her, thought Smriti. She pondered on for some time at the surname. Then it struck her. All the girls that she had managed to get together had the initials SS. ShwetÀ SenguptÀ, Smriti SÀnghi, ShikhÀ Singh. It was strange, how many thing they had in common. Birthdays, initials, interests and of course, the binding factor, the philosophy course. ShwetÀ had said something about the 10th being the D-Day. She went over that bit again. The idea she suggested was not at all bad. Could it be that there were only five girls on the course? Three of themselves and the two others ShwetÀ had dreamt about. And why was it reminding her of the five PÀndavas? Then, like a streak of lightning it struck her. If they were from all the Four Corners of India, plus the athletics freak from Central India, they would have to, just have to meet at MahÀbalipuram. There was no other place more suitable than the Rathas at MahÀbalipuram. Wasn’t it strange, how they were all so suitably placed in India? People might say it was stupid to think that such great distances between them 149


could be suitable. But she now understood ShwetÀ’s ‘flashes’. They had to be in the farthest places to be able to meet in such a sacred place. It all seemed so well planned that Smriti was feeling like a missionary who had no role of his own but that to spread the message of God. She was here, receiving flashes and instructing the ignorant to understand the purpose of this course. If it really was something of this sort, then she needed to really get into the search of these other two girls. At least her areas of search were well defined (she had begun believing ShwetÀ’s flashes). They would be in BenÀres and Madras, with the initials SS and their birthdays on 10th of June. She had clues, but not enough. But then, did she really think her path would be bed of roses and all the addresses would come to her in an envelope on which was written –– ‘the philosophy students’? No way, that was something she would not even try to dream about. She knew this search would be tough at times, but surely not without its pleasures, right? She was raring to go. The next letter was from ShikhÀ. Smriti prayed hard to God that she would have some news and then opened the letter. With a jumping heart and a seemingly collected air, she read it. Dear Smriti, You will not believe how excited I am about your idea. It’s simply fantastic. And I have good news for you, news you must be longing to hear. That’s why I was so prompt in sending you this letter. I know of another girl, besides ShwetÀ! She is called Shruti Subramanyam and at present she is living in a suburb of Madras. As usual, her birthday you know about. I have her address and I hope you will not mind because I have already written a letter to her. I couldn’t control my impatience. You will surely want to know how I found out about her. The same slip of this absent-minded teacher brought her to my notice. I like your idea about there being five teachers, or four. They can’t really manage to look different always and sign differently if they are the same person. And even with a jet, no one can actually manage to travel such great distances. I will write again very soon, that is, as soon as I get Shruti’s letter. I am

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getting crazy with excitement here, so please let me know of any news. I’m putting Shruti’s address underneath. Yours affectionately, ShikhÀ. Smriti jumped with joy. It was amazing, fantastic! Shruti had to be the girl; ShwetÀ had said she lived in Madras. And the SS. How could she forget that? It all fitted so well. Now there was only one girl left to find out.

151


THE BEWILDERED MOTHER

Smriti had written a letter to all her three friends, two of them new, about her brainwave about MahÀbalipuram and the Rathas. Also she wrote about their initials and the fact that they all were at the four comers of the country. She kept receiving replies but none of them had any news about the fifth girl in BenÀres. But it seemed like every road lead to a dead end. None of them could find anything new about her. Shruti knew her name, Stuti, because she had somehow found a handkerchief by her name under her pillow and a letter by the philosopher saying that things get lost in schools, and theirs was a philosophy school. She had even found Smriti’s lost scarf in the same place. But not a thing more. Smriti then had an idea. She sent an ad in the Times of India, which was published from Lucknow. It appeared at page 13. On page 12 appears leaders and the speaking tree; it was bound to catch the wonder girl’s attention. She gave the name, the age, the birthday and the fact that the girl was a part of a philosophy course. She asked for the least information possible about this girl. She gave her residence and e-mail address. There weren’t many days left for the D-Day and all of them were feeling down at the possibility that only four of them would be able to go to MahÀbalipuram. Through letters they all had almost decided for sure that they would meet at MahÀbalipuram on the 10th. They would consult the 152

