The Krishna Key

by Ashwin Sanghi

‘The ancients not only knew that one could split white light into seven constituent colours but also that one could take seven constituent colours and combine them to produce dazzling white light. But their knowledge went far beyond that, and I’ll hopefully be able to convince you after I explain this next bit to you.

‘The concept of chakras originates in Hindu texts and is featured in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word for wheel,’ she replied confidently. ‘Indian yogis believed that chakras existed in the subtle body of living beings. Chakras are whorls of energy—rotating vortices of subtle matter that are considered the focal points for the reception and transmission of energies.’

well, if you know that there are seven chakras, you would also know that Indian classical music as described in the Upanishads has seven notes of melody—Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni. These seven notes roughly correspond to the western Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, and Ti. It is my hypothesis that the seven notes correspond to each of the seven chakras within us. The chakra is activated when the frequency of the note matches the frequency of the given chakra.’ ‘Yes, that could be possible. But we were never taught to meditate using Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni. We always meditated to the sound of Om,’ said Priya. ‘Think about it Priya,’ said Saini excitedly, ‘seven colours combine to form one universal light—white light. If you combine the seven frequencies of melody what sound will you get? Om—the universal sound! You did not realise it while meditating, but the reason that you were reciting the universal sound is because it includes the frequencies of the seven notes that are needed to activate the seven main chakras!’

‘Everything! Modern scientists now believe that there are seven broad forms of energy—mechanical, heat, chemical, radiant, electrical, sound, and nuclear. It is my reasoned guess that the ancient yogis knew this. They also knew that each of these could be broken into seven constituent elements! It’s impossible to understand how they knew this, but they did. Even their most important and exalted river—the Sarasvati—was part of the Saptasindhu, the seven rivers. Vedic knowledge was derived from the Saptarishi—the seven sages. Even Dwarka was the embodiment of Saptadweep—the seven islands. The Vedic calendar was based on the seven-day phase of the moon!’

‘We have forgotten the vast repository of knowledge that existed in Vedic times,’ he continued. ‘For example, children in school are taught that the sun is ninety-three million miles from the earth and that the speed of light is a hundred and eighty-six thousand miles per second. Would it surprise you to note that Sayana, a fourteenth-century Indian scholar, in his commentary on a hymn in the Rig Veda says, “with deep respect, I bow to the sun who travels 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesha”. For your information, a yojana is about nine American miles and a nimesha is 16/75th of a second. Do the conversion, Priya! Sayana is simply stating the obvious—that sunlight travels at a hundred and eighty-six thousand miles per second!’

The divine is simply that which cannot be explained at that given moment in history,’ concluded Kurkude. ‘In your world, God will cease to exist as science advances,’ joked Saini. ‘What you say isn’t untrue. With every advance in our understanding of the world, we leave less that cannot be explained. As that happens, there’s less room for God,’ said Kurkude, smiling.

‘That’s because the manual describes in precise detail the building of a Smashaanachitha—a funeral altar. The Mastaba of Djoser, built around 2700 BCE, is an inverted Vedic funeral altar down to the very last detail,’ said Kurkude triumphantly. ‘But how did that happen?’ asked Saini. ‘All construction needed geometry and it was the Vedas that gave the world geometry,’ explained Kurkude. ‘The present English word, geometry, is derived from a Greek root which itself was derived from a Sanskrit word—Jyamiti. In Sanskrit, jya means an arc or a curve and miti means the correct perception or measurement. The prayer in the Egyptian Book of the Dead is more or less identical to the Taittiriya Samhita, which prescribes the invocations to be used at a funeral altar. It says “May we gain prosperity in the world of our fathers.” Uncanny, wouldn’t you say? The world deludes itself into believing that it was Pythagoras who gave us the famous theorem regarding the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle but the Baudhayana Sulbasutra, which was written five hundred years before Pythagoras, states that a rope stretched along the length of a diagonal line produces an area which the vertical and horizontal sides make together. So who invented the Pythagoras theorem—Pythagoras or Baudhayana?’ ‘You mean that Pythagoras got it from the Vedas?’ asked Saini. ‘Don’t take my word for it. The French philosopher Voltaire was the one who vehemently declared, “Pythagoras went to the Ganges to learn geome...

