From chapter 1
mR^ita-matsyo nAma dvitIyo.adhyAyaH |
Sometime later the country abruptly returned to normalcy – the Hindus heaved a sigh of relief. The buzz going around was that the seasoned politician and home minister Vidharam Yadav, who was reputed to have never been on the losing side, had negotiated a deal by which national peace was restored instantly. He had appeared on national media and declared that in a week a major announcement would be made regarding the peace deal and its details. Thus, the last semester of their degree course resumed and Lootika, Somakhya and others were back in their university. Somakhya and Lootika, having much to catch up, went to their favorite meadow behind their university departments and wandered to the shade of the large elephant apple tree that stood in the midst of it. Somakhya eagerly inquired about the results of the experiments of Varoli on the Gambusia fish. He excitedly asked: “Did you sequence the `acclimatization-negative loci` of the mutant fish that appeared to prevent them from transmitting the acclimatization capability to their offspring.” Lootika: “Yes we got 4 of them and sequenced them though I have not looked at the sequences yet as you are best qualified to take the first stab at them.” She pulled out her tablet and showed the data to Somakhya. Lootika: “Ah the first mutation seems like in no man’s land.” Somakhya snatching her tablet and scrolling down the chromosome remarked: “Hey, not really! See it is in the regulatory region of WDR5: part of the MLL1 histone H3K4 methylase complex. That clinches our hunch that this is an epigenetic phenomenon! Let’s look at the next one.” Lootika taking back her tablet said: “Here it is, one of the DNMT3 paralogs of the fish-specific expansion. And look at this! The remaining two are also other DNMT3 paralogs.” They did a spontaneous high-five and said: “This is splendid!” Somakhya: “I have devised in my mind of a new sequencing methodology. I think you should get your little sis Jhilleeka to try to implement it along with my acquaintance Sandeep, who seems to have conquered the necessary microfluidics technology and has obtained some money to do such things. It would be a good thing for Jhilleeka to spend her long vacation on. We can then sequence the methylomes and study the status of the various heat acclimatization loci.” Lootika: “Indeed that would be a great thing to do. It could also be leveraged for our long term plan to understand how the XX-XY and WZ-ZZ sex determination evolved in the two species of Gambusia.”

A week later Vidharam Yadav made his much awaited announcement. In the deal he had cut the two opposition leaders Azhar Mehmood and Sajid Mir were to respectively become prime minister and deputy-prime minister. The UCC bill would never be mentioned on the floor of the parliament again and Sharia law would be implemented in all places the Momin were in majority. Its implementation was to be in three phases: In the first it was jail time for most crimes deemed fit for such by the Qazis. In the second the amputations and lashings were to follow and finally the beheadings and stonings in the third. They also wanted to ban the rAShTrIya svatantratA senA, but that did not come through – the compromise was they were banned from starting a shAkhA in any area having more than 40% Momin. Somakhya was walking into the university department. He ran into Sharad who excitedly remarked: “That was a master stroke by the revolutionary and seasoned politician Vidharam Yadav. Indeed, who else in the ruling coalition would have thought of ceding power in the interest of national peace.” Somakhya: “Well, I really do not want to hear any of that crap – the consequences of this will be felt for long.”

He felt low and deciding not to attend classes walked away towards the meadow and sat under the large elephant apple tree. He kept looking at the alignment of the DNMT3 genes from Lootika and Varoli’s fishes. After some time he sensed Lootika walking towards him. He did not look at her face but as she neared him he asked: “What about the fishes; did you resequence the mutants?” Lootika did not answer but appeared to be quietly standing beside him for sometime. Surprised he looked up. Her face was drawn and she was almost in tears. Somakhya: “I know it is a depressing day but your face looks funereal. Why what happened?” Lootika: “Well, the fish are dead and worse things have happened. All the fish mysteriously died. When I was away at college my mother asked Varoli and Jhilleeka to dispose them right away as she feared the house being polluted by the stench of dead fish. They seem to have thrown them out and our cat chitra seems to have eaten them. Now it is seriously ill and I doubt it would make it past this day despite my father attempting to treat it.” Somakhya: “Lootika, if there is even one of these dead fish left ask Vrischika to do a blood agar culture as soon as possible. Instruct her to be careful – wear gloves and work in a hood and all that. Then get the plates to me.” Two days latter Somakhya lifted his eye from the ocular of the microscope and turning to Lootika and Vrishchika remarked “Look at those saffron rods – it is Edwardsiella tarda.” Vrischika: “trayastriMshAH! Good we took precaution. Our father had described to me a case: a man had come to him from Mumbai where he had sustained an injury while sailing. His leg muscles were undergoing rapid necrosis. It turned out to be E. tarda! We may be able to save chitra after all.” Somakhya: “We must sequence the genome of this killer – there must be something of interest there.”

Lootika isolated DNA from the cells. She had to put it away in the freezer because the exams were round the corner and they had no time for sequencing. The evening their exams were over, Lootika, Vrischika and Somakhya walked towards the AvaraNa of the sarasvatI temple that was at the edge of the cemetery. The sarasvatI was the only deity that remained of the pantheon of the shiva temple that was once in that place. Vidrum wanted to join them too. However, he was with Meghana and feared that a dreadful confrontation might emerge between her and Lootika. So he merely waved to the three and went his way. As Somakhya, Lootika and Vrischika sat in silence on a culvert of the temple to take in the quiet and mild evening breeze they heard a couple of talking mynahs (a common Indian starling). The mynahs fluttering up and down said: “pilipichChikA pilipichChikA ||” Vrischika: “That surely looks like a sign to us.” Somakhya: “Perhaps. In any case let us perform the homa.” They soon created a sthaNDila in the temple courtyard and having kindled the fire started making oblations with the mantra: “pilipichChike! skanda-dUte! juhuyAma tvA asmAkam prAkAra samIpe vetAlaM shIgram Anaya Anaya svAhA ||”

Continued…

From chapter 2
jiva-rajjusarjo nAma tritIyo .adhyAyaH |
Somakhya and Lootika breezed through their doctoral programs in two and a half years after over coming several obstacles placed by mlechCha-s who stood like vR^itra-s and prahlAda-s in their path. In the process Somakhya, unlike most of his coethnics, learned not to fall to the empty enchantments of the sweet tongue of the mlechCha-s. This was just one of their faces in an enforcement strategy involving both good and bad cops. Lootika who had been informed of the history of the mlechCha-s by Somakhya in the past was also able to do the same. Having fathomed the mlechCha, they navigated their systems to use their vast resources to further their scientific explorations. Now that they were equipped with the requisite educational upAdhis they started their own labs.

It was then that one day Somakhya was visited by his friend Indrasena. Indrasena: “ O Somakhya you are to me like shaunaka kapeya to abhipratAriNa kAkShasenI. I seek that you enlighten me about the secret mantra of kubera.” Somakhya acceded and said: “For that we need to head to the secluded spot in the mountains.” Thus, the next day they decided to take some time off. First they went to the shooting range to practice their rifles and then headed off the mountains. There under a large cedar tree they set up sthaNDila for the ritual and invoked vaishravaNa and Indrasena was conferred the mantra. Thereafter they wandered off to a still pond high on the mountain and collected some water. Upon returning they prepared a hay infusion and inoculated it with the water they had collected. Few days later they placed a drop under the microscope to take a look. While Somakhya had done this many times over from the time he was a child it was something that never ceased to amaze him, even as it had captivated van Leeuwenhoek centuries ago or the forgotten naturalists like Bütschli and Müller. The microscope field was abuzz with all manner of bacteria: bacilli, cocci, vibrios and spirillums in a chaotic frenzy like marUnmatta-s pouring out of a Karachi masjid after the Friday ShalAt to rage over the latest bombing of their brethren by a mlechCha drone. They saw the ciliates Paramecium, Pseudomonilicaryon, and Dileptus making their way like giants in the world of the bacteria. Paramecium propelled itself elegantly as a submarine, while Pseudomonilicaryon and Dileptus navigated their way with their waving “trunks” amidst the bacteria like elephants clearing a throng of men. Then there was the ciliate Euplotes, which literally walked on its bundles of cilia – truly an animalcule but all in a single cell. Halteria, yet another ciliate seemed to them like a sputnik which jumped around, leaving the field as quickly as it entered it. Then there was the beautiful but sessile Stentor, which created eddies drawing the buzzing bacteria to their doom – the wheel of life and death playing out at the level of single cells. But all of a sudden a new ciliate zoomed into the field and dashed straight for a Paramecium.

continued…

From chapter 3
kalpito viShANur nAma chaturtho .adhyAyaH |
After making oblations of caprine cheese and gruel in the ritual fire to the goat-riding god puShaN, Lootika prepared to leave. On the flight to Moscow she started reading the yogashAstra of the great jaina polymath of the third varNa hemachandra sUri. As she flipped through it she reached the chapter on prANAyAma (chapter 5). Suddenly the verses following 5.264 caught her eye. There hemachandra described a procedure: “evaM parAsu deheShu pravished vAmanAsayA|” Glancing further she found that he stated that one should not enter jIvadeha-s, but in the svopaj~navR^itti commentary below these verses he did describe such a procedure. She now felt at ease – nothing was wrong with her – most likely Somakhya had used a procedure like this to take control of her briefly. But she wondered about the mud she had collected near shAmalAjI and had a feeling of foreboding. Something unexpected was perhaps coming their way. The dull drone of the plane lulled her to sleep and she had a dream where the encounter with the vetAla they had many years ago replayed itself. She woke up and thought what could all this mean – Somakhya’s parakAyapraveshanaM was as dramatic as the coming of the vetAla. These might be linked she thought. But nothing really made complete sense to her. Finally, the plane landed in Moscow and she had to wait for her flight to Ulaanbaatar. She decided to send off mail to inform her family of her whereabouts – they had greatly disapproved of this whole Mongolian venture of hers, so she wanted to update them that she was still alive and fine. Right then she saw a mail from her sister Vrishchika:
“Something strange and interesting here. You may remember your former classmate Vidrum. He was asked to investigate a strange outbreak that has afflicted a few hundred soldiers who were posted near the Line of Control in the Kupwara district of Kashmir. The military hospital was unable to deal with by themselves so we were brought in. Since he was busy with the experimental treatment program with the visiting mlechCha physicians Harry Kornberg and Tom Church he deputed me to start the investigation. These soldiers despite having not faced any major combat in the past few months have suddenly started showing acute neurological symptoms typical of an unregulated fear pathway – in a sense like PTSD, but they seem to be afflicted by deep fear and anxiety even without apparent triggering stimuli – as though a fear pathway is constitutively switched on. With my team I found that they showed a virus in their CNS associated macrophages and phagocytic microglia! I am taking help from the little ones Varoli and Jhilleeka to try to sequence the virus. I know how you have started to feel about our old friend Somakhya but it would be good if you could get him on board to help us with this down the line.”

The message hit Lootika like the sting of a scorpion. She realized that there was more to this than Vrischika thought. Lootika quickly reasoned that this is unlikely to be an ordinary virus and by sending the news via email Vrischika could have very well tipped off people who would not want anyone to know of this – for after all the mlechCha sits and reads other peoples’ mail all the time. She realized that she could be targeted but felt her going via Moscow and Ulaanbaatar could make it less effective. Knowing that Temülen was very faithful to her, Lootika also wondered if the former could serve as a distant refugium in her network which was relatively out of reach from the mlechCha’s grasp. With all these thoughts crowding her mind she wondered how she could get the message across to Somakhya without anyone knowing. In their younger days Lootika and Somakhya had communicated with many ciphers using fractals and the logistic map but it dawned on them that ultimately someone, like a mlechCha praNidhi, might crack all of these. So they decided to go in for an idiosyncratic saMdhyA bhAShA that only those who knew it would understand. Indeed, Vrishchika was the only other one who understood it albeit somewhat imperfectly. She decided that she would make a post on her blog using the saMdhyA bhAShA hoping that Somakhya and Vrishchika would read it. After some delays and a 7 hour flight finally Lootika landed in Ulaanbaatar. She was taken by Temülen to her dwelling and on the way she took in the invisible presence of one of the greatest men in the history of humans which was all around the place as the genius of locus. On reaching the residence she checked Somakhya’s blog and found he had similarly responded in saMdhyA bhAShA. She felt somewhat relieved but was still worried if Vrischika might have got the message. After sleeping off the jet lag she ventured with Temülen to get some milk when they were accosted by a mlechCha wearing dark glasses. Immediately, it struck Lootika that the fellow looked like a mlechCha praNidhi who used to be lionized as a great hero in movies fabricated by the mlechCha-s, though in reality such were barbarous harbingers of trouble to other nations. He was built like a pR^iShThabhettR^i and Lootika realized he meant trouble. He was being very friendly and trying to chat them up but they deftly brushed him off and quickly walked into a crowded public area. The next day Lootika and Temülen decided to make a trip to visit the graves of the long gone Hun Khans at Noyan Uul and then camp out in the steppes in the valley of the Sujekht river enjoying astronomical observations under the clear skies the next night.

The next day, while Lootika was still asleep, Temülen went out to procure some food of a kind Lootika could eat fearing that she might otherwise end up dying of starvation. While she was stepping out, she noticed that the mlechCha who had tried to talk to them the previous evening was hanging out in the vicinity and keeping an eye on her. She walked as though she had not noticed the mlechCha and after procuring the necessary items returned to her dwelling. Soon they were off to board the car they had booked for the journey. At that point they again saw the mlechCha who tried to make conversation with them claiming he too was taking a car with some friends to go to a shrine erected by Baron von Ungern-Sternberg. Soon they lost sight of him, but Temülen told Lootika of her sighting him earlier in the day. Lootika remarked that they needed to be extremely careful of him and filled her in on what she thought about him. As their car proceeded on its way, Temülen started asking Lootika about about the doha-s of saroruhavajra and how they sounded in their original tongue. They started discussing the significance of one of them:
jhANahINa pavvajjeM rahiau
gharahi vasanti bhajjem sahiau |
jai bhiDi visaa ramanata Na mucchai
saraha bhaNai pariANa ki mucchai ||

Without doing any dhyAna,
beyond renunciation,
living at home,
together with your woman,
if deeply enjoying these matters
does not provide liberation
saraha says how can consciousness be liberated!
Temülen asked how if the old tathAgata had shown that consciousness was an illusion itself, could any question of liberating it arise. It struck Lootika that it was a rather Astika way of putting things and wondered if after all some of these doha-s were lifted from an Astika source and attributed to or reworked by sharaha or saroruhavajra. Lootika again thought of Somakhya and felt if he was around he could been more decisive in explaining these matters.

Thus, discussing they eventually reached Noyan Uul. After some wandering they came across an interesting grave that lay beneath a deep open shaft. They were not sure if it was something which been looted by the Russians before or an undamaged one so they decided to climb up the mound to take a better look into the shaft. Lootika was separated from Temülen by about 15 meters as her shoe got stuck in crevice and she had to carefully extricate herself. By then Temülen was close to the shaft and was about to take a look, when suddenly from behind a birch tree she saw to her shock the mlechCha pR^iShThabhettR^i emerge. She panicked for a moment but keeping her calm asked him how come he was there. Smiling warmly he said: “I decided to go to Noyan Uul because people told me there was more exciting stuff to see there.” Temülen realized Lootika was right – this was an off the track place that few people except those with historical interest would visit. So nobody would have told him to go to Noyan Uul for more exciting stuff. By now he was very close to Temülen. Smiling he told her: “Do you want to go down the shaft. I can let you in and pull you up. I just went down there myself and saw some amazing stuff inside the grave.” Even as Temülen was refusing his request, he thought: “Once I finish of this woman I can at leisure take care of the one who is climbing up behind me. Thus, with one swift move he placed his leg in front of Temülen’s and tried to trip her into the shaft of the grave. Temülen stumbled but did not go through because the mud was wet and her other leg snagged against the wall holding her from falling. The mlechCha now tried kick her down the shaft but with one hand Temülen warded the kick and pulled his leg down. By then Lootika reached the scene and shoved him simultaneously from behind sending him down the deep grave shaft. As he fell he clawed the air; he had one hand in his pocket and as his hands flailed an object fell out, which Temülen caught. Now that he was safely down the shaft, Lootika helped Temülen get back up. With their hearts pounding they stared long at each other, even as the mlechCha yelled from beneath: “Help, Help, get me out of here, call someone.” They looked at the object the mlechCha had in his hand it was a special phone issued by the mlechCha-praNidhirAlaya. With that in their hand they knew had him under their total control. The laughed to calm their nerves and said: “This pR^iShTabhettR^i’s career is really ruined, for what a laughing stock he would become in their praNidhirAlaya!” Temülen using her connections called up the local authorities on their satellite phone and informed them of the event and said that they would deliver the mlechCha’s phone to them. Since this would make big news and cause a foreign-relations scandal for the mlechCha-s they knew the mlechCha-s would have to shut their mouth and keep their hands off them. Then they drove back to an encampment near the mouth of the Sujekht valley and having rented horses rode to a desolate camp site to enjoy the night skies.  Temülen remarked that truly the god one experienced here was möngke ṭngri; to Lootika it echoed back as the presence of the great asura varuNa.

Vidrum, Meghana and Sharvamanyu were seated in a restaurant for dinner. Vidrum remarked looking at Sharvamanyu: “Somakhya is coming, we should get together when he is here.” Meghana: “Thank god he left these shores; how many nice evenings in school and college have been ruined by him and that spidery bitch. How many times they would get you all talking about crazy things – they were real Frankensteins.” Sharvamanyu: “Calm it, Calm it, the world needs all sorts of people; Also would you not run to them during the exams.” Vidrum merely smiled. After dinner he told Sharvamanyu that he was going to drive Somakhya home from the airport to their city the next day. Then Sharvamanyu rode away on his bike towards the bank of the river that flowed through the middle of their city. There he visited a temple of the aShTa-bhairava-s and having smeared his forehead with ashes sat in its courtyard for a few minutes to take in the dusk calm. He saw a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo hop beside him, bob its head, and make human noises. He wondered if it was a vA~N-nidhana bhR^i~Nga, or the drongo the tathAgata had declared to be the bodhisattva known as kalavi~Nka. Then the drongo said “Somakhya needs you as a backup, for who can escape sharva’s manyu” and flew away. He wondered what he needed to do. That night he had a strange dream in which he saw a scorpion scurrying on the floor. He then saw a pale figure run towards it with a spatula using which doshakA-s (Indian pancakes) are flipped on the pan, and sever its metasoma with that instrument. Thereafter heard the faint cry of a familiar woman. The next day when Vidrum mentioned to Vrishchika that he was going to pick up Somakhya, she expressed the wish to come along too, saying there was much to talk about regarding the new virus. In turn, when Vrischika told her folks, Jhilleeka and Varoli also expressed the wish to tag along for the ride. But Varoli suddenly remembered that she had prepare a few more things for an upcoming experiment the next day and pulled out of the trip. So Vrischika and Jhilleeka got into Vidrum’s car and decided to drive to the airport in the neighboring city.