The bewildered mother

philosophers and inform their parents but there was still time left for that. Instead of letters, they had all now switched over to e-mail. It was faster and they didn’t have to miss and catch the clearance of the Indian mail service. They had told each other about all the incidents that had happened to them connected to this course. Smriti was now getting desperate. She somehow had this feeling that without all the five of them, the group at MahÀbalipuram would obviously be incomplete and something would go wrong. A whole week passed by as they all waited in anxious anticipation. It was strange how they were living and breathing this plan. Then, it happened. Smriti received mail. And it brought news she had been desperately waiting for, ShikhÀ had got the address of the fifth girl. Her letter read: Dear Smriti, You won’t believe how I found out the address of Stuti. Yes, I have found it and have written a letter to her. You are the first one to know this. I have to write a letter to the others too, so I’ll be brief. I really believe these teachers are the most absent-minded. And somehow, we all just keep bumping into them. I had gone to get some stuff from the town for my grandmother when I saw my teacher waiting to pay. You know I have already seen him once before. Okay so, I just took my place in the line. And when he left, what do I see but his notebook left on the rack. I picked it up, with my heart jumping and ran outside as if 1 was going to return it to him. I went out, stuffed the notebook in my jeans and walked in the shop again. When the shopkeeper asked me if I had found the man and given him his book, I just nodded and finished paying as fast I could and practically ran out of the shop. As soon as it was safe to do so, I opened the notebook. I was really disappointed when I saw that it was almost new and he had hardly written anything in it. Just a few shopping lists and lists of expenses. But on the last page, I found what I was looking for. A list of the addresses and names of all us girls. And before you could wink, I was back on my horse and riding like mad. I reached home, switched on the computer, logged on and sent you and 153


Stuti mail. There! Now you know and I have to tell the others. Stuti’s address is at the end. Contact her if you want to, but I have already given her the details. Bye, will write again. Yours affectionately, ShikhÀ. Smriti knew the tough part was mostly over. Now they just had to plan everything out and, inform their parents. She gave a gulp as she thought about that part. Now that would be difficult. Anyway, she would do it. Presently, she had work to do. That week, Smriti sent so much mail to so many parts of the country that she didn’t want to log on to the net again for a million years. They had to make so many plans. ShwetÀ took upon her the job of making travel arrangements with the help of KavitÀ, her aunt. Stuti drafted out letters to the philosophers about their plans. Lists were made for the things they wanted to carry and pack. It was really tough, because they had to put their plans before the rest of the group, every time they planned for something. But they did it. In all, the week was hectic. But the toughest part telling was their parents. Smriti’s mother was so astonished that she just sat gaping at her daughter for full three minutes. She just couldn’t comprehend that there had been so much going on without her knowledge in her house. It was bewildering idea to all, but finally the jigsaw puzzle was completed. But just as tomorrow is another day, there is another tale to be told.

154

THE SMRITI OF YAJNAVALKYA IN A DREAM SEQUENCE A Video Clip

Now that you are doing so much of ‘jasoosi’, I must tell you something about others and myself. My name has been frequenting the corridors of your thinking apparatus so many times that you must have associated it with so many different events in your life. I am not simply a character in the Upanishads. I am a long list of traditional rishis to which Vedic people have associated possible and impossible ideologies. I stand at the forefront of all changes in life and times of Vedic people. I am also the Smritikara who has finally given stability and structure to the steel frame that was Āryavarta. But you know what is meant by Smriti, it is long-term memory. I have been questioned and quoted in so many sutras and dialogues in the Upanishads that you may find quite a few contradictions in my characterization. But here I am to explain to you everything and also about memory in modern 21st century terminology of neurotransmitters and their genetic makeup. Today I shall start a dialogue with Mendel or Mendeleev, let Matilal and Mohanty wait with Matt. How shall I begin? Even during my dialogues I was at a loss for words. I never feared Maitreyi. She had an excellent knowledge of all the aspects of the 155


yÀjnas. She was adept in all the Srauta Sutra and even mathematical complications of the Shulva Sutras were not unknown to her. ‘Today if I see a self confident human being, I see 4 billion years of accumulated learning.’ You can hear Maharshi DayÀnand’s voice in this sentence. We have been performing yajnas for so many years now, and that is how the age of the earth is enumerated in the Vedas. I will not take any sides in this discussion today. The quote is actually from Matt Ridley’s book but I am juxtaposing Maharshi. But conclusions could be different. There is no concept of divinity (Biblical) in scientific theory of evolution. But is it there in the Vedas? I cannot take sides. But I have been at the threshold of so many intellectual revolutions that 1 am not afraid of the advancements of learning. I rather welcome it and I will suggest you also to welcome all learning as per our tradition. Well, interpretation should be yours and you should never be overwhelmed by the enormity of the human endeavour of research in science and philosophy. If you want to know of Smritis, you will have to know the modern language of neurology and genetics. Shruti is always in meters but not all of my works are. ShikshÀ says that Shruti should be learnt by rote, hence the matter was embodied in set form of language, mostly in meters so that words could be recited and sung. The manner in which they were to be recited was also known and various forms of patha - ghana, jatÀ, mÀlÀ, krama, and most important, pada and samhits –– had a lot of redundancy built in so that the texts remembered orally and similarly transmitted through generations, was never corrupted. It was a matter of speech. But in my case, what was communicated was the substance of the matter –– information and thought, in which language was not of much consequence. Here it was mostly a matter of memory. Former is naturally of superior authority, but where Shruti and Smriti cover the same ground, the revealed law prevailed over the unrevealed law. I have fought many intellectual battles. Ashvala and ShÀkalya, who were interested in ritualism and theology, who I could dispose 156