‘The rosary represents the ecliptic—the path of the sun and moon across the sky. Yogis divide the ecliptic into twenty-seven equal sections called nakshatras, and each of these into four equal padas—or steps—marking the 108 steps that the sun and moon take through the skies,’ explained Mataji. ‘But do you know what’s even more remarkable about the number 108?’ Taarak waited expectantly, and was rewarded. ‘What’s truly amazing is the fact that the distance between the earth and the sun is exactly 108 times the sun’s diameter. More incredible is the fact that the distance between the earth and the moon is 108 times the moon’s diameter. Finally, do you know that the diameter of the sun is 108 times the earth’s diameter? The ancient yogis knew this! That’s why 108 is such a sacred number.’ ‘So is 108 a representation of God?’ asked Taarak. ‘Yes. Can you add up the individual digits of 108 and tell me what you get?’ ‘That’s easy. The answer is 9.’ ‘Nine is a very special number, Taarak. The number 9 represents wholeness. What’s particularly magical is that if you multiply 9 by anything, the answer is always 9 when you add the digits together. Try it! What’s 2 × 9?’ ‘Eighteen,’ answered Taarak confidently. ‘Now add the digits of 18 together and tell me what do you get?’ ‘Nine!’ exclaimed Taarak. ‘Very good. Let’s try another one. Slightly more difficult. What’s 15 × 9?’ ‘A hundred and thirty-five,’ answered Taarak, after doing the multiplication in his head. ‘And 135 is made up ...

‘So Krishna was given the status of a cowherd to preserve cattle numbers?’ asked Priya. ‘Not just cattle but the entire agricultural way of life,’ said Saini. ‘The name Krishna is derived from Krishi—the Sanskrit word for agriculture. The new migrants to the Ganges basin needed milk, ghee, and butter. They also relied on cow dung for fertiliser and fuel.

Even today, when a Hindu performs prayers, the Brahmin will usually ask him for his gothra—his lineage. But the word gothra actually means a herd—or line—of cows! Why, even the founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha had a name that had a link to Krishna’s cows!’ ‘How?’ asked Priya. ‘The name Gautama is derived from two words gau—or cow—and uttama—or greatest. Combined, the two words mean the greatest cow or the ultimate cow. The word “gau” also referred to the white colour of cows, and hence Gautama was also the ultimate white light,’ said Saini smiling. Even the most sacred spot of the Buddhists is Bodh Gaya. Gaya is simply another word for cow. Gaya is mentioned in the Ramayana. In the epic, Rama, along with Sita and Lakshmana, visited a place called Gayapuri to make offerings to the spirit of their father, Dasharath. This Gayapuri is modern-day Bodh Gaya. Now do you see why Hindus consider Buddha as the ninth avatar of Vishnu?’

‘Virtually all of Krishna’s abundant names revolve around the cow—Gopala, Godharin, Gomateshwar, Gopa, Govardhana, Govinda, Gosvami. You’ll be even more surprised when I tell you that your last vacation spot had a name derived from Krishna’s cows!’

‘The ancients knew far more about medicine than we’re willing to believe,’ replied Chhedi. ‘Vedic surgeons wrote about plastic surgery, extraction of cataracts, dental surgery, caesarean sections and bone-setting. Surgery—known as Shastrakarma in the Vedas—was pioneered in the Shushruta Samahita. Shushruta’s path-breaking treatise describes rhinoplasty in which a mutilated nose can be reconstructed through plastic surgery! The Charaka Samhita authored by Charaka discusses physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, immunity and even genetics. For example, Charaka knew the factors that determined the sex of a child. Why is it impossible to believe that the ancients knew of genetic cloning? Read between the lines, Inspector,’ said Chhedi.

‘Our mythology tells us that Brahama took birth from the umbilicus of Vishnu. Was this just imagination or was it indicative of the fact that Vedic people knew of the presence and significance of stem cells in the umbilical cord?’ asked Chhedi.