As they were leaving they ran into Sharvamanyu and bade him good bye saying that if Somakhya was game they would all meet the next evening for dinner. Suddenly Sharvamanyu remembered the dream and the vA~N-nidhana bhR^i~Nga’s words. He decided that he should quietly follow them. He quickly took his two handguns, loaded the ammunition and followed them at some distance on his bike. Late at night they picked up Somakhya and were returning to their city. They got talking about the new virus. Vrischika: “Varoli and her team did a new proteomic analysis and found that the superfamily-I RNA helicase is ADP-ribosylated in the amygdalar neurons of four of the patients who sadly died. Also their SHANK3 protein was found to be cleaved releasing the C-terminal SAM domain. Jhilleeka: “We have nearly completed the sequencing, should have it to you in the next day or two.” Exciting as all this was, the irresistible force of hypnos hit Somakhya and he lapsed into a nap. They were midway in their journey back home when Vrischika feeling thirst decided to get out to buy a bottle of water at a road stop. She was just getting back from the shop when a car sped by and came to screeching halt in front Vidrum’s car. A man jumped out of the car and threw a heavy blanket on top of Vrischika and bundling her in it tried to quickly drag her into the car. He had nearly hauled her in when Jhilleeka leapt out Vidrum’s car like a gryllacridid on it prey and stabbed Vrischika’s attacker with her garala-sha~NkulA. He winced in pain and slumped beside the road releasing Vrischika. But two more men menacingly rushed out of the car and overpowering the girls were about to pull them in. At that instant a man rocketed into the scene on his bike. Just then Somakhya snapped out his nap with all the commotion in front of him. Upon opening, his eyes fell on the man who had just entered the scene and he smiled to himself and said in his mind: “Who can escape sharva’s manyu.” Jumping off his bike Sharvamanyu struck a thunderous blow on the head of one of the men with a bludgeon. He fell as though he was denizen of Lanka who had received a blow from the palm of the great ape-king sugrIva. The other one had just gotten his gun out when he received a bludgeon blow on that arm which felt like a blow from the dreadful ape hanumAn on a rakSha lord. His gun dropped to the road but he quickly bounded into the car and drove off in the opposite direction at top speed. By then Vidrum had made a call to the cops and Somakhya rushed out and along with Sharvamanyu helped calm the girls down and get them back into the car. They were too shocked to speak but for a couple of hours they had to go through the rigmarole of filing the police report and being interrogated. It was the next day before they reached their homes finally. Cooling off Somakhya heard from his parents that they had heard in the news that a group of young people in a car had been attacked and one of the attackers eventually evaded the police chase by fleeing into the mlechCha consulate in the neighboring city. They did not believe Somakhya when he told them the those attacked were his group as they thought he was pulling their leg. But he smiled to himself mentally repeating “mlechCha consulate… that should make things uncomfortable for them…”

To part-V

From part-IV
trayAyudho nAma pa~nchamo .adhyAyaH |
The next day Somakhya was browsing the news when he came across a curious item: “There are reports of heavy cross-border shelling by Pakistani troops in the Kupwara district. To take stock of the situation the Chief of Army Staff Vijay Simha had an urgent meeting with Air Chief Marshal Rudra Nayak. They discussed the possibility of deploying the air force in light of the possibility of insurgent activity on the Indian side of the LoC. They also held meetings with the defense minister shrI Narayandev and Prime Minister shrI Pratap Simha with regard to the increased activity at the LoC. The mlechCha spokeswoman Elizabeth Whiteside issued a statement asking both sides to deescalate, while Organisation of the Islamic Conference strongly condemned the plans by India to escalate the conflict. The Inter-Services Public Relations spokesman objected saying that India has been waging a propaganda war since the aggressive Hindu nationalist government of shrI Pratap Simha has taken power.” Somakhya wondered why there was talk of escalation if there was cross-border shelling which is fairly common occurrence. Importantly, the consultations for deployment of the air force suggested that something was amiss. He was wondered what the link was between this to Vrischika’s account of the epidemic outbreak in the soldiers from that very region. Shortly, thereafter Vrishchika, Varoli and Jhilleeka visited Somakhya’s house to join him for lunch. Then Vrischika said the situation was more explosive than what it seemed. She mentioned that there was much pressure from the army on the hospital that they figure this out. A senior army physician had dropped by and expressed dismay to the senior physician of their hospital that the investigation had been handed to someone who was just an intern when it was so serious a matter. At least Vidrum should be directly handling it he pressed. It took some convincing to make him understand that while Vrischika might be just an intern she and her team was perhaps the best in the country to deal with unraveling such “emerging” pathogens. Then she said something even more serious: “We have just got the samples of a couple of patients from Kurukshetra, which is far away from the border, who seem to show some symptoms as though they have been exposed to radiation, but there is absolutely no evidence that they were exposed to such. Yet they show multiple mutations in their cells from several tissues.” Somakhya: “Ah… ADP ribosylation of Mov10, cleavage of Shank3, now mutagenesis of DNA! Did you detect a virus in these new patients?” Vrischika: “Investigation underway, will return to it as soon as we are done.” Jhilleeka: “Here is the sequence of the first virus.” Somakhya got to analyzing it right away. After sometime he remarked: “This is no natural virus but one designed by a clever engineer. However, I am puzzled – it simply cannot explain any of those biochemical changes you mentioned. Varoli are you sure you detected them right.” Varoli: “I know how fraudulent researchers see results that do not exist; but let me assure you these are as real as you and me.” Somakhya: “ But I see no way these changes can be catalyzed by anything in this virus.” Vrischika’s forehead was furrowed with worry: “There is something we are not understanding because the biochemical changes Varoli detected are entirely in line with the symptoms of the patients. Remember Shank3 is a neuronal scaffold protein and Mov10 degradation has been implicated in hardening fear memory.” Somakhya: “I fully understand, but I just cannot figure out how this virus causing all that?” Varoli: “Let me get some more data for you may be late tomorrow.” Vrischika: “As you know, Lootika is coming tonight and our parents do not want us to go along. They say they will go by themselves and drive her and her student Temülen back.” We are scared for the shAstra says: Asane shayane yAne pAna-bhojana-vastuShu | dR^iShTAdR^iShTa-pramatteShu praharanty arayo.ariShu|| While seated, while sleeping, while in a vehicle, via items of drink and food, due to ignoring of seen and unseen attacks enemies strike their foes.” Somakhya: “Do not worry, I doubt the mlechCha-s would resort the means they used for you for they are facing a potential foreign-relations crisis on multiple ends from these exposures resulting from their screw-ups. Nevertheless, Sharvamanyu and myself shall provide cover for them even as the former did for us.” Unlike Somakhya, Lootika arrived without an event with her pupil, who was interested learning the devabhAShA in bhArata. Even as she was being filled in with all the news by her sisters, new surprising data was at hand from Jhilleeka. Lootika and Varoli quickly grasped its significance and decided to go and see Somakhya right away. When she burst through Somakhya’s door it was as though the intervening years and all the ice between them had never existed. She raised her hand for a high-five saying: “You were right. That virus whose sequence you saw yesterday could not cause these biochemical changes that Varoli had identified. But there is something really strange here: The samples have a second virus that in large part is identical to what you saw but lacks one gene while having 3 additional genes. I am sure you need to sit down on the couch before seeing what those extra genes are – you won’t believe it!” Somakhya calmly replied: “I guess two of them are the caspase-like peptidase and the ADP-ribosyltransferase I had identified in your fish pathogen; which you and Temülen so beautifully brought to a conclusion. As for the third … I am not sure.” Varoli: “Well, it is the ciliate MAC-Perforin protein you and Indrasena had published.” Somakhya, now a bit shocked, replied: “Varoli that looks like a construct from your hand!” Lootika: “Sort of! In my opinion only one man could have been the engineer behind this – it is a fellow named Dick Shuman. I recall sending him the paper with Varoli on those delivery vectors with the MAC-Perforin proteins. It appears he has combined it with the three toxins. I had already gamed most of this when I got Vrischika’s mail while waiting in Moscow. I felt it was no coincidence that Dick’s friend, Harry Kornberg was making himself comfortable in the desh. I guess you had reached your own convergent conclusions since you alone understood what came via the vetAla-mArga. On top of all this I am sure Vrischika told you of the newest scare of the mutagenizing agent.” Somakhya: “Yes, it crossed my mind right away that it must be the third toxin – the deaminase, since Temülen had managed to show that it is potent mutator of DNA in that paper. But dear Lootika tell me how did you conclude that there was trouble brewing – was it just Vrischika’s mail.” Lootika: “Dear Somakhya, I should tell you that Dick Shuman had an interest in me beyond my science. His garrulity got better of him once and he dropped a bit of his biography – he’s a consultant for the mlechCha terrorist organization Blackwater and earns contracts from them – an odd thing for an engineer of genes to do, except if he is… That was sufficient information for me to get alert.” Somakhya: “Truth to be told the vetAla alone was not enough; my friend Indrasena gave a vital clue to put things together.” As Lootika and Varoli prepared to leave to pick up Temülen from her class, the former remarked in a heavy voice: “I am really scared for my dear sister Vrischika. She is in close contact with this dangerous stuff and what we see is really depressing. I wish she could opt out of this right away and may be we should all retreat to Mongolia.” Somakhya: “I hear you, we need to find a real way out this – it is going to come to our doorstep.” Varoli: “In all this we forgot to tell you that you should join us for dinner tonight. We’ll talk more then.” Saying so they jumped into their car and sped off. Somakhya noted that the pradoSha hour was closing in on that kR^ittikA Sunday. He decided to perform the great skanda ritual. Having kindled the ritual fire he started performing the rite of the mighty six-faced god with incantations, which are known only to those who have mastered the complete tantra of the ShaNmukha-kalpa with the mayUrachandrikA. He sprinkled sand all around uttering the incantation: OM mahAsenAya vidmahe kumArAya dhImahi | tan no guhaH prachodayAt svAhA || Thereafter he made the primary kaumAra oblations with the incantation: OM namaH kumArAdhipataye mAtR^i-graha-jyeShTAyaantarikSha-charAya deva-devAya ShaNmukhAya mahAsenAya mayUravAhanAya svAhA || Then he poured ghee on to the idol of kumAra with the incantation: OM AyAtu bhagavAn deva-devA~Nkusha-pAshadhara-kanaka-shakte ghaNTA-kolAhala-priya pratiShTha mArge .arghyaM pratigR^ihANa namo namaH svAhA || huM || After several oblations to skanda he then made the oblations to the great goddess ShaShThI: OM namo bhagavatyai mahAmayUriNyai harINyai ShaShaThyai svAhA || Then he made the oblations to the 33 great gods and there after started making offerings to the hundreds of divinities of the great circle of kumAra including: shAkha, viShAkha, nejameSha, mukhamaNDikA, nandikeshvara, the gigantic, terrifying elephant duHsaha, revatI, the dolphin-headed shishumAra-mukhI, the buffalo headed mahiShAnanA, chatuShpatha-niketA, lohitAyanI, mi~njikA, mi~njika, dreadful vinAyaka-s, the rakShasa-graha, the pishAcha-graha, various skanda-graspers and skanda-seizers and the circles of goddesses. After having concluded the offerings he sat beside the idols of skanda and ShaShThI for japa of the secret mantra. After sometime he perceived with the inner “eye” the appearance of a goddess wearing a mask around her eyes. He realized that it was mukhamaNDikA. He heard her divine voice: “sarvAn viShayAn chintayitvA shIgraM bhaiShajya-rasAdi- karmANi sakhIbhiH saha kurvIthAH | saptadashaM manuM prayu~njIthAH |” Thereafter Somakhya performed japa of the dravyaparIkShaNaM kartukAmaH of the uttara-tantraM of the ShaNmukha kalpa. Finally, after offering tarpaNa to the lineage of AchArya-s of the tantra starting from laMbaka-bhUShanAda of gandhAra (i.e. the ancient kaumAra shrine at Laghman in modern Afghanistan), and hoping that someday those lands are cleansed of the evils of rAkShasonmAda, he ended his ritual. Somakhya had arrived at Lootika’s house for dinner. Having known her for years, he could say that while outwardly putting a smiling face and introducing her student, something was bothering her. He saw Vrischika walk up from behind them and noted that her face more plainly betrayed a deep sense of fear. Somakhya did not remark anything about this then because he knew their parents were only incompletely informed of the truth. He allowed to dinner to proceed and after that Lootika drew him aside in private for a moment and after embracing him and holding his hand said: “I am very scared.” Somakhya unemotionally looked at her and said: “And we need to get ready to fight; call the rest and let Vrishchika tell us the news.” Now fired by Somakhya’s demeanor she called in her sisters and student for a grand council. Somakhya: “Vrischika tell us all that you know.” Vrischika, still looking very worried: “Things have gone from bad to worse. We have intelligence that the mutagenizing virus with the deaminase gene, now confirmed by Lootika and Temülen, has broken out in several places across bhArata. This is going to have the effects of a dirty bomb going off in multiple cities and towns. We do not know what to do. While Lootika has figured out that in principle an effective vaccine can be developed, that is going to take a long time and before that we could all be engulfed. We have the first case in our own city!” Somakhya: “No doubt we need to go ahead with the vaccine development. Hopefully, you can convince the highest powers to get this moving.” Vrischika: “An officer on special duty from the health ministry is coming to visit me tomorrow. He said he will have an additional special official with him – I suspect he is an agent from the Intelligence Bureau.” Somakhya: “The second point is we need to protect you from this first and foremost for you are like the ANI (lynchpin) of the akSha (axle) of the rathachakra (chariot wheel) in this business. With Indrasena we had discovered a novel steroid from a ciliate that can block the MACPF protein from deploying. We should see if this might be fit for human use and perhaps provide some prophylaxis. I do know it cannot do much against the neural manifestation of the caspase-ADP ribosyltransferase-engineered virus.” Lootika: “We have quick assay for testing human toxicity, but what about the cell lines for those experiments?” Varoli: “That should not be a problem.” Somakhya: “I realize neither the steroid nor the vaccine are going to be easy to quickly confirm or deploy. We need something faster than that but we need to get working on them as the long term solutions. But now I have something to say that you will find positively weird. Jhilleeka with Sandeep’s help do a metagenome sequencing of bacteria from the bag of mud Lootika intended to give me many years ago but forgot. Get the sequences to me as soon as they are ready and I will tell you all how to proceed.” They all looked at Somakhya as though he had gone mad. But he merely smiled and said: “Do it as though you are a yakSha who has been ordered into action by skanda. Lootika you be the coordinator of all of these efforts – I will say more on the action once we have the sequences from the mud. However, before I leave let me tell you something more: Look at this. The Ghazis from TSP are invading Kashmir despite the outbreak. Harry Kornberg and Tom Church are enjoying their sojourn as though nothing has happened. I saw a news item that the chIna advisers have left TSP in wake of the invasion and they are not launching any of their own. Rather, there seems to a be grave fear in their media of what is happening here. This tells me that the mlechCha-s already have the vaccine and have given it to the TSPians; hence their courage to attack and the fear of the chIna-s to take advantage of this. Moreover, Sharvamanyu told me that the church of South India and the Evangelical Society had some major vaccination drives in the past three months which were funded by the John Doors foundation. I doubt that is coincidental. One expedient way is to get the vaccine out of the mlechCha-s before we make our own.” Vrischika: “Should I tip off the officials about this? Moreover, I heard from Vidrum that we were going to be visited next week by Faqih ibn al-Ass, the top epidemiologist of the barbarian kingdom of Saudia Arabia. What could that mean in this context?” Somakhya: “Ah! Faqih ibn al-Ass sounds like the capstone of this whole affair – seems to be the clinching signal of the mlechCha-marUnmattAbhisaMdhi.” Day after day was passing by. The despair and uncertainty in the country was steadily rising. All kinds of theories were being floated and the side-effects were being felt on commerce, travel and education. Vidrum had just called Somakhya to vent his frustration that the latest edition of the Indian Cricket League had been canceled and that his tickets had not been refunded. In the mean time Somakhya and Lootika had met in their secret lair in the nearby hills one afternoon. For a while they sat in silence enjoying the mild breeze, the solitude and the flight of the coelurosaurs ranging in the welkin, and then looking at insects and arachnids through their portable microscopes. Then Lootika explained the difficulties Varoli faced with making the libraries for the metagenomic analysis of the mud and how finally she had to intercede and get it done. Then Somakhya detailed to her a construct of a similar virus with a secret toxin known only to him: “If we make this perhaps we might have a counter-weapon, which could be used as a deterrent or a retaliatory astra. After all, not for nothing our ancestors praised that which is called pratIchInaM!” Lootika decided to get Temülen to test that toxin and get the said virus constructed. Then they parted ways and went to their homes. Finally, after a wait that seemed like ever, Vrischika arrived one day with Jhilleeka to Somakhya’s place. She seemed tired and haggard and said: “This thing is sapping me. More than the death and disease all around, I am wilting under the drama from my parents who want me to give all this up and just stay at home till it all blows over.” Somakhya: “That’s tragic for this is not going to blow over without you bringing it to a stop.” Vrischika: “But the good news is Temülen has managed to do all the assays and they suggest that your steroid is fit for human use. But it might have some side-effects. However, since I now have a very good picture of the disease progression I know I can head it off by using the steroid within the first 24 hours if I happen to get infected. But things are getting really hot: You may remember your classmate Meghana. She has been infected by the deaminase-containing virus. It is not looking good and as you might expect Vidrum is distraught and nearing a dysfunctional state due to this.” Somakhya: “I feel bad for Vidrum and all the people – remember the vetAla’s message?” Jhilleeka “Finally I have for you the metagenomic sequences from the mud. Here they are for what they are worth.” Somakhya’s eyes light up: “Wonderful, little one. I’ll get working on them right away.” Jhilleeka protested: “I am no little one any more!” Somakhya then called Vrishchika into his room, and pulling out a vial gave it to her: “Here is a peptide Indrasena isolated from a toad. Take it with you and spray a little into you nostrils when you feel like you are feeling now after not having slept for almost three days.” Somakhya threw himself at the sequences he had received. After a few hours he came across a toxin locus from an actinobacterium which coded three toxins and at the 3′ end of each of them was a gene for an immunity protein. He found that the toxins were very similar to the three toxins from the fish pathogen. He felt a sense of deep satisfaction and took a deep breath. Then he called Lootika and told her that they should meet at his place for dinner. After dinner they went up to the terrace of Somakhya’s house. It was a dark new moon night with no clouds. They set up a telescope, observed M104, and took a few pictures. Thereafter, they spoke for a while about why spiral galaxies with greater central bulges have more globular clusters. Lootika felt strangely at ease: “Somakhya there must be more to this?” Somakhya pointing to the sequences on his tablet: “Here are the three immunity proteins for the respective toxins. Give these to Temülen and have her test the same against their toxins. Once confirmed, you all should make viruses exactly like those of Dick Shuman but now having the immunity protein genes in place of those of the toxins. Let Vrischika then put them on trial as an experimental treatment for those infected.” Of course things are easier said than done. The pressure was mounting on all fronts with kAla turning on even as the writhing of the serpent beneath viShNu. The mlechCha-s were constantly offering help to deal with the deadly epidemic and seeking to send in their teams. The air force had with great difficulty curtailed the TSPian incursion, but without effective action by the ground forces it could not be entirely cleared. News was reaching Somakhya’s ears that with the army unable to act effectively, the prime minister was about to give in to the suggestion that as a part of the foreign-direct-investment program for the military the mlechCha-s set up a facility for vaccine development and distribution. But Vrischika had conveyed enough to the officials she had met that the intelligence bureau got into action. It was trying hard to prevent the mlechCha-s from being brought in for vaccine development. Finally, one morning Vrischika arrived at Somakhya’s house; she did not even enter and called him to the gate: “Finally the viruses you suggested are ready. It really took all the skills of Lootika, Varoli, and Temülen to get them made at top speed, with some improvisation in terms of robotics from Jhilleeka and her colleagues. They have worked perfectly in our tests and I am off to use them on the patients. Sadly, early this morning Meghana succumbed to the disease.” In the meantime Harry Kornberg and Tom Church were lobbying hard for setting up the mlechCha vaccine facility. But Vidrum curtly told them that was not possible and they had devised their own treatment for the epidemics. The mlechCha-s asked that he share information on that with them, but he refused. They declared that the collaboration with him was over and that they were leaving right away. Some months later Somakhya and Lootika briefly checked the news just before setting out on an expedition to study the infection of toads by the apicomplexan parasite Lankesterella minima. They saw a curious item: “The scientist Dick Shuman and Saudi Arabian epidemiologist Faqih ibn al-Ass were taken into custody as part of an investigation relating to the outbreak of a deadly viral disease among marines and civilians at Fort Redstone. Possible involvement of a bio-warfare agent is being suspected.” Soon thereafter Somakhya and Lootika were receiving frantic messages from the mlechCha-s asking them to help out with this situation. They responded to the mlechCha-s that they would certainly look into it once they were done with their investigation of Lankesterella and proceeded with their expedition.