T h e s m r i t i of y a j n a v a lkya in a dream sequence

of easily, JaratkÀrtva, who was interested in eschatology, Bhujju, a psychical researcher, Ushasta, who was interested in nature of reality, Kahola, who wanted to know the practical way to realization, GÀrgi and UddÀlak, who were both interested in the problem of Immanence, one dynamically, the other, statically. Last but not the least, the formidable King Janaka, who also put up a great intellectual fight. I have used analogies, similes, negations, proofs, incidents, stories and what not, to prove my point and this is documented in various Upanishads. Incidents of my life are many, and have received due attention in explaining self, consciousness, death, atman and a philosophy of life in which one understands all the relationships in the world in true perspective, and thus, the philosophy of Karma. The philosophy of Karma was hijacked later by philosophers of all hues. Buddha too, uses it with a peculiar moral force. Much of Buddhism can be seen as a foreshadow in my dialogues. Mine (smriti) is one of the sources of knowledge of law along with Vedas (Shruti), dharma shastra, good conduct, one’s own self satisfaction. Where law texts conflict, reasoning (NyÀya) steps in. The principles and rules of interpretation given by MimÀmsakas are the answer to the questions. (I am now referring to various Smritis by other SmritikÀrs including mine.) What is the meaning and attention of a particular word or sentence or passage? Whether it constitutes an obligatory rule of any kind or quasiobligatory rule of a non-obligatory nature? The principles and rules may be divided into these classes: A. Axioms of interpretation; there are two fundamental principles: no word is superfluous, and contradictory texts should be so interpreted that they are made consistent. If one rule would suffice, more may not be invoked; a word once uttered, must have only one meaning; if a subordinate clause conflicts with the principal one, it must be either be made to agree with the latter or altogether discarded. If there is real contradiction between texts they may be removed by showing either that the texts apply to 157


different cases, or that the negative text merely limits the scope of the positive text. B. General principles as regards the interpretation of words C. General principles of application of texts D. Specific rules called NyÀya E. Rules which specially bear on the character and interpretation of holy texts and usage. The obvious principles of interpretation are: Where a sentence meaning is complete and exquisite, no attempt should be made to twist it. Where the literal meaning does not fit in with the context, a technical meaning is to be assigned by taking the internal and external contexts into consideration. Rules of grammar are to be invoked to make seemingly unconnected words or sentences into a connected text. Where a sentence or a clause has no meaning by itself or has no complete meaning, it has to be read together with some other text with which it agrees and in whose context it may be assigned complete meaning. For constructive understanding of my works, it is imperative to follow Jaimini, in particular. I. Smriti is presumed to be authoritative and binding. II. In event of conflict between Shruti and Smriti, the latter fails. III. A Smriti text, the origin of which can be traced to perverse motives is not binding. That means that authority is not attached to Smriti prompted by worldly motives. IV. A usage has the force of law if not originated in any perverse motive. V. Between two conflicting usages, that which conforms to the ShÀstra is to prevail. VI. An authorized matter expressed in foreign words must be understood in the sense that these words carry with the foreigners. VII. A usage of Smriti must be reduced to the short simple and general form of a Vedic Vidhi. 158


So now that you know of Smriti in the older sense, let me tell you about Smriti in the new, probably newest, sense. But first I will have to tell you something about DNA and genes. Two classic experiments proved that DNA is the genetic material and its shape and structure was determined in 1953 by the famous team of Watson and Crick. DNA is a double helix consisting of antiparallel strands in which the nucleotide units are linked by bonds. The backbone provides the exterior; bases are stacked in the interior in pairs in which A is complementary to T while G is complementary to C. The strands separate and use complementary base pairing to assemble daughter strands. Complementary base pairing is also used to transcribe RNA representing one strand of a DNA duplex.

