The Krishna Key (9 page)

‘I am not in any way discarding the symbolism of the swastika,’ said Saini, hastily drawing a modern swastika on a notepad to illustrate his point before proceeding to elaborate.

‘Just for a minute, though, let us forget the symbol we consider as the swastika today,’ continued Saini. ‘Today’s swastika symbol is more geometric and defined. It also has sacred mathematical properties. It is
one
symbol that is composed of
eight
limbs. Notice the fact that 1 and 8 are at play here also? However, what was the original swastika? It was much curlier, somewhat like this.’ Saini drew another symbol, but a gentler version, with curves.

‘What’s your point?’ asked Priya, peremptorily.

‘Mathematicians Cundy and Rollett have defined the swastika curve mathematically,’ continued Saini, ignoring Priya’s curtness. ‘It is a quartic plane curve representing the Cartesian equation y
⁴
– x
⁴
= xy. Want to see what their curve look like?’ Without waiting for an answer, Saini drew an approximation of Cundy and Rollett’s swastika curve on the notepad before him.

‘When you see this curve, what does it remind you of?’ asked Saini excitedly. His question was greeted by silence.

Realising that there were no volunteers, Saini spoke up once again. ‘Don’t you see the significance?’
he asked, his voice rising. ‘It’s the very shape,’ replied Sir KhanQ sai that represents the flow of four rivers from an elevated point!’ he exclaimed. ‘The swastika became a holy symbol much later. For the ancient Vedic sages, it represented a very holy destination. I’ve given both of you sufficient clues. Can you tell me of a hill or mountain that has four rivers?’

Priya was suddenly like the studious kid in the front row, eager to answer the teacher’s question. ‘I have it! It’s the mountain from which four rivers—the Indus, the Sutlej, the Brahmaputra and the Karnali—flow down and outwards,’ she rattled off.

‘And what is the name of that mountain?’ asked Saini, slipping into his academic role effortlessly.

‘Mount Meru!’ exclaimed Priya. ‘Also known to millions of Hindu devotees as Mount Kailash!’

Some days later, when the Pandava brothers were elsewhere in the forest, Draupadi was surprised to find Jayadhrata, the husband of the Kauravas’ only sister Dusshala, outside her cave. She could not understand the purpose of his visit but she offered him water, fruits and a place to sit. Little did she know that Jayadhrata had come to abduct her. It was his view that a woman could have a maximum of four husbands and that by having five, Draupadi was a prostitute by social norms. He grabbed hold of her and placed her in his chariot but Draupadi’s screams were heard by the sages who immediately informed Arjuna and Bhima. Both brothers caught up with the chariot and Arjuna used his arrows to break the chariot’s wheels. Bhima pounced on Jayadhrata and would have murdered him had Yudhistira not reminded him that killing Jayadhrata would leave their only female cousin widowed.

‘I don’t understand one thing, though,’ said Chhedi.

‘What’s that?’ asked Saini, once again attempting to read the note that Chhedi had passed him. Only a few words were clear.
Be… in… next… listening.
The missing words were badly blotted.

‘Mount Kailash is viewed as the abode of Shiv. How does Krishna enter the picture?’ asked Chhedi.

‘Shivaya Vishnu roopaya, Shiva roopaya Vishnuve; Shivasya hridayam Vishnu, Vishnoscha hridayam
Shivaha!’
said Saini turning his attention away from the smudged note. ‘The shloka means that Shiv is merely a form of Vish and that Vish is merely a form of Shiv. Shiv resides in the heart of Vish and Vish resides in that of Shiv. According to the Vedic sages, Mount Kailash was the centre of the world. It had four clear faces—thus resulting in its pyramid shape. As per mythology, the four faces were made of crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis lazuli. In Vedic times, it would have been considered the pillar of the world! Twenty-two thousand feet high, Mount Kailash lies at the heart of the world’s
mandala
and is nestled within six mountain ranges that symbolise a lotus. The four rivers originating from Kailash supposedly flow down to the four quarters of the world and divide the world into four regions. The sacred character of this mountain goes way beyond Vishnu, Shiv, or Hinduism.’

‘How?’ asked Chhedi.