To part VI.

From Part-V
kathA-puchChaM
Viruses have been around since the beginning of life and locked in conflict with cells and other viruses since then. In course of this epic conflict they have given genes to cells and taken genes from them. These exchanged genes usually code for weaponry used in these battles fought from times immemorial. The fact is without this weaponry, life as we know it would not exist and we ourselves owe our very existence to such. So indeed such is the story of life in a nutshell – there is no life for the unarmed. Hence, the vipra who knows this becomes a seer who has seen and recites the following brahma-vAkya-s of life:
sarvo vai menyA jivati | jivo vai menyAM pratiShThitaH | mener vai jIvasya nAnA rupANi saMbhavanti ||

Time had passed by and some had become oblations in the great iShTi to the buffalo-riding son of vivasvAn. Others were waiting for their turn to become samidh-s in that offering from which none escapes. Vidrum, Sharvamanyu, Somakhya and Indrasena were thankful that they had not yet been offered. It was late one night they were seated at the table after dinner and reminiscing of the past. Somakhya: “Vidrum, there is something in the story that perhaps only you might be able to throw light on.” Vidrum: “It is all very painful but then this is what I believe transpired. It appears Vrishchika tipped off the IB agent who was active on this matter. He had obtained intelligence that the mlechCha-s had to passed the viruses on their close Islamic ally Saudi Arabia to use on Iran. Faqih ibn al-Ass was here to study how it was being deployed so that his agents could do the same in Iran. He had come under the guise of learning some technical aspects relating to a bat-borne virus in his country. Thus, he had managed to get biological material into the country. Acting on this intelligence, the IB agent asked me if I had anything to say about Tom, Harry and Faqih ibn al-Ass. I told him all that I knew and mentioned that Tom and Harry had fallen out with me and were to leave shortly. He kept a close watch on them. Just before leaving the agent caught Harry admonishing ibn al-Ass as to why he had brought units of the vaccine with him into bhArata and asked him to destroy them immediately. To this he answered that he had merely got them as a precaution. However, our IB agent had the intelligence that in reality he intended to pass them over to the Mujahideen al-Hind in course of a meeting he was to have with their leader in the auspices of the Saudi Arabian embassy. The IB agent saw the opportunity to get hold of the vaccine in the process. I was seeking revenge for Meghana’s murder and suggested to him we not just get hold of the vaccine but also retaliate. So I obtained the virus you guys designed from Vrishchika and handed it over to the IB agent. In the mean time the two mlechCha-s wanted some virus samples from here for their study. But their praNidhi-s had informed them that if they tried to sneak them out the might be caught. Hence, they decided to use their ally Faqih ibn al-Ass who had already obtained the paperwork for taking some biological material back. He came to me asking if he could have some samples. While I was holding him in conversation the IB agent got to the freezer where he kept stuff and replaced it with our engineered virus and took away his vaccine samples. In the mean time I too gave him the samples that in reality contained our engineered virus. I believe you may know more of the rest of the story.”

Somakhya: “Ah! That’s how it played out. I believe Faqih ibn al-Ass was given a royal entrance into the mlechCha precincts for they believed they knew all about what he was carrying. He gave the spiked stuff to Dick Shuman with whom he got playing with them in cell-culture and animal experiments. I believe it was the sloppiness of al-Ass which ultimately proved the game-changer. Things got out of hand in course of his experimental training and the rest as they say is history. Little did I know when I first read of Varoli’s work that it would spark such events. But then let’s not forget that Varoli was not the first to invent these, her namesake (e.g. Cotesia) had stumbled on this strategy with polydnaviruses and nudiviruses to overpower kaMbala-kITaka-s millions of years ago!”

One of the most physically and mentally demanding performances in the agnichayana and other soma rituals based on that model is the atirAtra or the overnight rite. The highpoint of it is the great ritual to the gods agni and the ashvin-s the goddess uShas. The sAman songs to these deities from the rahasya-gAna section are sung at the beginning of this ritual. These songs collectives go by the name saMdhistotra indicating that they are sung at the junction between night and the daybreak, i.e., the dawn. That they are linked with the dawn presided by the goddess uShas is clear from one set of these songs known as the uShANi, which are thus deployed by the sAmavedic singers:
hiM |
prastAva: prAti vo darshyAyato3 vA |
udgItha: o3 chChantI duhitA divo3 po3 mahi vR^iNute chakShuShA tamaH |
pratihAra: jyo3tIH kR^iNoti |
upadrava: i LA o3 nArI o3 vA hA vu vA |
nidhana: As ||

prastAva: jyo3to3 vA |
udgItha: o3 No3ti sUnarI udusriyAs sR^ijate3 sUriyAs sachA |
pratihAra: udyan nAkShatrAM |
upadrava: i LA o3rchA yi vA do3 vA hA vu vA |
nidhana: As |

prastAva: udyo3 vA |
udgItha: o3 kShatram archivat tave3d uSho3 vyuShi sUriyAsya cha |
pratihAra: saM bhakte3nA ga |
upadrava: i LA o3 mahi o3 vA hA vu vA |
nidhana: As |

The prastAva is sung by the prastotA, the udgItha by the udgAtA, the pratihAra by the pratihartA, the upadrava by the udgAtA, and the nidhana by all three.

The lyrics of this rahasya gAna are based on the mantra-s of the maitrAvaruNi vasiShTha:
praty u adarshy Ayaty uchChantI duhitA divaH |
apo mahi vyayati chakShase tamo jyotiSh kR^iNoti sUnarI ||
The daughter of dyaus has appeared now, shining as she nears;
The noble lady rolls up great darkness and makes light for us to see.

ud usriyAH sR^ijate sUryaH sachAM udyan nakShatram archivat |
taved uSho vyuShi sUryasya cha sam bhaktena gamemahi ||
The sun frees the red cows while he the radiant star rises high;
May we acquire our share [of wealth] when you O uShas and the sun’s light comes forth! (RV 7.81.1-2)

This is followed by the recitation of the thousand mantra-s of the Ashvina shastra by the hotr^i, which is a great feat of memory for they are recalled from the R^igveda in a rather jumbled order, i.e., mantra-s from different maNDala come in different places in the recitations. This rite to the ashvin-s (evidently in its earlier form) is alluded to within the R^igveda itself by maitrAvaruNi vasiShTha. This reference not only supports its antiquity but also suggests it was performed at dawn:

ashochy agniH samidhAno asme upo adR^ishran tamasash chid antAH |
acheti ketur uShasaH purastAch Chriye divo duhitur jAyamAnaH ||
agni has shone brightly when kindled (using samidh-s) by us;
boundaries of darkness were visible.
Eastward is seen the banner of uShas,
one born to [indicate] the glory of dyaus’ daughter.

abhi vAM nUnam ashvinA suhotA stomaiH siShakti nAsatyA vivakvAn |
pUrvIbhir yAtam pathyAbhir arvAk svarvidA vasumatA rathena ||
The good hotR^i faces you, O ashvin-s,
now the eloquent chanter attends you with the recitation, O nAsatya-s!
Come by the paths you have formerly traveled by,
by the chariot that finds the light, laden with treasure. (RV 7.67.2-3)

The great Hindu patriot Lokamanya Tilak, based on the nature of the Vedic references to dawns, postulated that the composers of the veda lived in, or were familiar with, extreme northern latitudes. In particular, the case Ashvina-shastra impressed him the most. He realized that the whole long recitation of 1000 mantra-s was completed before sunrise, which implied a long dawn, much longer than the ones we see in India. Based on this and other allusions he outlined this hypothesis of his in the “Arctic Home in the Vedas.” The title and the form he presented the hypothesis was somewhat unfortunate because it gave rise to the impression that the ancestors of the Indo-Aryans lived inside the Arctic circle (i.e. 66.5°N latitude). While that is unlikely, it is clear from several lines of evidence in the R^igveda, chiefly, familiarity and fear of snow/cold winters, centrality of the fire cult, and the natural habitat of Ephedra (soma) that the ancestors of the Indo-Aryans, at some point temporally close to the composition of the RV, lived at a fairly northern latitude in Eurasia. Moreover the evidence from the “fire in water legend” places them in the vicinity of the Caspian or Black Seas, which have the characteristic geological setting with fossil hydrocarbon-powered mud volcanoes that could inspire this legend. On the other hand, linguistic evidence for contacts with Uralic place them even further north, perhaps in the zone just north of the above lakes closer to the Urals (~47-50°N latitude). This contact with Uralic is also consistent with the specific evolutionary connections between Baltic and Slavic one hand and Indo-Iranian on the other. This suggests that early Indo-Iranian was positioned in proximity to these northerly branches of IE. In light of these points, we are sympathetic to Tilak’s idea that it is likely that the Vedic references point to long dawns. Indeed, the cognate goddess presiding over the dawn was an important one in several branches of Indo-European, who appears to have faded away in several branches in subsequent times. Thus, cognates of Indo-Aryan uShas include, Iranian uShA (as in the Avestan incantation uShAhin gAH; also vî-daêvô-dAta 19.28 and yasna haptanghaiti 50.10), the Greek Eos, Latin Aurora and Lithuanian Aushrine. Aushrine seems to have been conflated with Venus in Lithuanian legend after the destruction of their ancestral religion (cf. indraja becoming Lithuanian name of Jupiter). All these cognate deities are described using poetic phrases similar to those used for the uShas in the veda. Thus, it appears that dawns were a prominent phenomenon in the Indo-European homeland, just as implied by the Vedic memory of the same.

Returning to Tilak’s interpretation of the Vedic dawn, there is one mantra in the RV relevant to his hypothesis, which has been difficult to understand. Tilak himself took it as evidence in support of his contention while other interpreters of the RV have tended to look at it differently. We revisit this mantra and see what it might mean.

shashvat puroShA vy uvAsa devy atho adyedaM vy Avo maghonI |
atho vy uchChAd uttarAM anu dyUn ajarAmR^itA charati svadhAbhiH ||RV 1.113.13 by kutsa A~ngirasa

shashvat= continually; purA= formerly uShAH= uShas, nominative singular; vi= verb prefix; uvAsa= had shone, perfect, third person of verb vas (class 6); devI= goddess; atha= moreover; u= emphatic particle; adya= today; idaM= this, 3rd person singular neuter; vi= verb prefix; AvaH= shone (see below for discussion) maghonI= munificent lady.

atha= now ; u=; vi= emphatic particle; uchChAt= may light (see below); ut .atarAn= future, the terminal nasal is pronounced as pure anunAsika in recitation; anu=along; dyUn= days, masculine accusative plural; ajara= undecaying; amR^itA= immortal; charati= moves, present, 3rd person singular; svadhAbhiH= by her own powers, feminine instrumental plural.

Thus with the above analysis one may translate the mantra thus:
Formerly, the goddess uShas had continually shone forth;
now then the munificent lady shined this [light] today.
Now then, may she light up the days that will come along;
immortal and undecaying she moves on by her own powers.

Now this mantra poses the following problems of note:
1) The first pAda has been interpreted by most as meaning from the former times the goddess uShas has been continually shining forth. This is taken as a symmetric contrast to the future expectation expressed in the 3rd pAda for the days that will come along. But the point to note is that the verb vi-vas is used in the perfect tense (vi-uvAsa; pANini liT): it is a regular active perfect of the class 6 verb vas. Now traditionally liT is used to convey parokSha-bhUta or a distant past that has not been witnessed directly by the speaker. Indeed such a narrative tense is shared between Sanskrit and Greek and commonly used in both traditions while recounting AkhyAna-s or epic events. Hence, in the strictly grammatically sense the pAda would mean: “Formerly, the goddess uShas had continually shone forth” just as the great commentator sAyaNa and Tilak had interpreted it. Thus, Tilak’s idea that the mantra-composer was familiar with a former time when there was a continuous dawn is not technically incorrect. This might imply that the author of this mantra himself was not in the region with the long or the continually shining dawn but his ancestors were and thus he had heard of the same.

2) vi-AvaH is a peculiar verb form that does appear in the regular conjugation of the class 6 verb vi-vas. It is found only in the older parts of the veda. sAyaNa informs us in different places in his commentary that it is derived from either la~N (imperfect past) or lu~N (aorist past) via luk, i.e. elision of the vikaraNa or the conjugational affix inserted the root and the termination, followed by further Vedic-specific transformations (lopa of hal, i.e. pANini’s designation for terminal consonant). Of the past tenses, la~N is termed anadyatana-bhUta (used for a past that has not taken place today). While la~N is often used in conjunction with liT (parokSha-bhUta), in this context the adverb adya is used suggesting it is a past proximal to the present events. Hence, it should be taken as a lu~N, i.e. the aorist which can express adyatana-bhUta (past continuous with the present).

This interpretation of vi-AvaH is consistent with another occurrence of it in a mantra of dIrghatamas auchAthya in a similar context relating to the dawn Ashvina ritual:

abodhy agnir jma ud eti sUryo vy uShAsh chandrA mahy Avo archiShA |
AyukShAtAm ashvinA yAtave rathaM prAsAvId devaH savitA jagat pR^ithak || (RV 1.157.1)
The verbs herein are: abodhi= was awakened, 3rd person singular atmanepada aorist of class 1 verb budh; ud-eti= rises up, 3rd person singular present of class 2 verb i; vi-AvaH= shone forth, like above R^ik in the context of uShas; AyukShAtAm= was yoked, 3rd person dual atmanepada aorist of class 7 verb yuj, technically ayukShAtAm but the first syllable is metrically elongated; pra-asAvIt= 3rd person singular aorist of class 6 verb sU;

Thus the above mantra has 5 verbs of which 4 are indicate past actions that precede the rising of the sun indicated in present tense. Of these 3 are clear lu~N, i.e. aorists, indicating past actions just prior of the rising of the sun. Thus, the 4th of this group AvaH is also likely to follow them in being a specialized lu~N derivative occurring only in the veda. In his commentary on this mantra, sAyaNa indicates it is exactly that – a lu~N, which has been modified in Chandas.

3) vi-uchChAt occurring the 3rd pAda of RV 1.113.13 is another unusual verb form. sAyaNa tells us that it is a conjugational form of vi-vas just like AvaH and the perfect form uvAsa. He further informs us that it is a veda-specific conjugational form, leT. This form is taken to imply AshIH, i.e. the hope that something will happen (generally taken to imply a mood stronger than opative, li~N, and weaker than imperative, loT); the subjunctive mood of the white indologists.

One may ask if there are any other definitive indicators in support of Tilak’s contention that the Vedic dawns were long. We do think that the very prominence of the dawns, the mention of multiple changing colors from purple to “white” are suggestive of this. Moreover, we also think the legend of indra smashing the cart of uShas is another point supporting this. On multiple occasions indra is described as setting free or giving rise to the uShas and sUrya (e.g. “yaH sUryaM ya uShasaM jajAna” in RV 2.12.7). On the other hand he is described in 4 different sUkta-s as smashing the cart of uShas with his vajra: RV 2.15.6; RV 4.30.8-11; RV 10.73.6; RV 10.138.5. The cart of uShas is described as being slow (ajavasaH in RV 2.15.6) as compared to the fast chariot of indra. It is also explicitly described as being an anas, the cognate of Latin onus – a slow burden-bearing vehicle. This suggests that the legend arose from the dawn being drawn out as alluded to in RV 1.113.13. While the beauty of the dawn is celebrated in the deity uShas, on the flip side the long dawn delays actual day break. Hence, she is described as causing trouble (RV 4.30.8) while expanding her glory (RV 4.30.9). Thus, indra is seen as clearing the way for the sun to rise by causing uShas to flee (ending dawn) by destroying her cart with a strike of his bolt. Hence, this legend, which was seen as a mysterious one by the white indologist Oldenburg, is in our opinion a fairly clear memory of long dawns in the R^igveda.

In conclusion, while it may be a far stretch to place the home of the Indo-Aryans inside the Arctic circle, we do feel Tilak’s observation regarding the long dawns in the veda is valid and consistent with the idea of the ancient home of the Indo-Aryans north of the Caucasus.