A stretch of DNA may code for protein. The genetic code describes the relationship between the sequence of the protein. A coding sequence of DNA consists of a series of codons, read from a fixed starting point. A codon consists of three nucleotides that represent a single amino acid. A chromosome consists of an uninterrupted length of duplex DNA that contains many genes. Each gene is transcribed into an RNA 159


product, which in turn is translated into a polypeptide sequence if the gene codes for protein. A protein product of a gene is said to be transacting. A gene is defined as a unit on a single stretch of DNA by the complementation test. A mutation consists of a change in the sequence of A-T and G-C base pairs in DNA. The question, what is memory, has many new, genetics-inspired answers. The CRE BB P genes are on chromosomes on 16. CRE stands for: Cyclic AMP (adenosine mono phosphate) response elements. The human CREB gene itself is on Chromosome No.2 but its critical ally, which helps the CREB to do its job, called CREB-BBP is on chromosome 16. There is another learning gene called alphaintegrin. Volado flies are a different kind of mutant fly. Volado flies have hard time learning. Volado seems to have nothing to do with CREB or cyclic AMP. It is the recipe for a sub-unit of a protein called alpha integrin, which seems to play a role in binding cells together. The scientists took flies in which this gene had been knocked out and inserted a fresh copy linked with a heat shock gene, a gene that becomes switched on when suddenly heated up. They arranged the two so that the volado gene only worked when the heat shock gene was on. At cool temperatures, the flies would not learn. Three hours after a heat shock, they suddenly become good learners. A few hours later, they again lost the ability to learn. This means that volado is needed at the exact moment of learning; it is just not a gene required to build the structures that do the learning. And this same volado gene is to be found in humans, and allows learning and memory. When you learn something, you alter the physical network of your brain so as to create new, tight connections where there were none or weaker ones before. And all this is achieved in parts of the brain, which has been designed as one of the finest monuments to the capacities of the genes. The experiments on neuro-sciences of various hues suggest the impressiveness of the machine that is the brain. It has 160


trillions of synapses. It is a three-dimensional analogue machine. It requires many thousands of different proteins, neurotransmitters, and other chemicals. It changes while you watch; as synapses are altered to create learned memories. Experiences teach this apparatus all the lessons needed for the survival of the person i.e. you, who holds this apparatus in your armour. This is “Smriti” in modern terminology. I, the participator of many a debates in olden times, am ready to argue again.

The genetic code: The 63 Rasas Makhali Goshalak

The brain is created by the new Àtman i.e. gene; But it is only as good as its innate design. The brain, the seat of memory, a machine deigned to be modified by experience is but written in the genes. The mystery of how this is written is yet to be deciphered by you. NA was saying: we can’t yet unpack the meanings of a gene the way the protein does each time it folds into its native active form, yet we’ve learnt how a protein is put together from information in a gene. He also asked philosophically, “what makes an object the object we 161


perceive?” It transpired that he was seeking what is the meaning of the sentence from alphabet to another. The dialogue continues from levels in time and argumentative space. DNA carries a representative of text and this is transcribed from one alphabetic sentences of many letters (base pairs) to a second alphabetic language of letters (amino acids). The book of proteins is written in this language of amino acids. Then strings of amino acids are trained to become a threedimensional sculpted figure (protein). This translation involves not only carrying the meaning of sentence from one alphabet to another but also allows the string of letters in the second protein alphabet to immediately fold itself up, thereby enacting each sentence’s meaning. Language of life is richer than the languages the humans have used in communicating. The protein is the meaning of the DNA word, not its translation into pictographic language. Now you see the machinery working in the dream factory. S, (Is it you, girl?) entered the action zone where a lot of activities were going on in the cottage. There was a room full of messengers moving here and there but S stopped at Mr. NA –– MahÀ Rishi NegAtion (as in mRNA) from which all positives flow. The first step is Transcription.

