The Krishna Key (17 page)

‘But how did the ancients know how to create nuclear power?’ asked Ratnani.

‘It’s not so remarkable when one considers the fact that ancient yogis of India knew even how to levitate,’ said Sir Khan, puffing out yet another cloud of Havana fumes.

‘That’s true,’ said Priya. ‘I read about this in
Autobiography of a Yogi
by Paramahansa Yogananda. The ancient spiritual masters definitely had the ability to lift their bodies into thin air at will. It came from advanced spiritual practices in which they could actually alter the flow of electric currents through their body so that a magnetic field would lift them off the ground.’

‘And it was this very technology that was used to build the pyramids in Egypt—a combination of
acoustics and electromagnetism that allowed massive stone blocks to be shifted easily,’ explained Sir Khan. ‘A couple of years ago, a team of scientists at the University of St Andrews recreated levitation of objects in the laboratory by reengineering the
Casimir Force
—a force of nature which usually causes objects to stick together. Once reengineered, the Casimir Force could be used to repel instead of attract. Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin showed that the same effect could be used to levitate bigger objects too, even a person!’

‘In effect, modern science is now tell enclosed within a circle. Pcaping us that levitation—which was disregarded as science fiction of Indian mythology—is indeed possible and that ancients could have had the ability to achieve those miracles,’ said Priya.

‘The Philosopher’s Stone
was the legendary alchemical substance that was believed to have had the power of turning base metals into gold or silver,’ said Sir Khan. ‘Indeed, for many centuries it was the object of most chemical experiments in Europe. The Philosopher’s Stone was also believed to be an elixir of life—because it had the power to bestow immortality. Isn’t it possible that Ghazni may have been inadvertently destroying the world’s true Philosopher’s Stone when he smashed the Shiv lingam of Somnath?’

‘So why did you want to meet me and tell me all this?’ asked Priya, breaking her resistance to ask the all-important question.

‘Because I believe that you could help me uncover an incredible secret. It is monumental but it needs someone with your knowledge of history to find it,’ said Sir Khan simply.

Duryodhana then visited my elder brother
—
Balarama
—
who had always had a soft corner for him. In fact, Balarama had planned for our sister Subhadra to marry Duryodhana, but I had upset his plans by getting Subhadra to elope with Arjuna. ‘Join us, Balarama,’ said Duryodhana. ‘Even though I was unable to marry your sister, there is no reason why we should not be allies in war.’ Bhima reached Balarama at the same time. ‘You are the one who taught me to wield the mace, sire. You know that your brother Krishna is always right. Please stand by us and against those who are not righteous,’ said Bhima to Balarama. Balarama considered the situation carefully and then spoke to both Duryodhana and Bhima. ‘Why such anger and bitterness? Over land? Embrace each other and enjoy the rest of your lives as friends, not enemies.’ Neither side took his advice, though. Balarama decided that he would proceed on a pilgrimage along the Sarasvati and would fight for neither. Before leaving, he advised both sides to follow the rules of war meticulously.

The decision was taken. They would split into two teams—Radhika and Saini as one, and Chhedi and Rathore the other. The first team would travel to Mount Kailash on the trail of Priya and Taarak. The second team would travel to Somnath to determine whether the four ancient seals were actually pointing them there, as suggested by Saini.

‘Why would the Krishna Key point us to either Mount Kailash or Somnath?’ asked Radhika. ‘After all, both sites are consecrated to Shiv, not Vishnu.’

‘Ah, but Vish and Shiv are two sides of the same coin,’ said Saini smiling.
‘Hara Hara Mahadev
is Shiv but
Hari
is Krishna. You can always find
Hara
and
Hari
in the same place!’

‘So whether it was Shiv or Vish, their worship was prevalent in Vedic times?’ asked Radhika.

‘Fire altars have been discovered at many Indus Valley sites. Also bathing places like the Great Bath of Mohenjodaro used for ritual cleansing—a religious activity that you can still see on the banks of the Ganges every day. Most importantly, virtually all construction along the Indus-Sarasvati has been done using bricks of uniform dimension. The ratio of height to width to length is a consistent 1 explorationceb scriptures:2:3,’ informed Saini.

‘How does this ratio tell us that this was a Vedic civilisation?’ asked Radhika.

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

Radhika and Saini’s journey had started with a flight from Lucknow to Kathmandu. From Kathmandu, they had flown fly by a group-charter airplane towards
the fabled hidden land of Dropoling—renowned for its rare medicinal herbs. They had continued on foot through incredibly beautiful wilderness towards the Tibetan border, crossing over a high pass to reach the ancient trading post of Burang where an amiable guide who went by the name of Sherpa Dorji joined them.

Their visit coincided with the full moon day of
Sagadawa
—a day when Tibetans traditionally celebrated the Buddha’s birth, death, and enlightenment—and hundreds of Tibetan pilgrims had already begun their three-day ritual circumambulation of Mount Kailash, huddled together at night in tents hastily erected next to fifteenth-century Buddhist temples. Crossing the eighteen-thousand-foot-high Dolma-La pass, Radhika and Saini were reminded by Sherpa Dorji that the circumambulation of Mount Kailash signified a passage into a new life, completely cleansed of all past karma.