The stotra is attributed to the R^iShi agastya and is embedded in the vAmana purANa:

Shortly after we had reached the mlechCha-land we read an abstract of a presentation in a meeting on vertebrate paleontology where Argentinian scientists reported the discovery of a large theropod (~6m long) with huge claws. At that point those claws were compared to the pedal claws of deinonychosaurs and it was seen as a huge southern deinonychosaur. But the story of these claws did not end there. The owner of these claws was eventually named Megaraptor namunhuaiquii and it became clear that they were not pedal claws but manual claws. The affinities of Megaraptor have since then been in a state of flux. We had it being classified as a coelurosaur, a carcharodontosauroid, a spinosauroid, and a basal tetanuran. Thus, it was more or less placed all over the tetanuran subtree of theropods. This is very typical of morphological phylogenies, which, as we have noted several times on these pages, are not very reliable, especially when confronted by highly derived morphologies.

In the meantime, more of Megaraptor was found and several relatives also started emerging in South America and elsewhere. From south America we had Aerosteon and Orkoraptor. From Australia we had Australovenator, and from Japan we had Fukuiraptor. These new discoveries resulted in two competing hypothesis. As we detailed before, the analysis of Orkoraptor and Aerosteon suggested they were coelurosaurs and not allosauroids as Sereno et al had proposed. Thus, by association it would mean that Megaraptor was also a coelurosaur. But contrary to this, a major phylogenetic analysis by Benson/Brusatte et al resulted in all these dinosaurs being recovered as a monophyletic megaraptoran clade in a larger clade together with carcharodontosauroids within the allosauroid clade. This suggested that the coelurosaurian features we had observed in Orkoraptor and Aerosteon were purely convergent features.

However, the discovery of new Megaraptor remains along with two new phylogenetic analysis by the Argentinian team lead by their veteran paleontologist Novas has resulted in restoration of the coelurosaurian hypothesis, now with a further twist – the megaraptorans including Aerosteon, Orkoraptor, Megaraptor, Australovenator, and Fukuiraptor are a clade of tyrannosauroids, whereas Neovenator, Concavenator, Eocarcharia and go along with the crown carcharodontosaurs (including Shaochilong) inside the allosauroid clade. Chilantaisaurus, which Benson/Brusatte found to be a carcharodontosauroid, now emerges as a basal coelurosaur.

All this is of considerable interest given that we had noted that the so called basal tyrannosaur Yutyrannus had several characters generally shared with the basal carcharodontosauroid Concavenator. Thus, irrespective of which hypothesis might be correct, there appear to be certain convergences between tyrannosauroids on one hand and allosauroids of the carcharodontosauroid clade on the other. Hence, at this moment we are undecided between these two hypothesis – however, we may note that the authors test several alternative topologies. Of these grouping of megaraptorans with Neovenator either inside tyrannosauroids or with it in the position they recover it results in trees which are 26-37 steps longer. Thus, given the codings and matrix they are using it would seem that megaraptorans are not closely related to Neovenator at all – a key contradiction to the phylogeny proposed by Benson et al. Importantly, Novas and colleagues note 14 synapomorphies that support the nesting of the megaraptorans within the tyrannosauroid clade. Of these the following are indeed suggestive:
● premaxilla with incisiviform teeth with “D”-shaped cross-section
● premaxilla with very large, circular foramina on the lateral surface
● external naris major axis length more than three times its maximum dorsoventral height
● pubic boot 60% length of the bone
● dentary first alveolus substantially smaller than the more posterior ones

Thus in their tree the megaraptorans are nested within tyrannosauroids as a sister group of Xiongguanlong (and possibly Alectrosaurus) and the remaining crown tyrannosaurids. Santanaraptor emerges a sister group to both the above clades and they in turn are joined by a clade formed by the basal tyrannosauroids Dilong, Tanycolagreus, Guanlong, Kileskus and Protoceratosaurus (probably including Sinotyrannus). Holtz had earlier noted that the Brazilian Santanaraptor might be a tyrannosaur from the South (i.e. Gondwana) and that seems to be borne out by this study too. They also recover Eotyrannus from Cretaceous of Britain as a megaraptoran but caution this is not reliable – indeed it seems unlikely. In purely visual terms their comparison of the reconstructed skull of Megaraptor with that of the basal tyrannosauroid Dilong makes striking impression.

Thus, the authors propose based on their phylogenetic analysis that the tyrannosaurs followed two distinct trajectories in the northern and southern continents. In the north they evolved into large bone-crushing predators epitomized by the last member of the clade Tyrannosaurus or those retaining the apparently ancestral longistrine condition seen in Xiongguanlong (and probably also its close relative Alectrosaurus) prototyped by the Alioramus from Mongolia and China (including the recently named Qianzhousaurus which seems to be just an adult Alioramus). However, both these northern forms evolved small hands with just two functional fingers. In contrast, the southern megaraptorans evolved larger hands with powerful claws thus developing a mode of predation similar to the allosaurs and carcharodontosaurs that appear to have directly used their powerful hand claws as weaponry. However, the ground reality is rather different: there are forms like Dryptosaurus which might have been “two-fingered” (certainly closer to the crown tyrannosaurs than megaraptorans) but had large claws which were used as direct predatory weaponry. Then there are the small tyrannosaurs of the Northern Cretaceous whose such as Bagaraatan and Xinjiangovenator which may have paralleled the smaller megaraptorans like the Japanese Fukuiraptor.

On 26th June 363 CE the great philosopher-emperor Julian died from a wound that was inflicted in all likelihood by a Christian traitor in his own ranks (said to be sent by Christian saint Basil for his assassination). He was retreating after having failed to take the Iranian capital city of Ctesiphon led by Shapur-II, who was believed to have been conferred invincibility by Mithra and Ahura Mazda. The untimely death of Julian, aged 32, changed the history of the world itself – no longer could the dreadful cult of Jeshua ibn Yusuf be held back. Consequently, it along with its younger sister cult was to bring misery to the whole world. Hence, in memory of this great heathen philosopher-emperor we post his letter from 362 CE to Arsacius the heathen high-priest of Galatia while he was on his way to Antioch on a campaign (translated from Greek in the Loeb Series):

“The Hellenic religion does not yet prosper as I desire, and it is the fault of those who profess it; for the worship of the gods is on a splendid and magnificent scale, surpassing every prayer and every hope. May Adrasteia pardon my words, for indeed no one, a little while ago, would have ventured even to pray for a change of such a sort or so complete within so short a time. Why, then, do we think that this is enough, why do we not observe that it is their benevolence to strangers, their care for the graves of the dead and the pretended holiness of their lives that have done most to increase atheism? I believe that we ought really and truly to practice every one of these virtues. And it is not enough for you alone to practice them, but so must all the priests in Galatia, without exception. Either shame or persuade them into righteousness or else remove them from their priestly office, if they do not, together with their wives, children and servants, attend the worship of the gods but allow their servants or sons or wives to show impiety towards the gods and honor atheism more than piety.

In the second place, admonish them that no priest may enter a theater or drink in a tavern or control any craft or trade that is base and not respectable. Honor those who obey you, but those who disobey, expel from office. In every city establish frequent hostels in order that strangers may profit by our benevolence; I do not mean for our own people only, but for others also who are in need of money. I have but now made a plan by which you may be well provided for this; for I have given directions that 30,000 modii of grain shall be assigned every year for the whole of Galatia, and 60,000 sextarii of wine. I order that one-fifth of this be used for the poor who serve the priests, and the remainder be distributed by us to strangers and beggars. For it is disgraceful that, when no Jew ever has to beg, and the impious Galilaeans support not only their own poor but ours as well, all men see that our people lack aid from us. Teach those of the Hellenic religion to contribute to public service of this sort, and the Hellenic villages to offer their first fruits to the gods ; and accustom those who love the Hellenic religion to these good works by teaching them that this was our practice of old.

At any rate Homer makes Eumaeus say: “Stranger, it is not lawful for me, not even though a baser man than you should come, to dishonor a stranger. For from Zeus come all strangers and beggars. And a gift, though small, is precious.” Then let us not, by allowing others to outdo us in good works, disgrace by such remissness, or rather, utterly abandon, the reverence due to the gods. If I hear that you are carrying out these orders I shall be filled with joy. As for the government officials, do not interview them often at their homes, but write to them frequently. And when they enter the city no priest must go to meet them, but only meet them within the vestibule when they visit the temples of the gods. Let no soldier march before them into the temple, but any who will may follow them; for the moment that one of them passes over the threshold of the sacred precinct he becomes a private citizen.

For you yourself, as you are aware, have authority over what is within, since this is the bidding of the divine ordinance. Those who obey it are in very truth respectful of the gods, while those who oppose it with arrogance are vainglorious and empty-headed. I am ready to assist Pessinus if her people succeed in winning the favor of the Mother of the Gods. But, if they neglect her, they are not only not free from blame, but, not to speak harshly, let them beware of reaping my enmity also. For it is not lawful for me to cherish or to pity men who are the enemies of the immortal gods. Therefore persuade them, if they claim my patronage, that the whole community must become suppliants of the Mother of the Gods.”

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Notes
● Adrasteia: The Loeb translation says that Adrasteia is Nemesis. However, it should be noted that in the account of the birth of the great god Zeus Adrasteia is also termed Themis. The epithet is also used for Rhea, the deva-mAtR^i of the yavana-s and some other goddesses. Here, she is the fate goddess probably identified with the devAnAM-mAtR^i mentioned at the end of the letter (the cognate of the Hindu aditi).

● When Julian uses the term “atheist” or “impious Galilaeans” he means the pretonmatta-s, i.e. the worshipers of Yeshua ibn Yusuf. They are atheists as they dishonor and prevent the worship of the theoi (yavana devAH).

● Julian notes the age-old practice of pretAcharin-s of trying to win converts by way of charity to strangers and the poor. What was happening in 362 CE in the Roman empire is also happening today in our own holy land, the last bastion of Indo-European heathenism. Literally hundreds of church organizations and their covert assistants in the form of non-governmental organizations are preying upon the Hindu poor in the very same way. In this they were aided by the previous UPA government headed by our own Helena and a rather inappropriate and dull-witted cognate of Constantine. Yet, with their memetic immune systems disarmed by the preta virus, the average Hindus do not see the dangers of the encroaching death-sentence being imposed on them by the pretamata. From this letter of emperor Julian we may infer that the average Hellenes were similarly lax and uninformed about the noose cast around them by pretAcharin-s. Hindus today show less awareness than even what they seemed to have in the days of Julian. We learn from the Roman histories that gupta, Bactrian, pANDyan, and shrIlankan emissaries from India had journeyed to Julian’s court to congratulate him “on account of learning of his knowledge of justice”. It is conceivable that this means that they recognized the revival of heathenism by him.

● The solution Julian proposes to counter the pretamata is to set up heathen charities supported by the heathen state that would render the preta activity in this regard superfluous. Indeed, the Hindu organization like the RSS have been attempting this, but unfortunately the Hindu state rendered comatose by the evil of secularism and several rich temples fail to do so.

● Importantly, Julian calls upon Arsacius to have everyone participate in Hellenic religion, by persuasion or shaming so that they are not drawn towards the pretamata at the expense of heathenism. He recognizes the need for this to be an important step to counter the preta religion from taking hold, especially among the members of the family and servants. In modern India, again under the toxicity of secularism the government allows subtle and covert Galilaean memes to be broadcast on television, thereby softening the population for the action of the churches and NGOs. If the Hindu nation wishes to survive it needs squeeze out the pretamata from every avenue of public discourse and replace it not by modern atheism but by the Hindu religion. Moreover, in India the Babiastic religions could colonize niches which are vacated by the pretonmAda, if and when it is squeezed out, much like Clostridium difficile after antibiotic treatment. Hence, the Julian plan is of utmost importance.

● It is interesting to note that Julian insists that the priests observe their “brAhmaNa-dharma”: He admonishes them regarding drinking at taverns or participating in disreputable activities.

● One may note the lucidity of his concluding statement where he makes clear that he cannot pity anyone who goes against the “deva-dharma”. In modern India, not one ruler has been able to say this as clearly as Julian. When will we hear the words: “The Indian state cannot cherish or pity anyone who goes against the deva-dharma.” With this in mind one cannot but have a sinking feeling that the Hindus are following the footsteps of the Hellenes.

An atharvan military ritual for kShatriya-s headed to war involves deployment of AV-vulgate 8.8 or its cognate AV-P 16.29. The ritual is specified by the kaushika sUtra 16.9-20 and some details are provided by the atharvan commentators dArila and keshava.

The atharvan purohita uses a fire drill with an ashvattha (Pipal) plank and a badhaka drill-bit (One tradition holds that this plant is Taxus baccata) and generates fire via friction using the below churning mantra:

indro manthatu manthitA shakraH shUraH puraMdaraH |
yathA hanAma senA amitrANAM sahasrashaH ||1||
indra the shaker, shake up the enemies, the mighty hero, the breaker of forts, so that we might slaughter the armies of our enemies by the thousands.

When he sees the sparks he places an old rope with the incantation (in place of amUm he may use the name of the enemy army throughout this deployment):
pUtirajjur upadhmAnI pUtiM senAM kR^iNotv amUm |

When he sees the rope smoking he utters the incantation:
dhUmam parAdR^ishyA .amitrA hR^itsu A dadhatAM bhayam |

When the smoke catches fire he recites the mantra:
agnim parAdR^ishyA .amitrA hR^itsu A dadhatAM bhayam |

These are derived from the R^ik
pUtirajjur upadhmAnI pUtiM senAM kR^iNotv amUm |
dhUmam agnim parAdR^ishyA .amitrA hR^itsv A dadhatAM bhayam ||2||
Let the putrid rope, blowing forth make that army putrid; let fear be in our enemies hearts seeing the smoke and fire from afar.

Then he places samidh-s of the ashvattha, badhaka, tAjadbha~Nga (castor), Ahva (palAsha= Butea monosperma), khadira (Acacia) and shara (arrow-grass) with the below mantras:

amUn ashvattha niH shR^iNIhi khAdAmUn khadirAjiram |
tAjadbha~Nga iva bhajantAM hantv enAn vadhako vadhaiH ||3||
O pipal, pound those forces, devour them O khadira, break them O castor plant, kill them with weapons, O vadhaka!

paruShAn amUn paruShAhvaH kR^iNotu hantv enAn vadhako vadhaiH |
kShipraM shara iva bhajantAM bR^ihajjAlena saMditAH ||4||
O piercing plant make those of the enemy army pierced, may the vadhaka plant slay them weapons! Quickly like a reed may they be broken and entrapped in the great snare.

Then the objects of war invoked in the rest of the sUktaM are serially offered dual offerings by the atharvan ritualist: with his right hand he makes a ghee oblation with his darvi ladle ending with svAhA for objects of war of his side and to gods for his side; e.g. jAlAya svAhA | jAlaDaNDAya svAhA | indrAya svAhA | idam indrAya na mama | etc
With his left hand he makes oblations of i~NgiDa oil to the same fire on the badhaka wood with a deprecation for this foes; e.g. dasyUnAM senAyai durAhA | na mama idaM |

antarikShaM jAlam AsIj jAladaNDA disho mahIH |
tenAbhidhAya dasyUnAM shakraH senAm apAvapat ||5||
The atmosphere was the net, the great directions were were the net-rods; entrapping them therewith indra uprooted the army of the dasyu-s.

bR^ihad dhi jAlaM bR^ihataH shakrasya vAjinIvataH |
tena shatrUn abhi sarvAn ny ubja yathA na muchyAtai katamash chanaiShAm ||6||
Great indeed is the web of the mighty indra, of the vigorous one; therewith may you swoop upon all enemies, such that no one of them may escape.

bR^ihat te jAlaM bR^ihata indra shUra sahasrArghasya shatavIryasya |
tena shataM sahasram ayutaM nyarbudaM jaghAna shakro dasyUnAm abhidhAya senayA ||7||
Great, O indra the valiant, is the web of yours, which is great worth a thousand, with hundred-fold powers; therewith entrapping the army of the dasyu-s, indra slew a hundred, a thousand, a ten thousand and a hundred million!

ayaM loko jAlam AsIch Chakrasya mahato mahAn |
tenAham indrajAlenAmUMs tamasAbhi dadhAmi sarvAn ||8||
This great world itself was the web of the great indra; with that web I deliver the entire enemy army into darkness!

sedir ugrA vyR^iddhir Artish chAnapavAchanA |
shramas tandrIsh cha mohash cha tair amUn abhi dadhAmi sarvAn ||9||
Illness, fierce misfortune, mishaps which cannot be countered by their mantras, toil, lassitude, and delusion with these I entrap the enemy army.

mR^ityave .amUn pra yaChAmi mR^ityupAshair amI sitAH |
mR^ityor ye aghalA dUtAs tebhya enAn prati nayAmi baddhvA ||10|| 
To death I deliver the enemy army, with the nooses of death the enemy army is bound, having bound them I take them to meet the funereal messengers of death!

nayatAmUn mR^ityudUtA yamadUtA apombhata |
paraH sahasrA hanyantAM tR^iNeDhv enAn matyaM bhavasya ||11||
May you lead them O messengers of death; O agents of yama strangle them, may they be killed in numbers greater than thousands; let the hammer of rudra smash them!

sAdhyA ekaM jAladaNDam udyatya yanty ojasA |
rudrA ekaM vasava ekam Adityair eka udyataH ||12||
The sAdhya-s go lifting with might one of the net-rods; the rudra-s one, the vasu-s one, by the aditya-s one is lifted.

vishve devAH upariShTAd ubjanto yantv ojasA |
madhyena ghnanto yantu senAm a~Ngiraso mahIm ||13||
Let all the gods from the sky arrive swooping with might; let the a~Ngirasa-s go midway slaying the mighty army.

vanaspatIn vAnaspatyAn oShadhIr uta vIrudhaH |
dvipAch chatuShpAd iShNAmi yathA senAm amUM hanan ||14||
The trees, substances from trees, herbs and plants, what ever is bipedal and quadrupedal I send that they may kill the enemy army.

gandharvApsarasaH sarpAn devAn puNyajanAn pitR^In |
dR^iShTAn adR^iShTAn iShNAmi yathA senAm amUM hanan ||15||
The gandharva-s the apsaras-es, the snakes, the deva-s, the holy ones, the ancestors, those seen and those unseen I dispatch to kill the enemy army.

ima uptA mR^ityupAshA yAn Akramya na muchyase |
amuShyA hantu senAyA idaM kUTaM sahasrashaH ||16||
Here are spread out the nooses of death, if you step into which you are not released; let this spike kill the enemy army by the thousands.

gharmaH samiddho agninAyaM homaH sahasrahaH |
bhavash cha pR^ishni-bAhush cha sharva senAm amUM hatam ||17||
The gharma is offered via the kindled fire as this thousand-slaying oblation; bhava, one having pR^iShni in his arms, sharva [names of rudra] slay that enemy army!

mR^ityor ASham A padyantAM kShudhaM sediM vadham bhayam |
indrash chAkShu-jAlAbhyAM sharva senAm amUM hatam ||18||
May the enemy be death’s food, may they fall into hunger, illness, the deadly weapon and fear; by the trap and web O indra and rudra, the archer, slay the enemy army!

parAjitAH pra trasatAmitrA nuttA dhAvata brahmaNA |
bR^ihaspati pranuttAnAM mAm IShAM mochi kash chana ||19||
Being defeated, being harassed, O enemies, run being expelled by brahman power; expelled by bR^ihaspati may none of the enemy ever be freed!

ava padyantAm eShAm AyudhAni mA shakan pratidhAm iShum |
athaiShAM bahu bibhyatAm iShavaH ghnantu marmaNi ||20||
Let their weapons fall down; let them not be able aim their arrow; then as they are in much fear let the arrows strike their marman points.

saM kroshatAm enAn dyAvApR^ithivI sam antarikShaM saha devatAbhiH |
mA j~nAtAraM mA pratiShThAM vidanta mitho vighnAnA upa yantu mR^ityum ||21||
The heaven and earth roar at them together; let the atmosphere together with the deities roar at them; let them not have a knowledgeable one in their midst, let them not find a foundation; mutually striking each other may they go unto death!

dishash chatasro .ashvataryo deva-rathasya purodAshAH shaphA antarikSham uddhiH |
dyAvApR^ithivI pakShasI R^itavo .abhIshavo .antardeshAH kimkarA vAk parirathyam ||22||
The 4 directions are the mules of the god-chariot; the ritual cakes are hoofs; the atmosphere the seat; heaven and earth the two sides; the seasons the reins; the intermediate directions the attendants and speech the chariot armor.

saMvatsaro rathaH parivatsaro rathopastho virAD IShAgnI rathamukham |
indraH savyaShThAsh chandramAH sArathiH ||23||
The year is the chariot; the parivatsara year the chariot base; virAT the pole; agni the mouth of the chariot; indra the one standing on the chariot; moon the charioteer.

ito jayeto vi jaya saM jaya jaya svAhA |
Conquer here, conquer the foes here, conquer completely, conquer; hail!

ime jayantu parAmI jayantAM svAhaibhyo durAhAmIbhyaH |
nIlalohitenAmUn abhyavatanomi ||24||
Let those enemies be conquered; hail to these; wail to the enemies; with the aid of the blue-red rudra (nilalohita) I stretch the web out upon those enemies!