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Rishi Mr. NA’s mouth was giving out a series of commands “now here, begin transcription— bring (intron) some (intron) fig (intron) from (intron) there (intron).” Mr. NA’s speech comes from AGUA in Paraguay, which gets translated into TCAT. This is the flash card of the traveller NA Rishi’s chela (disciple) [tRNA]. And the speech is acted upon by a Kanya MERI BOSO (ribosome). Help is taken from the flash card of tRNA to translate the speech. The book of proteins is written largely in the language of aminoacidium. Now the Rishi speaks in the modem language of the experts explaining the idiom of translation, giving here and there the flavour of the old land of the Rishi Buddha. The problem of death can only be solved when the problem of birth, conception development and genetic regulation is comprehended. Before a gene can be translated, a set of proteins must act on its regulatory region: a stretch of DNA next to gene itself. Binding to this silent DNA, a paragraph worth of regulatory proteins together determine whether gene’s single sentence will be translated or not. Some of their proteins are tissue specific, some respond to environmental or hormonal changes and some can be sensitive to sunlight. Thus spake the Rishi further: the problem of translation Before translation can begin in cytoplasm, RNA transcript of the gene must be edited and bound with the nucleus. The editing is done by sNRPs (small nuclear ribonucleic proteins). These sNRFs bind to particular stretches of RNA in a transcript called introns, clip them out and discard them. Once sNRPs have reconnected the free ends of the remaining transcript, the edited RNA no longer carries base sequences identical to its gene, or to any other gene. Editing thus changes a transcript profoundly, deleting a portion of the text as a book editor would make for a heading on a page: the problem of “translation”. Since introns can be spliced out in various ways from a single transcript, editing introns is a source of polysemy in DNA sentences as well as multiplying the final meanings of a gene 163


helping translation by unpacking two or more edited versions of a transcript from a single gene sequence.

FIGURE: Figure explains splicing of a primary transcript which removes intron sequences and joins the exons to yield a messenger RNA. For Polysemy see figures later

To protect edited transcripts from getting dog-eared, nuclear proteins add a chemical cap to one end of each and a tail –– a stretch of A’s –– to the other. Finally clipped, coiffed transcripts –– mRNAs –– are ready to be sent to the cytoplasm to be translated. RNA polymerase twists the DNA so that its two strands are slightly unwound, separating dozen or so bases on each strand from their paired bases on the other. The enzyme then brings RNA bases to one of the naked DNA strands and links them to create a new RNA whose base sequence is complementary to one DNA. RNA polymerase continues down the gene stitching together this cRNA transcript until it reaches a short sequence which signals to stop. At this DNA domain, RNA polymerase lets go of both DNA and transcript, and the DNA rewinds itself into Double Helix. The regulatory region of the gene has a second syntactical structure, 164


one that is not limited by requirement of communication at a distance by translation. The spoken, translated portion of gene is syntactically of the form ‘do this to that’. The unspoken regulatory portion is a different sort of Mimansa command “Now, here, begin translation”. The translated portion must follow ‘now’ and must immediately precede first domain of translated portion. “Now here begin translation: do this to that” Liver cells have 5 different ‘now’ domains. While cells of many tissues make one or more of the regulatory proteins needed to activate liver specific genes, only liver cells contain all the proteins necessary to signal that the translation should occur from these genes. There are various other components, like enhancers, silencers etc. which play quite important role in this process. Conversation amongst various regulatory proteins and sNRPs concerned with muscle development as a chick is developing in its egg (Abhimanyu style). Now here is gene’s regulatory sequence. The gene shall be read as “Now, here, begin translation: Make [intron] some [intron] light [intron] dark [intron] gizzard [intron] meat,”

FIGURE: Figure explains symbolically examples of alternative splicing - see examples of text

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When regulatory protein binds to ‘now, here’ RNA polymerase begins transcription of that sentence. In breast muscle, editing introns would generate a messenger with intron free instruction “Make some light meat”. The leg muscle would edit the same transcript ‘Make some dark meat”. Both tissue specific readings –– and other variants in gizzards and the likes –– would conserve the domains for ‘make’, ‘some’, and ‘meat’. The Rishi was thinking of a similar example “Bring [intron] some [intronl fig [intron] from [intron] over [intron] there.” He was thinking in terms of his dialogues elsewhere. But who has edited his dialogues? The polysemy interjected by editing adds to the ambiguity brought on by the redundancy of the genetic code. Two or more DNA sequences may in fact encode the same protein by using redundant codons to order the assembly of same amino acid sequence. But the ambiguity is one way only. Looking at a protein’s amino acid, it is not possible to predict the DNA sequence that encoded it. In contrast every Mr NA messenger sequence is unambiguous. It leads to only one protein. Mutations are like copiers making a mistake while copying a text. Mutations also reveal that meanings of a gene are not limited to protein complex as these meanings could be mutations in non-coding DNA –– they may create abnormal forms or amounts of proteins, whose aberrant function we see as disease. The RISHI Mr NA was full of ideas, which he wanted to put before the girl, but the fear of editing brought a chill to his spine and the dream sequence was interrupted. The letter had got intertwined with a dream S had once had, and the information an ancient philosopher had conveyed to her was surprising. It will take her many years to decipher this completely. But the dream text is sacred and needs to be explained and understood.

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