What is our past? Can modern scientific techniques be a tool to uncover our past? Is Mahabharatha and Lord Krishna just a myth? Did our ancestors have a way-ahead knowledge on science than our modern day scientists? The questions are unlimited. If you are on the look for answers to such and such questions, 'The Krishna Key' by Ashwin Sanghi could give you a clue. Though classified under the genre 'Thriller', I find the book an inimitable source of information on modern and ancient science and mythology. Of course, the thrilling plot of the story keeps you so engaged while you grasp the expertise on science and biology, the ancient men possessed.
It is common knowledge that Lord Vishnu had incarnated in nine different forms with the impending Kalki avatar, also collectively known as the Dasavathara. Incredible similarities between Kalki and little Sampat Sharma and a turn of childhood events convinces Sampat that he is the tenth avatar, born to demolish the evils in modern India. The story commences with an ancient seal engraved with three ancient animal motifs of a bull, unicorn and a goat on its face. Four such identical seals will constitute 'The Krishna Key', reveals Anil Varshey to Historian Ram Mohan Saini. An excerpt from the book describing it -
"What you are holding in your hand is a relic of Krishna's ancient passport system for Dwarka that is described in the Harivamsa..."
"Together they constitute what can be called The Krishna Key - They can unlock the truth to the historical Krishna for future generations..."
Therefore, as Varshney briefly puts forth what will constitute the key, he handovers one of the four seals to Saini and shares him that three of the remaining seals would go to Dr.Nikhil Bhojaraj, Professor Rajaram Khurkude and the genetics expert Dr.Devendra Chedi. There is also Sampat Sharma, rechristened as 'TAARAK VAKIL', a jumbled form of 'KALKI AVATAR', much to one's surprise. What is the motive behind Taarak murdering these intellectuals one by one, whether he caught hold of all the four seals and what happens to The Krishna Key forms the story.
I would like to quote a few from the book which impressed me and made me wonder if ancient India is an ocean and the knowledge we have on it is very very limited. The ancient scientists knew it all in the absence of scientific instruments. Here is how the historian Saini is all set to render us precious knowledge about ourselves and our country:
"..... the Indian classical music as described in the Upanishads has seven notes of melody - Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni. These seven notes roughly correspond to the western Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La and Ti. It is my hypothesis that the seven notes correspond to each of the seven chakras within us. The chakra is activated when the frequency of the note matches the frequency of the chakra..."
"..... A hymn in the Rig Veda says, "with deep respect, I bow to the sun who travels 2202 yojanas in half a nimesha". For your information, a yojana is about nine American miles and a nimesha is 16/75th of a second. Sayana is simply stating the obvious-that sunlight travels at a 186 thousand miles per second!....."
Professor Kurkude is no way less in rendering us knowledge, too. Here are some of the valuable information from him to be treasured:
".... All construction needed geometry and it was the Vedas that gave the world geometry... The present English word, Geometry, is derived from a Greek root which itself was derived from a Sanskrit word Jyamiti. In Sanskrit, jya means an arc or a curve and miti means the correct perception or measurement. ..."
"... The world deludes itself into believing that it was Pythagoras who gave us the famous theorem regarding the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle but the Baudhayana Sulbasutra which was written 500 years before Pythagoras, states that a rope stretched along the length of a diagonal line produces an area which the vertical and horizontal sides make together. So who invented the Pythagoras theorem - Pythagoras or Baudhayana?..."
Mataji, the guru of Taarak has much more to add while describing the significance of the number 108:
"... What's truly amazing is the fact that the distance between the earth and the sun is exactly 108 times the sun's diameter. More incredible is the fact that the distance between the earth and the moon is 108 times the moon's diameter. Finally, do you know that the diameter of the sun is 108 times the earth's diameter? The ancient yogis knew that!..."
"... The word 'Om' is not only used by us, Taarak. It is to be found everywhere. Even in the English language..." And then she goes on giving detailed descriptions on the words omniscience, omnipotent and what not!
Devendra Chhedi, the genetics expert enlightens us on the knowledge our ancestors had on cloning and biology:
"... Ancient civilisations knew much more about stem cells than modern humans...", affirms he as he elaborates the concept of Taviju Raksha, an ancient ritual that has been passed down the generations. "... The ancients knew far more about medicine than we are willing to believe..." adds he, while he explains Shastrakarma.
Not to be forgotten, these are just samples of quotes that dumbfolded me while I was reading. There are lot more to add to it and I bet, the plot as such keeps you so engrossed that you will not let the book down until you finish reading it. On a negative front, I just see that the thrilling plots in the story appears so common at some moments, and at times predictable. However, the knowledge that you gain from the book as such is commendable. I am taken aback on observing the last few pages that contains the reference books and websites. My God.. How much of effort has the author put to come up with a book that is spiritually and intellectually engaging!! Hats off to him! I seriously admire the hardwork the author has putforth to understand ancient India and its history to deliver a treasurable book. Astounding! In a line, the book is a 'must-read' - to discover India, to discover ourselves!!
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