After the last svAhA and durAhA he takes a red shoot of the ashvattha tree and entwines it with red and blue threads. Then he sticks it into the north of the fire and uttering the incantation nilalohitena… he pulls out the shoot towards the right with the threads.

While the ritual itself is symbolic, the traps and the web alluded to in the sUktaM is hardly symbolic and represent real snares that are likely to be poisoned with castor. This is also likely to be combined with fire and smoke.

Many years ago we discovered that EGLN1 and its orthologs were  iron and 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase that hydroxylated prolines. About 8 months after we had published a paper detailing this discovery a band of mlechCha-s led by an English robber-baron said essentially the same thing, as though it was a new discovery, while failing to cite us entirely – iti mlechChAnAM mlechChatvaM | But this EGLN1 was destined to have a long and interesting career at the foundation of many an interesting discovery. Years later, studies on the genetic adaptations that help Tibetans thrive at high altitudes revealed a role for EGLN1 and another gene EPAS1, which had also crossed our path. The latter protein had a domain which we were among the first to characterize and discover to be a binder of small molecule ligands. The recovery of these two genes was satisfying as they code for proteins which are part of a sensory pathway for hypoxia – this is in itself again not being surprising as it stems directly from our original discovery that EGLN1 needs molecular oxygen for its catalytic activity. Indeed, a key to adaptation for high altitudes is being able to survive in rarefied air that’s low in oxygen. Indeed, we have known of more that one plain dweller who in their desire to have a glimpse of rudra at kailAsa instead got called for a premature appointment with chitragupta due the hypoxia. However, a question that remained was how did the Tibetans acquired these genetic adaptations? The Tibetans were otherwise part of the great radiation of closely related peoples including the Han chIna-s and other East Asians.

The first discoveries leading to a possible answer came from the work of Jeong et al published earlier this year. They showed that the EGLN1 and EPAS1 alleles, which confer the high altitude adaptation to the Tibetans were acquired from the Sherpa, another legendary high altitude people famous for their mountaineering abilities. Based on this they proposed the model that the Sherpas were the original high altitude people, from whom an East Asian population, genetically similar in general terms to the Han, acquired these alleles through admixture giving rise to the Tibetans. But this led to the question how did the Sherpas acquire these adaptations? The partial answer to this came in rather interesting fashion via the work of Huerta-Sánchez et al. They focused on the EPAS1 gene which shows the signature for strong positive selection in these high altitude peoples and sequenced the region around the gene in Tibetans and Hans. What they found was that the gene was associated with an unusual haplotype structure that was otherwise found only in Denisovans and at a very low frequency in the Hans. The length of the haplotype and the total absence in a diverse set of world populations they surveyed establishes that more or less this region was acquired via introgression from Denisovans and amplified by positive selection exerted by the high altitudes. The authors of this work appear to have been unaware of the parallel work of Jeong et al hence did not look at Sherpas (Alternatively, the work being backed by chIna scientific institutions may not have had access to Sherpas and also wished to make a subtle political point to legitimize their stranglehold on Tibet). However, it is clear from that work that this introgression from Denisovans did not happen directly into Tibetans. Rather it most likely proceeded via the Sherpa intermediate.

This Denisovan admixture via the Sherpas is consistent with the observation that there is no evidence for noticeable Denisovan introgression in Hans and other East Asians. Likewise, there was no evidence for Denisovan admixture into most sampled Indians all over the Subcontinent including the Andaman islands. This raises the possibility that there was an isolated population of Denisovans in the Himalayan regions who came in contact with the Sherpas and conferred their genetic adaptations to high altitudes to them allowing them to effectively colonize those regions. Eventually, an East Asian population entered the region and admixed with the Sherpas further acquiring this adaptation and giving rise to the Tibetans. This gives the first hint that Denisovans might have reached the Northeastern mountain regions of the Indian subcontinent but perhaps did not penetrate beyond into the Indian plains. This is not the only adaptation acquired from Denisovans and the other species of ancient men, the Neanderthals. Earlier studies on the MHC proteins, which present antigenic peptides from pathogens to T-cells, had shown that there is a major contribution from these para-human versions to the modern human complement of MHCs. For example, in the case of the MHC class I molecule HLA-A, the alleles derived from para-human species comprise more than 50% of those in Europeans, more than 70% in Asians. In several Papuans nearly all the HLA-A alleles are of said to be of para-human origins. Thus, as Homo sapiens radiated out of Africa they used the introgressed Denisovan and Neanderthal alleles of these key immunity molecules to meet the challenges of the new pathogens they encountered in their advance. This raises the possibility that the divergence of non-Africans from Africans has been notably influenced in other ways than we currently know by admixture with non-sapiens Homo.

In conclusion, one could see this acquisition of archaic alleles by Homo sapiens as a parallel to how bacteria acquire various genes through lateral transfer to rapidly gain new adaptations such as antibiotic resistance.

Nothing has really changed in the world as long as the mlechCha-marUnmattAbhisaMdhi continues as usual. Yet, a large fraction of the Hindus we have observed have a weak apprehension of this outside a relatively small circle many of whom are part of some kind of densely connected subgraph of the internet universe. Of course in these discerning circles none of what is being said here is new or revelatory. Yet, for our own records we present these geopolitical round-ups. There are several points which we shall briefly review:

● In the Hindu world there has been a major change – the anti-national UPA government, which was engineered by the mlechCha-s exploiting the predilection for Gandhian blunders among the flotsam Hindus has been finally thrown out. Now the lATAnarta-naresha, who is one of the few Hindu politicians who had put the evil marUnmatta-s in place in his state, has become the bhArata-naresha. Of course this happened despite an avalanche of media and social media efforts of the mlechCha-s and their marUnmatta friends to counter his rise. We documented this by simply recording the headlines concerning him and the BJP party for two weeks in the run up to the Indian elections earlier this year.
mlechCha-marUnmattAdi venom on the lATAnarta-naresha.
We may also add that the spying on the BJP by the NSA (one of the few foreign political parties included for this honor) most likely gave the mlechCha-s direct intelligence to deploy their assets within India more accurately. With the naresha’s election the basic strategy of the mlechCha-s to prevent him from rising to power was defeated despite the above efforts. His foreign policy moves with respect to the subcontinent, especially the assembly of the local chiefs of the breakaway fragments of greater India, was a positive one. However, there is hardly any doubt that the damage to bhArata by the UPA has been so deep that the naresha will not be able to show much in the immediate future. Moreover, the rest of the BJP has a large proportion of rather substandard players who can drag the team down. On top of this the El Niño effect this year will limit the Indian Southwest monsoons severely and further hamper the recovery from the UPA rule, which has been no different from the effects of Moslem or English misrule. The average Hindus are prone to the “cricket effect” – when a player fails in a few matches, no matter how good he is, he is dumped forthwith and there are calls for his head. This effect will also translate to politics and will result in a degree of disappointment. On one hand this disappointment could be aggravated by some of the lightweight ministers’ expected misperformance and on the other hand will be exploited by mlechCha first responders. Finally, a secular Indian state cannot deal with the nocuous presence of marUnmatta-s and shavasAdhaka-s within it – one being a fast poison that episodically disrupts the state and the other being a slow-acting poison that undermines the very scaffold of the Hindu nation. Then there is their secular cousin, the rudhira-dhvaja, upheld by the Marxist terrorists. How the naresha deals with these fundamental problems is going to be way more important than things that the Hindus normally think about – encapsulated as roTI-kapDA-makhAn – for Hindus can bid these good bye if residual bhArata descends into a Somalia- or Nigeria-like cesspool in a scenario where the Abrahamistic dyad and their secular offshoots prevail in this struggle.

● Not surprisingly, the Abrahamistic dyad realizes that if at all Hindus have a chance it is going to be if the naresha pulls of a successful edition of the Julian plan. They are clearly gearing to make it fail much like that of emperor Julian’s. Of course, since those times they have learned and perfected many new methods. One of these which is very effective with Hindus is to cause bheda as the old political thinkers of our land would say. For this, their organs involved in demonizing Hindu nationalists has been put into full swing in the hope they can exploit any stumbles on the part of the BJP government. For example, one could look at a report just fabricated by the South Asia Citizens Web (any organization or individual who uses the term South Asia for the Indian subcontinent, great India or jaMbudvIpa is de facto an enemy of the Hindus) on Hindu nationalists in the US. It needs no special analysis beyond the fact that it is announced with a graphic showing the svastika, a holy symbol of the Hindus that is over 4500 years old, being crossed out. Anyone who crosses out the Hindu svastika cannot be anything other than an enemy of our peoples – not surprising for a collective of first responders backed by the mlechCha-marUnmattAbhisaMdhi. What Hindu need to take home from this is that the victory of the naresha does not mean the mlechCha-s have accepted defeat, rather they are gearing up for a bigger battle.

The victory of the naresha has, to an extant, caused the first responders in the Indian media to fold up (at least least temporarily). With the native levies shying from confrontation, the mlechCha-s have begun using their own propaganda department to continue their attack on bhArata. To test this one may do the simple experiment of using Google News US edition and change the settings so that India is on top and set to “always”. Then one might observe the primary India-related headlines in mlechCha propaganda organs. Below is a sampling of news items that surfaced to the top in the above experiment:
*India’s rape epidemic: Will the US apply pressure for change to its Asian ally? Fox News
*India’s sewer cleaners keep working despite ban on job. Los Angeles Times
*India summons US diplomat over report of NSA spying. CNN
*India’s building collapse death toll reaches 60. Washington Post
*’Invisible’ in India: The story of the disabled boy tied to Mumbai bus stop. CNN
*No quick fix for India’s rape crisis. CNN
*China Cultivates India Amid Tension With Neighbors. ABC News
*Tiger leaps onto boat, snatches man in swamp in India. Fox News
*Indian Forces Fire on Kashmir Protesters; 1 Killed. ABC News
*Christians face abuse around the globe. CNN – “In India, the world’s largest democracy, Christians face harassment and violence, especially in states with laws restricting religious conversion from Hinduism.” – We wish truly conversion to Abrahamistic cults was banned in bhArata as imagined by their propagandists.
*Sword Fight Breaks Out at Shrine in India, Causing Injuries. ABC News
*Indian Bureaucrats Scramble for Hindi Dictionaries. ABC News

What does all this mean for the Hindus? It is clear that the mlechCha-s want to create a deeply negative image of bhArata as a lawless land, which needs to be brought in line for shavasadhaka-s to thrive at the expense of Hindus. This is the message for their own people and the philo-occidental Hindu elite in India. On the other hand the same messages have a different utility from the angle of their effects on the plebeian Hindu reader. One such angle, which would be very apparent any discerning observer, is the attempt to create a strI-puruSha-bheda to disrupt Hindu social and family structure. Another angle is demoralizing visitors and investors to affect tourism and other revenues. Yet another angle is planting stories so as to rake up old issues irrelevant to the modern world, such as regionalistic linguistic chauvinism, to distract Hindus from the core issues, namely removal of Abrahamistic predation on their lands. Earlier, a whole party was set up to rake up the issue of corruption, which while real, is hardly the biggest problem faced by bhArata. In case people thought it did not exist in the land of the free it is simply because they have not experienced those lands themselves and the fact that those lands have enormous resource to population ratios relative to bhArata.

● In course of the mlechCha war with the Qing empire they laid the chIna-s low by using opium. However, the chIna-s did not go down without a fight and these were the famous opium wars. This was a dramatic and new technique, which while useful could still incite a reaction from the enemy. But the mlechCha-s have now perfected it to the point that the victims do not know that they are being intoxicated by a drug. Thus, the primary drugs are not opium and other psychedelics but memetic ones. In bhArata this takes the form of the movie industry, epitomized by Bollywood. We have personally seen many a Hindu being utterly ruined and also injuring others due to this “drug”. Analysis by our good friend illustrates that Bollywood lacks originality to the core and routinely plagiarizes themes from Hollywood. Thus, it serves as a conduit for mlechCha memes to befuddle the Hindu masses by subtly reinforcing vidharma constructs. Moreover it subtly legitimizes notions such as, secularism, social acceptability of marUnmatta-s (thereby facilitating their love-jihad), the natural leaders of Hindu society the brAhmaNa-s as evil, and constructs that facilitate the break down Hindu society and family. Similarly, the TV advertisements, which constantly bombard an average Hindu in India as he savors cricket and other spectator sports subtly promote the acceptability of the eka-rAkShasa-mata-s and their constructs. The use of these intoxicants will be further exploited in the coming days to render the Hindu immunity futile even as the polydnavirus or nudivirus is deployed by a parasitoid wasp against its prey. In particular this would be important because it would be difficult for even a nationalist government to control as already a good part of the masses have been addicted and it can help slip in deleterious propaganda under the radar. In particular this could be combined with events such as world cups and the IPL masAlA matches (e.g. the IPL nights program which we saw some socially upscale but undiscerning Hindus savoring over an unhealthy meal of greasy panIr samosA-s and sweets).

● The Sunni Mohammedans have much to congratulate themselves over the establishment of their Caliphate. Now it is important to observe the actions of the mlechCha-s vis-a-vis the Sunnis an alliance which goes back to their alliances with the Osman sultans continuing through the great Crimean war, where the mlechCha alliance defeated the Rus to help the Osmans. One may notice how the mlecCha-s only mumble when a Caliphate or an Emirate destroys pagan structures. When the buddha-s were destroyed at varNAyana the mlechCha-s who were entirely capable of stopping it merely mumbled some protests but let the Emirate of mullah Omar destroy it. Instead the propagate stuff like varNAyana was center of “Greek, Turkish, Persian, Chinese and Indian influence (!)”. Now likewise they have stepped backed to mumble or deny even as the Caliphate destroys the ancient heathen Assyrian images from the time of Jahiliyyah. This is not surprising given the fact that the mlechCha-s have covertly aided and abetted the ISIS as a front against Syria’s Assad. Was ISIS or Saddam Hussein/Assad worse? The answer is clear even to a slow-witted person. Hence, the mlechCha behavior vis-a-vis ISIS and also the Mohammedans of Libya should make it clear as to what they really support and why. Now again one may ask the question against this back drop as to why Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are still around as states, while most other West Asian and North African gutter-holes are being stirred up vigorously? Those Hindus who fondly hope that TSP will disintegrate by itself should pay close attention to this question. An examination of the details “fine print” will reveal that irrespective of the outward signs of conflict the mlechCha will never give up either TSP or the barbarians of Saud – if 9/11 could not break these bonds then what can? Importantly, for the Hindus the mlechCha will continue giving the needful finance to support these nations militarily even as TSP sports the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world – so much for the talk of non-proliferation. Moreover, the mlechCha resources are so large that it can literally endlessly prop up TSP. While we will be happy to be proven wrong TSP is not going to disintegrate as many Hindus imagine and will continue to receive high-tech military gear to play its part in the “colonialism by distance” venture of the mlechCha-s. On these matters not just mlechCha interests but also those of the Hans align.

To add to this the leader of the mlechCha-world is aggressively pushing for the Indian government to buy armament from them – this will create the ultimate dependency from which India will never recover to regain its standing as a major power (e.g. see recent drive for harpoon missile sales and the strategic partnership push). The Caliphate in West Asia has given a potential preview of what might happen when the mlechCha-s depart from Afghanistan. When we combine their retreat with their subcontracting of the Afghanistan to TSP, we can see everything set up for the revival of an Emirate therein. The strategic partnership with the mlechChendra duShTa-s, rosy as it might sound on paper, is implicitly to keep bhArata in a box so that it is not allowed to break the crypto-colonial stranglehold on the subcontinent. In view of these developments, the coming days are certainly going to pose challenges of the highest order for the bhArata-naresha. In conclusion, while many scenarios are possible, but many of them could involve the marUnmatta-s both from within and without, even as the kIlita-shavasAdhaka-s gnaw away like a gigantic rodent at the undergirdings of bhArata. While we might be like rAjArAm at Jinji, we can only hope that the Hindu leaders do not lose sight of the ultimate geopolitical goal of completely demolishing the Abrahamistic stranglehold on the entire Indian sphere of influence.