They managed the outer circumambulation of Mount Kailash on the first day, looking out for Priya and Taarak as they walked, but neither Mataji nor her fanatically devoted pupil were anywhere to be seen. ‘Damn, we’ve missed them,’ muttered Saini under his breath, cursing the delays that they had experienced along the way to Kailash. ‘Maybe we should consider doing the
Nandi Parikrama
tomorrow to see if we can find them.’ The Nandi Parikrama was also a circumambulation of Mount Kailash but along a much tougher circuit. This particular trek was only meant for seasoned mountaineers because it involved steep sections as well as rock falls.

As they trudged along, they met an ascetic. He wore very few clothes, in spite of the sub-zero temperatures
and still seemed very comfortable. His hair was long and fell in thick braided dreadlocks around his shoulders. On his face and upper body he had smeared holy ash and on his forehead was a painted third eye. ‘Hara Hara Mahadev!’ he shouted. Saini and Radhika folded their hands in obeisance before the holy man. ‘I know what you seek,’ said the sadhu cryptically. ‘Remember one thing though… the philosopher is more important than the stone.’ Before Saini or Radhika could ask him what he meant, he took a puff from a chillum of charas and danced into the wilderness, oblivious to the startled expressions of Radhika and Saini.

The next day, Radhika, Saini and Dorji walked in single file along a extremely narrow path. The rarefied air and pressure of walking uphill constantly soon had both Radhika and Saini out of breath. Their walk from Silung Gompa to Astapad Mountain had taken about an hour. They did not stop there but carried on to the confluence of two rivers—Silung and Kailash Ganga. A short descent brought them to Ling-Singjen—a horse’s hoofprint considered very holy by the Tibetans. and placed two fingers under the angle of dbmef

As Radhika and Saini neared the base of Southern Kailash it started snowing heavily. Stopping was not an option so they continued along a rocky pathway down to a valley. On one side was Nandi Hill and on the other was Ravana Linga Mountain. In front of them stood the majestic Mount Kailash. They had been trekking for over eight hours before reaching the base of the vertical south wall face of Kailash. They were now ready for the worst part of the trek—the final half-kilometre climb to the Saptarishi Cave along
an almost vertical wall using mountain climbing ropes provided by Dorji.

As the battle was about to begin, both armies saw Yudhistira take off his armour and put down his weapons. He stepped off his chariot and walked towards the Kaurava forces. A confused Arjuna ran forward and asked his brother why he was heading towards the enemy unarmed but Yudhistira was deep in thought and did not bother to reply. I gently explained to Arjuna that Yudhistira was simply seeking the blessings of the elders
—
Bhishma, Drona and Kripa. I could discern a malevolent glee emanating from the Kaurava forces. Most of the men seemed to think Yudhistira had decided to surrender even before the battle had commenced. Yudhistira walked up to Bhishma. Bending down, he touched the elder’s feet reverentially and said, ‘Grandsire, give us your permission to commence battle. We have dared to battle you
—
our unconquerable grandsire
—
and we seek your benediction.’ Bhishma’s eyes glistened with tears as he blessed Yudhistira and said, ‘May you emerge victorious.’ Yudhistira sought blessings from his gurus
—
Drona and Kripa
—
as well as from as his uncle Shalya, and then returned to the Pandava forces to start battle.

Radhika and Saini pulled themselves over a final ledge. They had reached the Saptarishi cave—almost a balcony on the south face of Kailash at a height of eighty metres from the base. The Tibetans had constructed chortens—or miniature stupas—along the balcony. Radhika and Saini were unaware of the fact that two of the stupas were not inanimate.

Radhika and Saini unstrapped their backpacks and sat down on the narrow ledge of the cave. Sherpa Dorji clambered down the rope once again in order to bring up additional supplies that had been left behind at the base of Kailash’s south wall. They looked around the cave. It was filled with Tibetan chortens as well as deities and offerings placed by Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Bön pilgrims. On the walls pilgrims had written a variety of prayers and shlokas. Radhika noticed one in particular. It said,
‘Ilah sarasvati mahi tisro devirmayobhuvaha varhiha sidantasridhaha.’

‘What does this mean?’ asked Radhika, pointing to the shloka on the wall.

‘It’s a verse from the
Rig Veda,
said Saini. ‘It literally translates to:
O Ilah, Sarasvati and Mahi, the three goddesses who bring delight, please be seated, peacefully, on the grass.’

‘I haven’t heard of Ilah or Mahi. In modern Hinduism we have Lakshmi and Durga, but no Ilah or Mahi,’ said Radhika.

‘That’s because Ilah was another name for Durga,’ explained Saini.

‘Doesn’t it sound a lot like Allah?’ asked Radhika, her curiosity piqued.

‘You are spot-on,’ remarked Saini,’ replied Sir Khanaw on the Kaliyuga. ‘Prior to the advent of Islam, the word Allah had already existed. It was derived from two Arabic words,
al
—meaning “the”, and
ilah
—meaning “deity”. Over a period of time, the combined phrase
al-ilah
came to be pronounced as Allah.’

‘What evidence is there that it was a pre-existing name?’ asked Radhika.

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

Radhika shook her head in amazement. Listening to Saini was almost enchanting. He always had delicious morsels of historical, mythological and theological information to share. The acrimony between policewoman and murder suspect was gradually transforming itself into mutual respect and friendship.