‘It means that Krishna is alive! If Krishna is transcendental, infallible, unborn, and his body never deteriorates; if Krishna is without origin, middle or end and if he—Krishna—is the generating seed of all existence, then the only obvious conclusion is that he is alive!’ thundered Mataji, as she continued counting her beads feverishly.

‘Mount Kailash is viewed as the abode of Shiv. How does Krishna enter the picture?’ asked Chhedi. ‘Shivaya Vishnu roopaya, Shiva roopaya Vishnuve; Shivasya hridayam Vishnu, Vishnoscha hridayam Shivaha!’ said Saini turning his attention away from the smudged note. ‘The shloka means that Shiv is merely a form of Vish and that Vish is merely a form of Shiv. Shiv resides in the heart of Vish and Vish resides in that of Shiv. According to the Vedic sages, Mount Kailash was the centre of the world. It had four clear faces—thus resulting in its pyramid shape. As per mythology, the four faces were made of crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis lazuli. In Vedic times, it would have been considered the pillar of the world! Twenty-two thousand feet high, Mount Kailash lies at the heart of the world’s mandala and is nestled within six mountain ranges that symbolise a lotus. The four rivers originating from Kailash supposedly flow down to the four quarters of the world and divide the world into four regions. The sacred character of this mountain goes way beyond Vishnu, Shiv, or Hinduism.’ ‘How?’ asked Chhedi. ‘The book of Genesis, in the Bible, describes the Garden of Eden, where Creation started. It says: Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. Kailash was the original Eden, my friend!’

‘The point that I am making, Roger, is this: isn’t it possible that when Krishna was killed by an arrow lodged in his left foot, what was witnessed was not a killing but a process of ancient DNA extraction?’ asked Chhedi. ‘And if this DNA had to be preserved, wouldn’t the logical place to preserve it be under a sheet of ice that never thawed? Say a location like Mount Kailash?’

‘So the one built by Bhimdev is officially counted as the first?’ asked Chhedi. ‘Yes,’ replied Saini. ‘The second temple was built by the Vallabhi chieftains who were Yadavas. This temple was probably constructed in the seventh century.’ ‘What happened to it?’ asked Rathore. ‘In the year 725 CE, Junayad—who was the Arab governor of Sindh—sent his armies to destroy the temple. Thereafter, the Pratihara king Nagabhata II reconstructed the temple in the ninth century. This third temple was a substantial structure built from red sandstone,’ said Saini. ‘Ah. So this was the one that was destroyed by Ghazni?’ asked Chhedi. ‘Precisely. In 1024 CE, Mahmud of Ghazni, in what would be central-east Afghanistan today, attacked Somnath, after crossing the Thar Desert. After looting all the riches of the temple, he destroyed most of it—including the main Shiv lingam,’ said Saini. ‘The fourth temple was then constructed by the Paramara king, Bhoj of Malwa and the Solanki king, Bhima of Anhilwara, sometime in the eleventh century.’ ‘Who destroyed that one?’ joked Chhedi. ‘Actually, no one,’ replied Saini. ‘The wooden structure had to be replaced due to wear and tear. King Kumarpal of Pali replaced the wooden structure with a stone one—so that would have been the fifth temple.’ ‘I’m assuming that someone razed the fifth temple,’ said Radhika blandly. Saini smiled. ‘Unfortunately, yes. In the year 1296, the temple was once again desecrated and eventually destroyed by the Turkic Afghan, Sult...

Saini spelt out the name for Chhedi and, turning to Radhika, said, ‘Zakariya was a Persian traveller and wrote a book titled Asaru-l Bilad wa Akhbaru-l’ Ibad, in the thirteenth century,’ said Saini. ‘Translated, the title means Monuments of Countries and Memoirs of Men. He has provided a vivid description of the Somnath temple and the destruction of it by Ghazni.’ ‘Ah! Here it is,’ said Chhedi, searching the relevant extract on his tablet. ‘Zakariya says that Somnath is the celebrated city of India, situated on the shore of the sea, and washed by its waves. Among the wonders of that place was the temple in which was placed the idol called Somnat. This idol was in the middle of the temple without anything to support it from below, or to suspend it from above. It was held in the highest honour among the Hindus, and whoever beheld it floating in the air was struck with amazement, whether he was a Musulman or an infidel. The Hindus used to go on pilgrimage to it whenever there was an eclipse of the moon, and would then assemble there to the number of more than a hundred thousand.’ ‘Continue reading the extract,’ said Saini. ‘He will go on to describe how rich Somnath was.’ Chhedi continued. ‘Zakariya says that everything of the most precious was brought there as offerings, and the temple was endowed with more than ten thousand villages. There is a river—the Ganges, which is held sacred between which and Somnat the distance is two hundred parasangs. They used to bring the water...