This epistle is a brief discussion on the socio-political developments in early medieval India emerging from philological comparisons between jaina sources, other nAstika material and Astika sources. To give some background we point to some jaina and other nAstika narratives, some of which were posted on these pages such as:
1) A tale from the samarAichcha kahA
2) Some anti-Astika tales of the jaina-s
3) dharmakIrti’s anti-Astika polemics
4) A narrative from the ma~njushrIya mUlakalpa
5) To the above we may also add the famous novel on the hero varA~Nga written by the naked jaina jaTAsiMhanandin (those unfamiliar with it can easily find the plot online)

These tales come from a time when the Astika deva-dharma was resurgent – it had evolved a strategy that no longer depended on royal patronage. Rather royalty needed to adopt some form of the Astika deva-dharma for its ultimate legitimacy. On the philosophical front despite the great ingenuity and sophistication of both the clothed and naked nAstika-s, they were again on the back-foot with respect the Astika counter-polemics. No longer were the Astika-s limited by the confines and pitfalls of the prAjApatya tradition of the veda – their deva-dharma had evolved new strategies that spanned a wide spectrum of thought suitable for a wide range of human proclivities in religiosity. These included the resurgent mImAMsaka-s, rising vedAntin-s and the great waves of sectarian traditions, starting with the newer versions of the shaiva, vaiShNava and kaumAra mata-s that had already swept across jaMbudvIpa and beyond, spawning the tantra-age. Under these circumstances the jaina-s and bauddha-s adapted differently. The former were simply unable to break the patronage model, which heavily depended on the third varNa. Yet they longed for royal patronage – occasionally they did get it (e.g. chAlukya emperor pulakeshIn-II’s wife) but they had to be content sharing it with the dominant Astika-s and evolving mantrayAna bauddha-s, that too typically receiving only the smaller share.

● A key motif running through a large body of the jaina texts is the merchant-hero – the shreShThin – a banker and merchant (the pan-Indian surname, Neo-Indo-Aryan: seTh, seThI, sheTTi[ar], is an attestation of their spread throughout the subcontinent). In the jaina lore he is typically a devote lay jaina on the path to jaina perfection that he would attain later in his life. He has come a long way from his precursor the 3rd varNa of the veda. In the older layers therein, the 3rd varNa was much more the general cattle/land-owning laity than specifically the merchant – cognates of the Iranian vAstryo-fshuyant. While having adhikAra to vaidika rituals and serving as yajamAna-s, they were not exactly part of the Indo-Aryan elite circles or aristocracy comprised of brAhmaNa-s and kShatriya-s. Only few among them contributed to vaidika compositions (albeit some important ones, e.g. vatsapri and bhAlandana). However, by the time the Indo-Aryans had settled in India they were probably socially dominant in urban localities, especially by way of channelizing production by the service castes (e.g. maNikAra, rajjusarja, takShaka, rajayitrI, etc., mentioned in the yajurveda; today often included in the OBC category of the Indian reservation system). Their trade systems appear to have been subservient to the protection and organization offered by the mobile and militarily dominant trans-regional 1st and 2nd varNa-s – a phenomenon that probably ensured the dominance of the Indo-Aryan languages in the sindhu-sarasvati-valley system of cities and towns. Whatever the case, by the so called second urbanization of the India the vaishya-s had expanded their role beyond the old pastoralist-agrarian economy and were now part of a booming trade system that not only spanned the subcontinent of jaMbudvipa but spread beyond via both the east and the west coasts. Thus, they were in possession of a new-found status as financial elites, in competition with the old Indo-Aryan elite. Indeed, their early active participation in the veda-virodhaka traditions such as jaina and bauddha might have represented their attempt at coopting alternative religious identities, specifically to rival the two old Indo-Aryan elite varNa-s.

However, given that the founders in both cases were kShatriya-s, and that both cults drew Brahminical participation, meant that, to a degree, there was still the remnant of the “old order” despite the occasional protestations within these heterodox traditions. Examination of the older sthaviravAda tradition s shows that the early bauddha did not extensively perform classical Indo-Aryan rituals. For instance, we do not find specific homa vidhAna-s or importance attached to homa-s. This perhaps represents the phase when, despite the presence of the first two varNa-s in high positions, the praxis of bauddha-mata was still catered primarily to groups not deeply embedded in the old ritual performance. But with the rise of bauddha brAhmaNa-s and the Sanskritization of the bauddha dharma, homa rites and mantra practice became increasingly important in the mahAyAna and subsequent phases of bauddha tradition. Thus, bauddha fell more in line with the Astika tradition. Consequently, it started competing for the same niches as the Astika traditions. However, in contrast, the jaina-s appear to have stuck with the vaishya patronage and increasingly coopted them as a vehicle for their alternative identity. Both the bauddha-s and Astika-s in their early medieval formulations also valued the vaNij vaishya-s and accorded them a respectable position. For example, in the case of Astika-s we see the respectable depictions of vaishya-s as early as the pa~nchatantra itself and this continues subsequently in the early medieval period like daNdin’s dashakumAra-charita. However, unlike in the jaina tradition, vaishya-s were rarely, if ever, cast as the primary heroes. Thus, the high incidence of vaishya heroes in their tradition is a departure from what is seen in the Astika or bauddha traditions of the same time. Not surprisingly, even today the jaina tradition is still primarily associated with the tradesmen caste.

● As a consequence of the above situation jaina lore tells us much more about the ways of the vaishya-s than any other Indian tradition. One theme that repeatedly emerges in the jaina tales is the attack by predatory forest tribesmen on traveling vaNij-s (merchants) on business trips as well as their settlements. For example, a central event in the varA~nga-charita is the conflict between the pulinda-s and the shreShTin-s. Here a band of 3-4000 pulinda-s attack the caravan of the merchant chief sAgaravR^iddhi and were close to completing the plunder of his goods, when the jaina hero of tale, varA~Nga enters the fray and kills the pulinda chief and his son. Similarly, other tales (see those linked above) mention attacks by shabara-s and in yet other places they are called dasyu-s. In the anti-astika tale of hariSheNa we hear of the attack and arson by predatory tribesmen on a town populated by vaishya-s in Gujarat. Thus, attacks on and arson of both mobile caravan and frontier towns by plundering tribesmen often organized in to fairly large groups appears to be an persistent feature of the jaina experience.

● The jaina tradition was already moving away from the absolute ahiMsa of tIrthaMkara mahAvIra and violent retribution towards rivals of the jina-mata or violent action towards enemies of the mata by jaina-s was becoming acceptable. From their own sources we hear that haribhadra sUri had his bauddha rivals jump into cauldrons of boiling oil and die as revenge to the bauddha killing nephews after defeat in debate. We also hear jaina sources themselves of the naked jaina akala~Nka physically thrashing his bauddha rival after defeating him in a debate. Likewise, we hear in the prabandha-koSha that the jaina tAntrika mahendra used his abhichAra to behead the brAhmaNa administrators of pATalIputra and force them to convert to the jina-mata. However, as is typical of the nAstika-s, when there is real danger they are quick to fall in line in collaborating with their Astika rivals: The 13th chapter of the bhadrabAhu-saMhitA attributed to the legendary bhadrabAhu a contemporary of chANakya but composed much later calls upon jaina ritualists to operate in conjunction with brAhmaNa-s to perform apotropaic and prognostic rites before military operations [Footnote 1]. Given this backdrop, it is not surprising that with much higher stakes at hand, the jaina vaNij were pragmatic in their response to the above-described depredations and formed private armies to protect their caravans. This is indeed the central theme in the story of varA~Nga where the vaNij private army is overwhelmed by the marauding force of pulinda-s before the jaina hero varA~Nga arrives to shore up the former and slaughter the pulinda-s. Some jaina-s have made the bold claim that certain local shrines of mailAra (i.e. khaNDobA) near the gigantic monolithic monument of the nagna in the karNATa country are actually vIrakal-s or commemorative shrines of a sword-wielding jaina fighter from such a private army who died while trying to save vaNij caravans from predators. Indeed, in the shvetAMbara polemical literature we hear of a temple ritualist jaina of the vaishya caste named padmaprabha in the court of pR^ithivirAja ChAhamAna. This jaina is said to have been a good wrestler and a warrior. Just on the eve the Islamic assault on the ChAhamAna-s another rival ascetic shvetAMbara jaina, who was opposed to the temple ritualist jaina-s, had padmaprabha excommunicated from the court. The loss of such merchant warriors could have contributed among other things to the outcome of the battle with the Mohammedans that followed.

But this tradition was not lost in the rAjput lands especially among the war-like haldiyA-s a guild of jaina banker-businessmen of the khaNDelvAl vaNij clan. Indeed, the jaina vaNij experience with private armies and warfare was to have a crucial role in Hindu history in the form of two figures from Mewar bhAmA sAH, friend of mahArANA pratApa during the Jihad of the tyrant Akbar and minister dayAl sAH during the Jihads of tyrant Awrangzeb.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Footnote 1: This prolonged contact with jaina-s is evidenced in the ways of a group of degenerate atharvavedin-s from Rajasthan known as the dAdhIcha brAhmaNa-s. From their tradition they were originally followers of the paippalAda branch of the AV tradition. However, unlike their Gujarati cousins (who recite and follow the AV-vulgate) they appear to have entirely lost the saMhitA. They are supposed to have performed apotropaic rituals for the rAjpUt rulers in the Marwad region. They are strict vegetarians who are supposed to have instituted a completely animal-free ritual abjuring animal sacrifices of the shrauta type or those specific to AV tradition. This animal-free ritual is emphasized in their origin mythology rather in contrast to their paippalAda affiliation – the AV having several distinctive animal sacrifices.

Continued…

The great Mongol Noyan Jebe upon receiving the news of the death of the Moslem Sultan Khwarizm Shah asked Chingiz Khan’s permission to extend their conquests westwards. At the head of 10,000 men he joined in the meantime with Sübütäi’s own force of 10,000 and advanced via Iraq, Iran and Azerbaijan. They received the surrender of the Kurds in Kurdistan, who swelled the Mongol ranks hoping to seek revenge against the Khwarizm Turks and obtain some plunder in the invasions that were to follow. Jebe and Sübütäi then smashed their way through the cities Raiy, Zanjan and Qazvin. The Mohammedan chronicler Mustawfī Qazvinī wrote a poem in his chronicle on Sübütäi’s assault on Qazvin in Iran on 7th October 1220 CE. Sübütäi stormed the fortifications after a short siege of 3 days and cut down the Moslem forces in a matter of few hours. Then the Mongols slew several descendants of Mohammed the founder of Islam and burned the big Masjid in that city. The Mohammedans thought it was the end of Islam before the forces of heathenism. We append below the translation provided by Lane with some minor modifications:

From Zanjan to the town of Qazvin, Sübütäi
Like raging tiger came right speedily.
The tale of years at six, one, seven stood
When that fair town became a lake of blood,
And Sha’ban’s month had counted seven days
When it was filled with woe and sore amaze.
The governor who held the ill-starred town
Muzaffar named, a ruler of renown,
Was, by the Caliph’s most august command,
Set to control the fortunes of the land.
When came the hosts of war and direful fate
Firm as a rock they closed the city gate.
Upon the wall the warriors took their place,
And each towards the Mongols set his face.
Three days they kept the ruthless foe at bay,
But on the fourth they forced a blood-stained way.
Fiercely the Mongols entered Qazvin Town
And heads held high before were now brought down.
No quarter in that place the Mongols gave:
The days were ended of each chieftain brave.
Nothing could save the townsmen from their doom,
And all were gathered in one common tomb.
Alike of great and small, of old and young,
The lifeless bodies in the dust they flung:
Both men and women shared a common fate:
The luck-forsaken land lay desolate.
Many a fair one in that fearful hour
Sought death to save her from the invaders’ power:
Chaste maidens of the Prophet’s progeny
Who shone like asterisms in Virtue’s sky,
Fearing the lust of that ferocious host
Did cast them down, and so gave up the ghost.
Much in that land prevails the Shafi’ite;
One in a thousand is a Hanafite;
And yet they counted on that gory plain
Twelve thousand Hanafites amongst the slain !
In heaps on every side the corpses lay,
Alike on lonely path and broad highway.
Uncounted bodies cumbered every street:
Scarce might one find a place to set one’s feet.
In terror of the Mongol soldiery
Hither and thither did the people fly,
Some seeking refuge to the Masjid did go,
Hearts filled with anguish, souls surcharged with woe.
From that fierce foe so sore their straits and plight
That climbing forms the arches hid from sight
The ruthless Mongols burning brands did ply
Till tongues of flame leapt upwards to the sky.
Roof, vault and arch in burning ruin fell,
A heathen holocaust of Death and Hell!

Most of our fellow travelers in school and college, with some exceptions occasionally alluded to in some form on these pages, were boring people to us. Their interests, political views or aspirations did not overlap seriously with our own. However, they did provide an opportunity for anthropological data collection, though beyond a certain point, as Jimmy Watson would say, we had figure out how to avoid boring people. There were a few unfortunate occasions in our life when we were saddled with such individuals for fairly prolonged periods against our wishes. The worst of those periods did feel like a passage through a hell of vaivasvata, for the very entry into them was no different from death. We found that most of our fellow travelers ran on a limited gauge: 1) They would clap in delight, hum or prance about upon hearing certain tunes from Hindi cinema; 2) They might spend hours discussing a rather sterile issue in certain sports, whose arcane rules we were unacquainted with, from the view point of a spectator; 3) They would be keen to master just enough of their textbooks to procure the marks they desired in the ever-impending exams. Beyond that nothing what so ever interested them in the subject under consideration; 4) On an average they were low on creativity and high on destructiveness. As they grew older, mock and real pursuit of sexuality became a dominant theme of their existence, and all of the above tendencies were staggered to fall within the framework of that activity. This manifested rather plainly in males, while in females it manifested as a faux prudishness while awaiting attention from a high-ranked male. These individuals had a limited sense of identity in both national and religious terms; they had but a modicum of knowledge of the history of their own state leave alone the rest of bhAratavarSha; their yearnings were primarily for a life of monetary fulfillment and sexual pleasure with everything beyond these being regarded as unnecessary at best and pathological worst. In particular they were confounded, terrified or disgusted by the prospect that people might want to pursue science, historical investigation, religion, or art for their own sake.

Now these people were supposed to be the cream of our local society for 90% of them hailed from the upper middle-class or the upper class. They also apparently belonged to fortunate tail of IQ bell-curve as when our IQs were tested our class displayed a mean IQ of around 115 in school and in the upper 120s in college. This got us wondering: If these are people who in the coming years are going to become the Hindu elite then what implications might it have for the future of the country? Among them was Igul, the cow admidst the vaishya-s, whom we would not classify right away with the rest. Her primary interests were not aligned with ours but she had a certain mental celerity in mathematical matters and ability to “crack” electronic devices, both of which were uncommon among women. But she did not make these abilities her primary interests; rather those were defined by the primal calling of her varNa. Her understanding of life was limited as she could not tell apart a fungus from an animal. However, above all she happened to be one of those rare people who have an intrinsic goodness of nature combined with a certain ocular pleasantness. More commonly people are good because they have few other gifts; hence, they need to use goodness to get by in the rough world of men. Those who are visually appealing learn about this asset early in life and use it to their advantage till asset is consumed by the march of kAla; hence, they have no need for goodness till that point.

After a long time Igul paid us a visit and expressed the wish that we take her to a local museum for somehow she always reminisced of an old visit with us to a museum. She felt she had learned more of matters outside her own proclivities in that one visit than all her other life experiences. She claimed it was the only time in life she had glimpsed glimmer of the possibility that there was interesting knowledge beyond what her curriculum or calling of her varNa had taught her. We were not too interested in visiting the museum she wanted to see; however, because we had not seen it in a long time we agreed to accompany her. Since, our dietary observances were identical we settled for a lunch made primarily from two plants – a tuber whose vines are filled with the toxic rotenone and a fruit which was once food of the great Xenarthrans of the New World. All our life we have long been wonder-struck by all manner of compounds; hence, we loudly expressed our wonder over the structure of rotenone and the possible types of enzymes that might participate in its biosynthesis. While it was largely talking aloud to ourselves it did evoke a one-line response from Igul: “You have not changed a bit in 25 years.” Then she pulled out an old notebook and a piece of very old paper from it. Igul: “This was a note from kalashajA that I was supposed to give you but could not for you would not talk to me in those days.” We took the paper and examined it. It was indeed a message in the highest saMdhyA-bhAShA which was sort of frightful due to its almost prophetic sense – something which hit us as soon as we saw it:
“kha – desert – strangulation – autumn – watching chirping birds – fish – watching chirping birds – lakShmaNa’s abode – big physicist’s abode – pole – slipping cat – misunderstanding veda – fight for Hindus – sponge ball hit twice – cutting the bamboo – great battle – shukla dvitIya – heron flies in at dusk and kills the fish – that is the way life is – purANa-s are always prophetic.”

Igul perhaps sensing our change in mood upon our reading the above tried to get us hurrying and leave for the museum. We heard many stories between then and her ultimate departure that night:
“I still have the notebook where I had asked you to write answers for several questions. I never thought the explanation of the Kashmir issue was as simple as what you had written until the Kargil war!”

“We were at home in our old city enjoying a quiet evening with the rest of the family playing some games. Suddenly we had strangers visit us. They were mlechCha-s from the madhyama-mlechCha-varSha. They very politely said that they wanted to talk to us and wondered if we would give them an appointment to sit down and talk inside our home. We were stunned – imagine if one of us had asked for the same in his mlechCha country – they might have pulled a gun and shot us. But we were polite and tried to dismiss them. But they kept being persistent and before we finally drove them away they gave us a sheaf of pamphlets. The pamphlets in essence called upon us to give up the immoral Hindu religion with caste, suttee, cow dung and follow the path ordained by the upaniShad that was to be fulfilled by the kIlita-prathamonmatta. Some months latter we had a similar house visit by a nun from South India who wanted to talk to us about our shAstra-s and their final message being the same as that of the shava.”

“We went to procure clothes for kandukanetrI’s marriage. We found she had ordered peculiar clothes which we never ever wore at a marriage – they looked like something shavasAdhaka-s wore for their marriage. We asked what the hell they were. kandukanetri said that they were for the post-marriage reception which would follow a ‘western dress code’. She shocked us further by adding that the actual ceremonies will feature ‘oaths’ in Angalika bhAShA. We wondered why people whose ancestors belong the first varNa would do such things. Our other acquaintance of the second varNa said that they were going to get ‘blessings’ at a marUnmatta’s Mazhar after their marriage. This was the same marUnmatta on account of whom we had to flee our ancestral town.”