‘The book of
Genesis,
in the Bible, describes the Garden of Eden, where Creation started. It says:
Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden;,’ replied Sir Khan three on the Kaliyuga and from there it divided and became four rivers.
Kailash was the original Eden, my friend!’ exclaimed Saini. ‘Even today our own Mount Kailash is considered a sacred place in four religions—Bön, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Many of the world’s greatest stories have their origin right here in India. Have you heard of the lost city of Atlantis?’

‘It was the fabled city that was submerged by tidal waves,’ said Priya, butting in excitedly. ‘Plato first mentioned Atlantis in his dialogues
Timaeus
and
Critias
—written around 360 BCE, I think.’

‘And do you remember the location of Atlantis as mentioned by Plato?’ asked Saini.

‘I think that Atlantis was described as lying
beyond the pillars of Heracles,’
answered Priya.

‘Ah! And because the philosopher Plato was Greek, people simply assumed that he was talking about Heracles—a son of their supreme god Zeus. The same Heracles who was later adopted by the Romans as their own Hercules. Right?’ asked Saini.

‘True,’ replied Priya.

‘But we seem to have forgotten the fact that Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador in the court of Chandragupta Maurya, made the first written reference to Krishna and that in his account, he called Krishna by the very same name—Heracles. He went on to say that the Sourasenoi—the descendants of Shurasena, Krishna’s grandfather—who lived in Methora—or Mathura—held Heracles in high esteem. Isn’t it also curious that both Plato and Megasthenes lived around the same time? Isn’t it possible that Plato was not referring to the Greek mythological figure of Heracles but to the Indian deity Krishna?’ asked Saini.

‘Are you trying to say that the story of Atlantis was actually the story of Dwarka?’ asked Chhedi.

‘Think about it,’ said Saini. ‘The term
pillars of Heracles
may not be a reference to the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, but may instead refer to the sixty pillars of the original Dwarakadheesh Temple that had been built by Krishna’s great-grandson Vajranabhji in Dwarka. Although the present temple is relatively modern—having been built during Emperor Akbar’s rule—it is at the same spot at which Vajranabhji’s original temple stood and it would have been right there during the visit of Megasthenes!’

‘The hypothesis is sound,’ said Chhedi. ‘But where is the corroborating evidence?’

‘If I recall, Plato had said that
in Atlantis there existed a confederation of kings, of great and marvellous power, which held sway over all the island, and over many other islands also and parts of the continent,’
recounted Saini. ‘The Yadavas were a confederation of eighteen clans with several chiefs and a single governor—a structure very unique in those times. Isn’t that another tantalising clue?’

‘But did both cities get destroyed in the same way?’ asked Priya.

‘In the context of Atlantis, Plato says that
at a later time there occurred portentous earthquakes and floods, and one grievous day and night befell them, when the whole body of warriors was swallowed up by the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner was swallowed up by the sea and vanished.
On the other hand, the
Mahabharata
tells us that ,’ replied Sir Khantothe sea rushed into the city. It coursed through the streets of the beautiful city. The sea covered up everything in the city. The beautiful buildings were submerged one by one. In a matter of a few moments it was all over. The sea had now become as placid as a lake. There was no trace of the city. Dwarka was just a name—
just a memory.
Incredibly similar stories, wouldn’t you say?’ asked Saini.

Sitting inside the secretary’s office, Inspector Radhika Singh was listening to every word that was being exchanged with rapt attention. She continued counting her beads as she watched the meeting proceed inside Chhedi’s office.

My cousin Arjuna wished to use his time in the forest wisely, and decided to pray for Shiv’s divine weapon
—
the Pashupat. In a clearing he installed a smooth oval stone that represented a lingam, offered it flowers and then sat before it, his mind entirely concentrated on Shiv. Quite suddenly, a wild boar rushed towards him and Arjuna was forced to open his eyes and shoot a single arrow to stop the animal in the nick of time. When Arjuna walked up to examine the dead boar, he noticed that it had two arrows protruding from it. Next to the boar stood a hunter who claimed that he had shot the boar first. A duel followed in which the hunter defeated Arjuna. Dejected but determined, Arjuna went back to his prayers, only to wake up to the fact, barely a moment later, that the hunter had been none other than Shiv! Arjuna fell at the feet of the god, who now stood before him, and Shiv blessed him with the divine Pashupat.