‘The original doors of the Somnath temple had six-pointed stars for decoration,’ replied Saini. ‘The doors were taken away by Ghazni and they were installed in his tomb upon his death. There’s a lithograph of Ghazni’s tomb in the book Afghaunistan, a travelogue written by Lieutenant James Rattray. In that lithograph you can see the Somnath doors with their six-pointed stars in the carving.’ Chhedi had run a search on the internet and had located an image of the lithograph in question. ‘See the stars on the doors?’ he said, passing the tablet out to the others. ‘But what exactly is the significance of the six-pointed stars on the doors?’ asked Rathore, humbly. ‘Six-pointed stars represent the ultimate union of Shiv and Shakti,’ explained Saini. ‘The upright triangle represents the erect phallus and the inverted triangle represents the female genitalia—or yoni. The intersection of the two triangles represents fertility—the union of male and female.

‘We know the tremendous mystical importance that the Vedic seers attached to the number 108 right? But 108 is derived from the multiplication of an ancient sequence. The sequence is 11, 22, 33 and 108 is simply the result of 11 x 22 x 33. Why were the Indus Valley residents using bricks in the ratio 1:2:3 if they were not Vedic?’ asked Saini as they trekked their way to the Cave of the Thirteen Gold Stupas on Kailash’s southern face.

‘I haven’t heard of Ilah or Mahi. In modern Hinduism we have Lakshmi and Durga, but no Ilah or Mahi,’ said Radhika. ‘That’s because Ilah was another name for Durga,’ explained Saini. ‘Doesn’t it sound a lot like Allah?’ asked Radhika, her curiosity piqued. ‘You are spot-on,’

‘The existence of the word Allah prior to Islam is evident from the fact that the prophet Mohammad’s own father had the name Abd-Allah—what is today commonly pronounced Abdullah. Translated, it meant servant of Allah,’ replied Saini. ‘This is the best evidence of the fact that the name Allah was in use prior to the advent of Islam.’

‘Well, in the Rig Veda, one comes across a verse that says “ekkam satya vipra bahuda vidhaante”. It means, Truth is one, God is one, although sages may call him by a variety of names. This is the essence of Vedic philosophy. It is a misconception that the Vedic faith is polytheistic,’

According to a Persian inscription still visible on the eastern gateway, the mosque had been built using parts recovered from the demolition of twenty-seven Hindu and Jain temples.

Further ahead lay the Qutub Minar itself, soaring two hundred and thirty-eight feet into the sky. It had been built as a victory tower to commemorate the defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Hindu king of Delhi, at the hands of Muhammad Ghori in 1192 CE.

Among Hindus, 108 is considered the holiest of numbers. You will find that 18, 108, 1008, 10008—and further similar variations—are all considered sacred. The Mahabharata has 18 chapters; there were 18 Yadava clans of Krishna; Jarasandha attacked Mathura 18 times; the Mahabharata war lasted 18 days; 18 armies fought the great battle; there are 18 chapters in each of our Vedas; there are 18 Puranas; there were 18 Maharathi—or exalted—warriors in the Mahabharata war; there are 18 chapters in the Bhagwad Gita…’

‘In Arabic, there is a method known as the Abjad—or ordinal—method. Each letter has an arithmetic value assigned to it from one to one thousand. The very first verse of the Qur’an is Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim, and if you take the numeric values of all the letters of this first verse in accordance with the Abjad order, the total is 786,’ explained Saini.