“A strange thing is happening in bhArata. It appears that the educated Hindu strI-s are getting more and more interested in having a non-existent type of mate who literally leaps out of an imaginary world often informed by cinema. The average Hindu puruSha-s naturally does not assume such rUpa-s but for some strange reason marUnmatta-s seems to attract these strI-s intensely thus furthering their love-jihad.”

“The rich people desire lots of cheap labor for their needs – house cleaners, cooks, guards, gardeners, car-washers, errand-runners, tea-boys, garbage-disposers etc. But the demand for cheap labor means unfamiliar people are brought in from distant places and settled in the vicinity of urban sprawls. Low efficiency in law-enforcement, lack of private weaponry, huge asset-gulfs between the laborers and their employers has created conditions ideal for predators who come along with genuine laborers to the settlements rising like mushrooms in the vicinity of the urban sprawls. They engage in all manner of crimes especially on certain roads and highways, as also by breaking into houses. In particular marUnmatta-s from across the border and certain northern states are the forefront of crime. The line between their daily lives and crime is a thin one. In some areas it is quite possible preta-sAdhaka-s from south India join in.”

“Public services need all of society to have some common stakes. Large transient populations of uncultured youth means few have shared stakes in investing common civic services – they simply want to use them but do not want to put anything into them. Some use the road as a public toilet while others brush their teeth in the balconies of their apartments and spit right out of it. Yet others paint the town red with their betel-leaf cud splattering every tabula rasa with tAMbUla rasa. They clog drains and sewerage with phallic sheaths discarded after indiscriminate fornication and after rains such might burst forth from the gutters and strew the streets. Among these are those who call themselves engineers – on paper they might have the same degree as what I had earned but cannot tell π from e or cosine from sine. If this is their attitude towards learning which is supposed to be their door to earning then how can they learn civic sense. Ultimately being transients they would merely quip “what goes of our father” and move on to a new locale. Even here the marUnmatta-s are up to no good stealing water and electricity. After all if you want to get the electricity and water bills from nayA Pakistan would you not have go in with the army?”

“You had long back written that there is nothing superior about our lives than that of another ape or for that matter an ant or some amoeba. I do not exactly remember what kind of animal (!) an amoeba is but what ever the case I am still having a hard time understanding that. But I must say I am more careful in dismissing it as I had done in my youth.”

“How are you so sure there is no Ishvar? Why are there all these beautiful relationships we see:
e^(i*π) + 1=0
Is it not so beautiful and soothing to see that. Do we not feel it is a window to a perfect world when we see that. I cannot wait for my children to grow old enough that I can teach them that relationship. See the binomial theorem – how we get such a nice triangle with the numbers in it having such a regular relationship. Or look at the Pythagoras theorem does it not give you such a nice feeling as though we are in heaven. All this must be because Ishvar is talking to us via that language and showing us what is really beautiful.”

“I have not forgotten your statement that I might have had Mongol ancestors somewhere in my line. I would like to know more of vaishya-s journeying to central Asia and getting their wives from there. I never understood this biology stuff but can we figure it out with what ever they are doing with DNA these days?”

“Why are brAhmaN-s not doing their duty these days. Are they not supposed to teach the rest of Hindu society. Why are drinking alcohol, eating beef and not helping other Hindus to learn their religion. Why are they not telling people our dharm is not same as that of the marUnmatta-s and shavAradhaka-s.”

“We are really of the older generation and do not understand the youngsters in the desh today. With attitudes such as what we see do you think India can survive? Do you think it was our generation which actually took the wrong turn – got two rounds of UPA and fantasized about unhinged nuts like Kejriwal. He is a blot on the vaNij. I fear for the world my children will go into.”

● We have paraphrased but not distorted any of Igul’s narrations.

This note continues with the examples we have been providing on these pages illustrating the role of the kavi as a naturalist or an observer of nature. The verse below is a macabre one composed by one the greatest men among our people, pANini. It might not be an exaggeration to say that we owe the language that was the purveyor Hindu culture and the lingua franca of the Indosphere to him. This verse, like several others that are in circulation, might have come from his lost novel. It describes a scene at the cemetery where a corpse undergoing cremation is appropriated by vultures. zarathuShtra, the reformulator of the old Iranian religion (which was originally close to the Indo-Aryan version), rebelled against the old Indo-European funeral custom of cremation and went for a less-widely used practice of disposal of the corpse by vultures – evidently because he felt Atar, the cognate of the holy agni would be defiled by a corpse (especially given the extreme Iranian necrophobia). Indeed, ironically here pAnini calls the fire hutabhuj or the eater of oblations of the gods, the very fire which zarathuShtra feared to “contaminate”. But in this scene described by pANini the wake of vultures boldly venture to take over the burning corpse from a pyre and compete to feed on it. Given our limitations it took us sometime to work out some aspects of the great man’s word-craft. In particular the word dhAmnaH puzzled us before we arrived at the solution presented below.

cha~nchat pakShaabhighAta glapita-hutabhujaH prauDha-dhAmnash chitAyAH
kroDAd AkR^iShTa mUrter aham-ahamikayA chaNDa-cha~nchu-graheNa |
sadyas taptaM shavasya jvalad iva pishitaM bhUri jagdhvA.ardha-dagdhaM
pashyaantaH pluShyamANaH pravishati salilaM satvaraM gR^idhra-saMghaH ||

cha~nchat= flapping; pakSha= wing; abhighAta= striking back; glapita= weakened; hutabhujaH= fire (ablative); prauDha= violent; dhAmnash= radiance (ablative); chitAyAH= pyre’s (genitive)
kroDAd= lap (ablative); AkR^iShTa= dragged out; mUrter= corpse (ablative); aham-ahamikayA= with one-another; chaNDa= fierce; cha~nchu-graheNa= by the pecks of beaks |
sadyas= right now; taptaM= burning; shavasya= corpse (genitive); jvalad= burning; iva= like; pishitaM= flesh; bhUri= abundantly; jagdhvA= having eaten; ardha= half; dagdhaM= burnt;
pashya= see (imperative); antaH= innards; pluShyamANaH= scorching (present passive participle); pravishati= resort to (present, parasmai); salilaM= lake (water); satvaraM= speedily; gR^idhra-saMghaH= vulture-kettle ||

With flapping wings striking the fire to weaken its violent radiance,
from the middle of the pyre they have dragged out a corpse,
each one contending with another with pecks of their fierce beaks,
having abundantly feasted on the freshly roasted flesh of the corpse,
which’s as if glowing and half in flames; See! with scorching innards,
to the lake the kettle of vultures speedily resorts!

The Roman religion is important for our understanding of the early Indo-European religion which forms the basis of our own religion, tradition, and identity. Unfortunately, the religions of the western branches of Indo-European were destroyed by Abrahamism; hence, we are left with what are at best reconstructions rather than a living tradition. One of the early modern works on this topic that unearthed a large amount of useful material was that of the German scholar Georg Wissowa ‘Religion und Kultus der Römer’. Thereafter one might name the French scholar Dumézil and Puhvel who extended his work to bring the Roman religion into the realm of the comparative Indo-European framework. While Dumézil overdid his structuralist tripartation hypothesis his contributions to Indo-European comparative analysis remain an important foundation. More recently there has been a work by another German scholar Lipka that also furnishes some useful and updated information in a concise form but suffers from certain defects comparable to what one encounters in works of white Indologists on Indo-Aryan material. While one may appreciate the insights or thoroughness of some of these scholars, we should remember that none of them have a visceral stake in the subject matter as, unlike us, they are not heathens. Moreover, while the modern west might appropriate the Roman past as their own they are particularly keen to rescind its heathen foundations and use only the facade of its “secularized” institutions. This prevents most western analysis from realizing the fundamental meaning of the religion to Roman people and presents some errors of understanding. Hence, it is important for us as the last Indo-European heathens to present an analysis of this material from a purely heathen standpoint.

The Roman situation is important to understand the different processes by the different branches of Indo-European spread into their final homelands. In India and Greece there were multiple waves of related peoples moving into territories which were already housing urban and literate civilizations. In both cases the invasive Indo-Europeans established complete dominance over the substratum in a relatively short period of time, especially in India. While both of them underwent extensive genetic admixture with the substratum, they retained much of their ancestral Indo-European traditions intact, which then became the foundation of their respective civilizations in their new homes. This was rather unlike the case of the Hittites where the substratum component played a huge role alongside their early Indo-European inheritance. However, the Greeks differed from the Indo-Aryans in primarily establishing themselves in the form of several dispersed and disconnected foci, often contending with each other, and with different governmental systems, with only a much later, only partly successful attempt at creating a unified center. The maritime mode of spread with naval/amphibious warfare capability was important in establishing many of these regional foci. The Indo-Aryans in contrast fluctuated between periods of early widespread unification followed by regionalization. However, even in the latter periods there were fairly large and dominant kingdoms. The first major unification appears to have been that under bharata and his immediate successors which gave the name to their new homeland. A subsequent unification of the powerful kuru and the pa~nchAla successors of the bhArata-s under parIkShit and janamejaya established the basic of Indo-Aryan pattern in the Indian subcontinent. The control of river-valleys by means of wide-ranging mobile armies was the primary mode of power projection used by the Indo-Aryans. In the case of the Romans the progress was gradual with establishment of several disconnected foci to the north of their final home. In their final home were the Etruscans, who were already urban. While they were not Indo-European, their contacts with the Greeks had already Indo-Europeanized them to a degree (e.g. adopting the worship of the god Apollo and explicitly equating their deities with the Greek deities) and also made them literate by way of adopting a Greek script which later became the Latin script. The Romans at first established only a single major focus – namely the city of Rome (itself an Etruscan place name) and were already influenced in many ways Etruscan and Greeks tendencies. From this focus they gradually expanded outwards engulfing and overtaking the Etruscans. The success of the Indo-European invaders in establishing their language and culture over that of the urban and literate substratum in India, Greece and Rome despite different dynamics and modes of dispersal is something one might ponder about in private.

Against this backdrop, one might then ask the question regarding how the originally Roman religious ideas were affected by their adoption of iconographic trends from another phylogenetically distant but geographically proximal Indo-European people, the Greeks. This dynamic was of some importance to us because it provides some parallels to our own history. The early parts of the shruti and the avesta, as we have described before, were largely aniconic. The zarathuShtrian strain of the avestan religion acquired a positively iconoclastic strain resembling the iconoclasm of the Egyptian ruler Akhenaten. In contrast, the Indo-Aryan religions became increasingly iconic, just as the Greek and Roman religions, starting from the late stages of the Vedic period. Despite the lack of clearly attested iconography in the early period, it is apparent Indo-Aryan tradition, shares with non-zarathuStrian Iranian religion, Slavic and Greek tradition (much muted in the iconic period) a conception of polycephalous or polymelous deities – a feature only rarely seen elsewhere among natural religions. A corollary to this is that one of the earliest examples of religious iconography in the Indian subcontinent might have had an Indo-Aryan influence. This is the image of the tricephalic, horned, ithyphallic deity from the sindhu-sarasvati civilization who shows continuity with the later iconography of the Indo-Aryan god rudra (of course we cannot rule out that the SSVC deity was rudra himself). Thus, as an example of how lateral transfer of iconography might work it is instructive to study the Roman religion.

In the Roman religion the “indra-like deity” was represented by Iuppiter: an etymological cognate of Indo-Aryan dyauH-pitR^i and Greek Zeus Pater (vocative: dyauH pitaH and Zeu Pater;). Like in other branches of Indo-European he was the head of the pantheon and the chief god (Footnote 1). However, Romans were distinct in having Mars as a prominent deity perhaps nearly of the same level as Iuppiter. Mars had functional and iconographic similarity to kumAra the deity of para-Vedic provenance, who became a major deity among the Indo-Aryans starting from the latest-Vedic period. Thus, in a sense the Roman function of Mars could be compared to that of kumAra in certain Indo-Aryan settings, such as in the yaudheya republic of northern India. An interesting feature of the iconography of Mars was his non-human representation in the form of a spear. This was particularly important in the Regia, the office of the senior-most ritualist (Pontifex Maximus; Footnote 2), which lay between the temple of Vesta (where the Roman equivalent of the gArhapatya fire was housed) and the memorial of Julius commissioned by Augustus. Here along with the spear, there were two more lances (hastae Martis) and the two shields (ancilia) which might have represented his two wives, Nerio and Moles. The Roman authors are clear that the spear was an important religious object that was worshiped as a representation of Mars himself. This object does not seem to have a Greek cognate at all even though they possessed a cognate deity Ares. Hence, (contra Lipka) we suspect that this was an early, purely Roman, non-anthropomorphic representation of the god Mars. This was distinct from the temple of Mars with anthropomorphic icons, e.g. the temple of Mars Ultor of Augustus. There, offerings relating to military or political victories were made, like the Roman standards whose return Augustus negotiated from the Iranians, which the latter had captured after the rout of Crassus.

Like the Indo-Aryan skanda, the Roman Mars had a wider functional repertoire than being the god of war alone (in contrast the classical Greek Ares). This becomes clear from an incantation to Mars preserved by Cato:
prohibessis, defendas averrunces que;
morbos visos invosos que;
viduertatem vastitudinem;
calamitates intemperias que.

Ban, repel and sweep away ;
illness, seen and unseen;
depopulation, devastation;
calamities and bad weather [Footnote 3].

He not only protects against ill-effects of war but also against disease and bad weather, which points to the ancient link between the Mars-like deities and the “rudra class” of deities.

The importance of the Mars and his abstract representations become even more apparent in one of his major rituals the March ritual which began on March 1 and continued for several days. The specialist ritualists officiating this rite were the Salii and it was supposed to have been initiated by the legendary second king of Rome, Numa. Numa is supposed to have been an agent of the gods who organized the rituals of the Romans and established their four types of ritualists the Flamens, the Pontifices, the Salii, and the Fetiales (a potential parallel to the four-fold division of ritual specialists among the Indic and Iranic Aryans). In the March ritual the 12 Salii carried forth the 12 shields kept in the Palatine temple of Mars in Rome and they themselves carried a spear in his right hand and wore a sword. The performed a ritualized dance during the procession by clanging their spear against the shield. The ritual also included the chanting of the Saliaria Carmina which were ancient incantations which were part of the Roman “shruti”. They were composed in an ancient form of Italic that predated Latin and their text was faithfully handed by the ritualists along with their correct oral form. By the classical Roman period few understood their meaning they were learned by rote and deployed in the ancient language even as the ancient language of the veda is deployed by the Hindu ritualists. The core verses of the incantation appear to have had Mars as the “devatA”; this was followed by several verses to many other deities of the pantheon which were called Januli (Janus), Junonii (Juno), Minervii (Minerva) and the like for the deities. Then the name of the ruler of Rome were taken in the final incantation in certain instances. For instance, we have record that this honor was conferred on Augustus. That this importance of Mars was not just limited to Rome but more widespread in the old Italic sphere is suggested by the Iguvine bronze tablets from around 200 BCE which contain instructions of certain complex rituals with multiple animal sacrifices performed by the 12 ritualists of the Umbrians. The primary deities of these rituals were Iove Patre, Marte and Vofionos of whom the first two correspond to the Roman Iuppiter and Mars. Identity of Vofionos is unclear, though he is often equated with Roman Quirinus who himself might have been a Martian ectype derived from another Italic people in the region the Sabines. Interestingly, these tablets also frequently use the theonym Sherfe Martie (Çerfe Marti), which as Grassmann and Max Muller correctly deduced (but ignored by italicists) has a relationship to the Vedic term, shardho mArutaH. Thus, there was possibly a concept of the hosts of Mars, similar to the Vedic marut-s, in the old Italic religion and this preserved in the ancient Roman ritual incantation the Carmen Arvale, which we have discussed before.

In this context we shall examine the two small fragments of the Saliaria Carmina that survive today as it points to an important parallel between the Indo-Aryan and Italic religions with considerable significance for early Indo-European religion:
Coz-eulodoiz eso, omina enim vero
Ad patula’ ose misse Jani cariones.
Duonus Cerus esit dunque Janus vevet.

I will be a flute-player in the chorus,
for the ritualists of Janus have sent omens to open ears.
Cerus will be propitious so long as Janus shall live.

Divom empta cante, divom divo supplicante.
Chant by the impelling of the gods, chant as the suppliants of the god of gods [Iuppiter].

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Footnote 1: A closer study reveals that this function was probably distributed among three distinct deities, albeit with overlapping functionality, in the early Proto-Indo-European religion (i.e. even before Hittite split from the rest). All three deities are preserved only in the old Indo-Aryan vaidika religion – dyauH pitR^i, parjanya and indra vR^itrahan. Thus, dyauH pitR^i represented the ancestral sky deity with a thunder weapon, parjanya the fertilizing rain deity, and indra vR^itrahan represented the deity who was the supreme divine warrior. However, due to their overlapping functionality they were rolled into one in most branches of Indo-European with one of the three being made the sole possessor of the combined functionality. In the Hittite religion the cognate of dyauH pitR^i was retained as Tarhuwant while the cognate of indra was retained in female form as the goddess Inara the daughter of Tarhuwant. In Germanic and Celtic the same cognate deity as Tarhuwant was retained with the appellation invoking the term for the thunder, respectively, Thor and Taranis. In Greek and Roman religions again it was the cognate of dyauH pitR^i. In Baltic and Slavic it was the cognate of parjanya, respectively Perkūnas and Perun. In the Baltic religion indra survived as the planet Jupiter (Lithuanian Indraja). In the vaidika and the Kalasha, non-zarathuShtrian Iranian and perhaps Armenian religions, indra vR^itrahan became the dominant possessor of this function. However, in the vaidika religion alone the essence of the remaining two deities were retained along with their specific ancestral functional aspects. Thus, parjanya was specifically the fertilizing rain deity. In the vaidika religion he receives a specific cooked rice offering (charu) on the day before the full-moon as part of the vaishvadeva ritual as ordained by Apastamba. In the bali ritual of the Indo-Aryan householder, he offers a bali for parjanya near the drum in which he stores water. The connection of thunder and dyaus is explicitly mentioned in the famous recitation with which the fire is taken forth to the new altar:
akrandad agni stanayann iva dyauH kShAmA rerihad vIrudhaH sama~njan | RV 10.045.04ab
agni roared like dyaus when he thunders; he licked the plants off the earth, anointed [with ghee]. The deity dyauH is invoked in one of the mantra-s with which the churning of fire takes place. He also receives oblations along with pR^ithivi in the mR^igareShTi ritual of the atharvan-s.