‘So 786 is sacred in Islam because of the Abjad value of the first Qur’anic verse?’ asked Radhika. ‘There is another explanation offered by Vedic scholars about the Islamic 786,’ answered Saini. ‘As you know, the modern numerals that we use in the Western world are commonly called Arabic numerals. What is often forgotten is the fact that Arabic numerals originally started out as Hindu numerals. What the world uses today—including the zero—was the numeral system developed by Indian mathematicians in which a sequence of digits could be read as a number. Persian mathematicians in India adopted the Hindu numeral system and passed it on to the Arabs further west. The Arabs shared the system with Europe during the Middle Ages, and hence, the system came to be known as Arabic.’ ‘So the numerals that we commonly use today across the world—zero through nine—are actually Hindu numbers?’ asked Radhika. ‘Yes, absolutely. Now if I take the three digits—7, 8 and 6—and write them in Hindu numerals, what do they look like?’

‘You will notice that the three digits—7, 8 and 6—when brought together resemble the Hindu Om. Actually, they represent the mirror image of an Om,’ amended Saini as he continued drawing. ‘Finally, flip around the mirror-image Om and you get the Hindu Om that we are all familiar with,’ he said, proudly displaying his artistic skills.

‘It’s impossible to say. Theories abound. Purist Islamic scholars denounce 786 completely. Their view is that the Prophet Mohammad was completely against astrology and numerology.

‘It’s simple. The Taj Mahal represents the age of Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jahan, when Hindus and Muslims had begun to learn to live with one another,’ replied Saini. ‘The fact that prominent Hindus such as Raja Man Singh, Tansen, Birbal and Todar Mal were among the navaratnas of Akbar’s court is testament to that fact. Akbar contributed to building Man Singh’s Vrindavan temple. Man Singh’s family contributed their property in Agra to Shah Jahan to build Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb. The number 894 is simply the addition of 108 and 786! The Taj Mahal represents Hindu-Muslim creative energies at their very best!’

Saini smiled. ‘Don’t you want to know what Raja Man Singh’s palace in Agra was called?’ ‘What?’ asked Radhika, completely perplexed. ‘It was called Tejo Mahalay,’ replied Saini. ‘Tejo Mahalay? What does it mean?’ asked Radhika. ‘It literally translates to the Great Abode of Tej. The Rajput and Jat kings of the time used to call Shiv by the name Tejaji,’ explained Saini. ‘Hence the name of the palace meant Great Abode of Shiv.

‘According to Hindu scriptures, the universe never came into existence at any given point of time. It always existed, but remained in a state of perpetual flux,’ said Priya. ‘What we call the universe is simply the present universe. Each universe starts with a Big Bang, and expands to a point, before it starts shrinking. The universe eventually collapses back into the singularity from which it had emerged and a new expanding universe begins once again. This is the reason that 108 is considered sacred. One—represents the singularity from which the universe emerges, zero—the egg or anda of the present universe, and eight—infinity or the maximum extent of expansion in the eight directions from which contraction must happen.’

‘What is the Sanskrit word for universe?’ countered Saini. ‘In ancient Hindu texts, the universe is called Brahamanda. The word Brahamanda is derived from two words—Brahama and Anda. Brahama means expanding and anda means egg. It’s a fitting description of the expanding egg-shaped universe as described by the Big Bang theory. Vish simply represents expansion of energy into matter and Shiv represents contraction of matter back to energy—the energy of the universe remaining constant and unchanged.’

‘The point I’m making is that every stone is a Syamantaka,’ said Saini. ‘When we stand before an image inside a temple and pray fervently, we end up transforming ourselves through our own positive vibrations. The stone miraculously turns magical. The real alchemy happens inside us. That’s where the magic is!’

‘It’s not because of the stone but because of the philosopher who uses it,’ said Saini. ‘When thousands of people stand before a stone idol and pray to it, they end up harmonising their energy. Energy and matter are the very same thing according to Einstein and the Upanishads—but thoughts, mind, and spirit are also energy.

Victor Hugo once said, “Where the telescope ends the microscope begins, and who can say which has the wider vision?”