Footnote 2: The Roman term for this senior priest, an office occupied by Julius Caesar who was a pious man, has an interesting parallel in the Indo-Aryan world: The Sanskrit equivalent of Pontifex is pathikR^it, both meaning the maker of the path (ponti= path; fex=maker). In the veda it is applied among others to: 1) To the god bR^ihaspati who has the function of the chief ritualist among the deva-s. This is observed in the mantra of gR^itsamada shaunahotra:
tvaM no gopAH pathikR^id vichakShaNas tava vratAya matibhir jarAmahe | RV 2.23.06ab
You are our protector, the path-maker, the wise one; for your ritual we recite mantra-s.
2) It is also applied to human ancestors who were literally makers of religious path of Arya-s – the path of the gods. Thus, such ancestors, who were mantra-seers, are worshiped along with yama:
idaM nama R^iShibhyaH pUrvajebhyaH pUrvebhyaH pathikR^idbhyaH | RV 10.014.15cd
This salutation is for the seers, the ancestors and the former path-makers. Interestingly, the founder of the jaina religion chose the term tirthaMkara which is the semantic equivalent of these terms for their highest figures.

Footnote 3: Latin que is cognate of the enclitic particle cha in Sanskrit and is used similarly in this hymn as it is used in Indo-Iranian incantations such the chamaka prashna of the yajurveda. Second, the use of the imperatives in the first foot of the Roman incantation is a parallel to such imperative constructions in the vaidika mantra-s:
bAdhasva=prohibessis (e.g. in Are bAdhasva duchChunAm |)
pAhi= defendas (e.g. in dahAshaso rakShasaH pAhy asmAn druho nido mitramaho avadyAt |)
prati vidhya adhi = averrunces (e.g. in Urdhvo bhava prati vidhyAdhy asmad AviSh kR^iNuShva daivyAny agne |)

continued…

Some stories are written for the readers, some are written for the writers, some due to imagination running wild, some due to perverse inspiration, or some combination of some or all of these.

From early that morning on 15th August the battle for the outpost at the Rai Gap was raging fiercely and both sides had taken several casualties. The Indian prime minister had been blind-sided by a move right from the ancient scroll of Sun-Tzu. In response to the “incidents” in Arunachal, chairman Ming Ming Zhou, the lord of all Hans, had said that they had already accepted Sikkim as an integral part of India and that the question of South Tibet could be negotiated during the further talks in sidelines of a multinational summit that was scheduled to occur later that year. The next day a serious PLA attack was already underway in Sikkim. By afternoon, on the Indian side only Lt. Vikram Singh and Naib Subedar Bhairav Prasad Gurkha were still standing at the forward outpost, while on the Han side at least five seemed to be alive. Just then a Type-91 was fired at the Indian defensive position from the Hans ranks and a shard from the grenade’s explosion struck Lt. Vikram Singh near his temple and he collapsed. Bhairav Prasad survived the strike intact and hid himself behind a damaged shaft. The Han cautiously advanced to take the post when they heard the delirious blabbering of Vikram Singh. Sighting Singh, a chIna soldier took aim with his QSW-08 pistol to take him out, when Bhairav Prasad who was hiding behind him broke the chIna’s neck with a blow from his kukri. Thereafter, in total silence maneuvering himself through the ruins of the outpost Bhairav Prasad single-handed killed the four remaining chIna intruders. He then cut off the heads of three chIna-s and offered them to the raNachaNDI, the wife of the great bhairava, as the highest of offerings, the narabali. Thus, he had managed to score a slim Indian victory by the margin of just a man. Not just that he managed to evacuate Lt. Singh back to the nearest Indian outpost and summon further assistance to cork the Han adventurism. Lt. Singh survived the encounter but was left with a serious deficiency in neurological functions.

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It was a dark rainy evening. Vidrum parked his bike and knocked on the door of the little garage beside Somakhya’s house. That garage doubled for Somakhya’s lab. Somakhya put his illegal revolver into his pocket and carefully looking though the peephole opened the door upon realizing that it was Vidrum. S: “How have things been with you?”
V: “Really exciting times. By the way you will be delighted to hear about what happened today. Prof. Samgram Dev, the great physician from that high university in mlechCha-land acknowledged your discovery today.”
S: “Which one?”
V: “That metallopeptidase toxin you discovered from the actinobacterium cultivated by the Madras digger wasp while in secondary school.”
S: “Ah that is a cash cow – it has been giving us some money to continue our research independently to an extant while completing these useless university degrees. What about Samgram Dev – did his trials work?”
V: “Yes. The results of the first trial were announced today. The metallopeptidase toxin had great value in the new experimental treatment that was developed by Prof. Samgram Dev to restore neural tissue and function in patients with extensive brain damage. This approach is exciting and I hope to take it up further in my own studies. Prof. Samgram Dev has expressed great interest in having me over at his group once I finish the degree – sadly that’s some years in the future – just can’t wait.”
S: “Here the credit goes to Lootika; after all, she was the one who showed that the toxin promotes neurite growth. Something quite unexpected.”
V: “Yes. I wanted to tell her too, but I felt it was too late and it might be bit awkward if I dropped in at her place with her parents and family around. Anyhow I am sure her sister will tell her about all this in detail.”
S: “By the way we are planning an expedition to the lagoon of rAmo bhArgava for a study in natural history when we have a few days off after the dIpotsava. Would you like to accompany us?”
V: “I would have loved to come, but Meghana would not like it. She has laid out a plan complete with days full of shopping and movies, dinners and lunches at some really great eateries, a night at the disco, a visit to saint Nasir-ad-din Ghazi’s Mazhar, and an evening at the cricket league’s final. Much as I would have liked to be in the wild with you guys, I am afraid I will have to be with her.”

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Somakhya and Lootika had spent the day collecting several specimens from the lagoon of rAmo bhArgava. Among other things they had finally succeeded in collecting live specimens of the algae Acetabularia and Neomeris. They planned to grow them and elucidate the biosynthetic pathways for the halogenated organic compounds made by these chlorophytes and understand the diversity of enzymes involved in biological halogenation. That night they pitched their tent on shore of the lagoon and after dinner were observing the clear autumnal skies. They were trying to see the Little Dumbbell Nebula in Perseus when the sky seemed to be rent open with an immense flash. A gigantic fireball blinded them completely – first they heard a hiss, then a roar and finally a boom: not just their eyes but even their ears seemed all gone. The blaze and the noise played over and over again for several minutes. They wondered what it was – had the chIna-s, the mlechCha-s or the marUnmatta-s launched a sudden missile attack on bhArata? Then as the deafening silence returned they realized that it was a gigantic meteorite that had dropped in the hills to their east. They made a careful note of the position from the still visible meteor track and decided that the next day they should explore the locality to see if they could get any meteoritic fragments. The next morning they set out to explore the region they had inferred to be the crash site of the meteorite and scoured the region till noon. Just before they almost gave up, they found a shallow excavation with shattered vegetation in an unmistakable pattern. Excitedly they ran to its center but could not find anything but for some small pieces of meteoric glass. Actually they saw signs that someone had gotten there before them from a near by village and could have taken away the big fragments or larger tektites. Since, they had to catch the train back to their city and feared desiccation of their algal specimens they halted their exploration and headed back.

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About couple of years had passed by Meghana and Vidrum wanted to buy hard to get second-hand tickets for a music concert. Their seller was Roy Russell who had agreed to meet them outside the church at St. Vincent’s circle. As they stopped beside the pretAlaya Vidrum was shocked to see how big it had become. He rarely visited this part of the city, and the last time he was there it was a small, nondescript structure. Now it was a peculiar structure with a giant gopura featuring images from the new testament and an imposing dhvajastaMbha – it looked almost like a Hindu temple but for the giant pretA~Nka on the top of he gopura and the staMbha. Written on the gateway arch in ornate nAgarI script were the words: “kristudevaH paramo devaH | kristudharmaH paramo dharamaH | Arogya-svAmine vai namo namaH ||”
Vidrum was shocked. He blurted out aloud: “What the #%*@! When did they make the pretAlAya like this?”
Meghana: “So what is wrong? See they are using our architecture and even Sanskrit!”
V: “Nonsense! This is a ploy to entice and entrap foolish Hindus.”
M: “Don’t get worked up. I am sure all those extremist websites Somakhya and Sharvamanyu keep feeding you with is having their effects. Come on, they were being so conscious of adopting Indian traditions and you are seeing just the opposite. Are they not being so respectful…”

Just then they saw Roy Russell who sold them tickets. Then he offered them a sandwich as special “ravivAr prasAd” from the church. Vidrum was furious but keeping outward politeness refused it by saying he was observing a fast that day in the honor of chaNdikA. Meghana expressed her unhappiness with Vidrum by her facial gestures and took the sandwich. Roy then handed them a pamphlet saying that they should attend the forthcoming lectures on advaita by shrI-108-vasudhaiva-kuTuMbakaM-bAbA-jI at the nayA-makkah (the new Mecca). As they left Meghana was intently reading the pamphlet of S108VKBji over and over, when Vidrum angrily snatched it from her hand and tore it to pieces. Meghana created a huge spectacle, screaming and abusing Vidrum in the choicest language from the depths of the pa~nchanada in the middle of the road, with the passers-by stopping to stare with a tinge of Schadenfreude. She quickly scanned the QR code from the torn pamphlet into her phone and abruptly split up from Vidrum going her own way.

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About a fortnight later Vidrum came to see Somakhya. He was looking crestfallen.
S: “Hey, how is it going. On course to join Samgram Dev’s group upon graduation? Have you sent in the wretched applications? I have barely started anything and have been getting endless music from my parents.”
Vidrum in a sad voice: “Hey man, facing music from your parents must be better than putting up with public lashings from a bAbA-addled virago.”
S: “What happened?”
V: “You must hear this. Recently Meghana has been magnetically attracted towards this godman called shrI-108-vasudhaiva-kuTuMbakaM-bAbA-jI, whom she refers to as ‘shrI-108-vAsudev-kuTuMbak-bAbAjI’.”
S: “Who #%*@ is that ?”
V: “Listen. She came to know of him from a pamphlet handed over to her by a pretasAdhaka at that monstrous pretAlaya situated at the St. Vincent’s circle. I have been trying to get her off this delusion but it has become the source of terrible strife between us. Finally, I gave in today and agreed to accompany her to the evening ‘advaita’ lecture by S108VKBji. He has started this “sarva-dharmAshrama” at a place he calls the nayA-makkah. Just about a couple of years ago he started having visions that he was latest prophet sent by ‘God’. Shortly thereafter, S108VKBji saw a divine rock fall from heaven in the mountains close to the rAma beach. He installed that baetyl in a golden vulval girdle and embedded it in a cubical structure precisely imitating the one worshiped by the marUnmatta-s in the middle of the maru in West Asia. He has been calling that the nayA-al-Kaʿbah (the new al-Kaʿbah). There was a large gathering at his lecture-hall. He began by chanting pieces from various religious texts and stated that lineage of prophets has not ended and he is the latest who would reveal the sole truth, which he termed ‘advaita’, which will bring together the teachings of the upaniShat-s, Zoroaster, Moshe, Jesus Christ, and Mohammad. He added that all rituals were futile and only the truth he was going to make known was the basis of ultimate liberation. His secretary, Daniel Cooper from Australia added that S108VKBji’s message was no different from the sermon of Jesus on the mount. Thus, it went on for more than an hour like a monstrous teratoma of religion replete with narrations of the world-unifying visions of S108VKBji and blatantly staged miracles such as regurgitations of metal ellipsoids, which were called shiva-li~Nga-s, as also of crucifixes, Bibles and Korans from the maw of S108VKBji.”
S: “Ghastly!”
V: “Then he paused saying ‘sherbet’ and ‘bhog’ would served followed by saMgIt. I could take it no longer and told Meghana that I was not going to suffer such lunacy lightly. She went nuclear, and I left her and came away to keep my sanity.”
S: “Well, the last thing we needed was this latest bAbA on the block and this orgy of bAbAistic frenzy.”
V: “I just feel a dark sense of foreboding about all this. May be because this S108VKBji’ s face seemed vaguely familiar to me – looks like I have seen him or his picture somewhere before.”
S: “Perhaps then you should try to distract yourself by joining me in this examination of the wonders of Acetabularia. It is all just one cell while it looks like a little completely plant. From its cap-like fronds come out reproductive cysts. These cysts eventually open to release gametes that look like little Chlamydomonas. I often wonder if the Chlamydomonas-like form is the ancestral state for the greater plant-lineage or is it the plant-like form or both…”

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The next day Somakhya was checking the news as he was having breakfast. The headline read:
Godman among 55 killed in attack on Ashram: Communal tensions high in city
…Earlier in the day followers of shrI-108-vAsudev-kuTuMbak-bAbAjI were seen distributing pamphlets outside the Mohammad Jan Masjid. The member of parliament Dr. Faqr-uz-Zaman took objection to it. Around 7.00 PM his son Jihad al Kabir gathered 300 volunteers of the black t-shirt movement also known as the Jaish al-Mujahideen. Mr. al Kabir is said to have just returned from a activism tour to Egypt and Lebanon as part of the aid and volunteering activities of the black t-shirt movement. It is suspected he might have been radicalized on course of this tour. He and his volunteers were armed with guns, fire-bombs and other weapons. They led a procession to S108VKBji’s Ashram even as he was leading his devotees in an circumambulation of a disputed structure termed the nayA-al-Kaʿbah with religious music playing in the background. Mr. al Kabir and his men challenged S108VKBji’s religious interpretation and said that he had insulted the Adyunmatta (shAntirastu) and the rAkShasa-mata.

When S108VKBji tried to argue with them, Mr. al Kabir showed them a fatwa by respected jurist Kazi Omar Abdullah that declared S108VKBji to be an apostate. He had earlier visited the Mohammad Jan Masjid and is said to have worn a skullcap while praying with the mevlanas before an Iftar dinner party earlier in the year. Since then he is rumored to have declared himself the prophet of a new religion. As the argument grew heated Mr. al Kabir and his men are supposed to have attacked S108VKBji and his followers and committed arson on his Ashram. The nayA-al-Kaʿbah structure was apparently completely demolished by the black t-shirt activists. In the clash that ensued S108VKBji was beheaded and his headless corpse was hoisted from a lamp post outside the Ashram. In the assault and stampede that followed 55 people are supposed to have been killed….

Other headlines included:
Communal rioting reported in some parts of the city.
Prime minister calls for peace and amity between the communities.
Center has sent para-military forces to control the violence.
Home minister suspects involvement of cross-border elements.

Somakhya immediately called Vidrum but received no reply. He tried few more times during the day with the same effect; he decided to go and visit Vidrum at his place. Right then he saw in the news that there was some rioting reported near Vidrum’s house and decided to be safe rather than sorry.

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A few days later Somakhya received a message from Lootika:
prIya somAkhya! sarvaM saukhyaM vA? indra-trAtaM bhava!
My sister was part of the autopsy team of S108VKBji. His story is an interesting one. He was apparently an officer in the Indian Army who had sustained a grievous head injury during the Han attack on Sikkim in the old days. He was one of the recipients of the experimental treatment for neural regeneration devised by Samgram Dev, which used our metallopeptidase toxin for inducing neurite regrowth. Vrishchika, who performed the micro-anatomical examination of his temporal lobe, found that he had a significantly higher procedure-induced neurite outgrowth in parts of his temporal cortex compared to normal controls. He also showed a small lesion in the claustrum below the insula that remained from his original injury. So, apparently, something in this is what transformed a once unimaginative soldier Lt. Vikram Singh into the S108VKBji. Moreover, a discussion my sis had with a police officer investigating the case suggests that he was the one who reached the meteorite before us, after that memorable night on the shores of rAma’s lagoon. In any case going back to the records, Vrishchika says that more than half the patients receiving this experimental treatment report unusual neurological sequelae, raising questions about whether this approach might be the best thing to go forward with. More when I see you in person
bahu modasva!
lUtikA |

Somakhya responded:
prIye lUtike!
avashyam asya pAShaNDasya nigUDhaM rahasyam uchChinatsi !
tava UrNa-jAle aryamaMstrAtaM bhava,
somAkhya |

bhairava on a cadaver from Nepal

netrAku~nchana-sAraNa-krama-kR^ita-pravyakta-naktaM dino
dik-chakrAnta-visarpi-sallari-saTA-bhArAvaruddhAmbaraH |
hasta-nyasta-kapAla-kandara-darI-muktAbhra-dhArAH pibann
unmukta-dhvani-bhinna-karNa-kuharaH kravyAd ayaM nR^ityati ||

netra= eye; Aku~nchana= closing; sAraNa= opening; krama= periodic; kR^ita= act; pravyakta= manifest; naktaM= night; dinaH= day; dik= direction; chakra= circle; anta= ends; [dikchakrAnta= horizon] visarpi= spreading; sallari=lashing (onomatopoeic) ; saTA= bristles; bhAra= mass; avaruddha= covered; ambaraH= sky

hasta= hand; nyasta= held; kapAla= skull; kandara= bowl; darI= fissure; mukta= release; abhra= cloud; dhArAH= streams; pibann= drinking; unmukta= let out; dhvani= noise; bhinna= split; karNa-kuharaH= ear-drum; kravyAd= corpse-eater; ayaM= this; nR^ityati= dances.

By the periodic closing and opening of his eyes he has made day and night manifest;
By spreading his lashing, bristly mass of hair, he has covered the sky till the horizons;
Drinking cloud-streams released from the fissures of the skull bowl held in his hands,
having shattered ear-drums with the roar he has let out, this corpse-eater dances!

The bhairava ectype of rudra became central to the shaiva traditions related to the kApAlika branch of the old pAshupata form of the shaiva-shAsana. Some sAdhaka-s of these traditions engage in niHsha~NkAchara, which involves practices such as consumption of human flesh at cremation grounds. This is indeed the practice alluded to here. This might have deep roots earlier Hindu thought. In the shruti the deva rudra is closely associated with agni – to the point that they are explicitly identified with each other right from the R^igveda (e.g. tvam agne rudro asuro mahodivaH |). The deva agni is said to come in two earthly forms: 1) havyavAha – one who carries the oblations to the gods; 2) kravyAda – one who devours the corpse of the cremation pile. The former auspicious and the later inauspicious (kravyAdam agniM pra hiNomi dUraM | i.e. I send afar the corpse-eating agni). This dichotomy in agni is also reflected in rudra: on one hand he is shiva (auspicious) and daivyo bhiShak (the divine physician) or jalASha-bheShaja (one with anti-fever drugs) on the other hand he is the terrifying rudra who is described as goghna (cow-killing) and pUruShaghna (man-killing), traits shared with his Greek cognate Apollon.

Given these Vedic antecedents, in the later days of the shaiva-shAsana the bhairava was conceived after the image of agni kravyAda: His common iconography (as seen above at the Durbar Square, Kathmandu) depicts him as standing upon a corpse with flaming hair. Thus, he appears to be a personification of agni kravyAda, as he is called in the above verse.

continued…