Dawn
Page 18
‘And?’
‘They plan to build a completely different body chemistry with your body, which is breath-based,’ he said simply.
I felt physically sick; this plan was against mankind itself. ‘We will fight this,’ I said resolutely. ‘But if I fall and they succeed, my friends,’ I said, looking at each one of them, ‘you have to kill me so that the AIDawn hybrid is never a possibility. It is your duty. Promise me. My fallen father’s and Dushita’s shadow will not be cast much longer on humanity.’
The Pandavas jerked their heads awkwardly in agreement. Tabah soon ended his call, and before leaving, he told us that he would not be able to accompany us again on our next trip with Yuva. ‘The risk is too high. My Cognition Twin would be elsewhere, and I might get pulled into a meeting with either Arman or AIman. But be careful, for the hunt has intensified. The QuGene scientists are working day and night to figure out how to destroy your mace. Its force and its mechanism is still a mystery to them. Okay, I have to go now, but stay hidden and be careful. One last thing: Trust no one.’
I will never forget our meeting with Charaka, the father of medicine. Yuva told him that we had met Patanjali last.
‘Oh, Patanjali! There is nobody better than him when it comes to how to shut off the mind and recognize your true Self. Aum Shanti, Shanti, Shantihi,’ he said cheerfully. ‘Best of all, he is a great dancer. I have learnt so many moves from him.’
‘Dancer!’ we cried in unison.
‘Yes, of course, if your yoga teacher cannot dance, then he does not know what moves life,’ he said, winking at us.
‘But,’ muttered Tan, ‘you are at least a five to six hundred years before Patanjali. How do you know about him and his works?’
Charaka laughed, ‘Are you the only person whose Cognition Twin travels? You should know by now that for your Cognition Twin, the past, the present and the future all co-exist.’
That made sense. But we then veered the conversation to a more pressing topic, ‘Tell us, teacher, how to win the upcoming Great War?’ asked Yaniv, after we told him about Arman’s plan of producing human-robot hybrids.
‘Arman has a sick mind, but it is a diabolically good plan. It has Dushita’s mark all over it,’ said Charaka bitterly. ‘It turns around and reverses what has been the norm since the creation of the Universe. What is scary is that it is even worse than what they think it is. It is why Yuva brought you to me. Patanjali focuses on the mind, but I focus on the science of life, the whole mind-body connection.’
Tegh asked, agitated, ‘Even worse? How can it possibly get worse? They are on their way to create Kelikil with impure Life Breath to destroy Maha and the entire Universe with it.’
‘Yes. But can you think about what might get created instead?’
‘Oh no . . . I did not imagine that far,’ said Tegh, wrapping his head around the notion that there could be something even worse than the end of the Universe.
‘Our Universe is built around Life. Life, in its essence, is Shakti or Energy. When one dies, it simply means that our energy gets released and redistributed. That is it, redistribution. The Universe sheds no tears. But what if our current Universe is destroyed and, in its place, arises a new Universe that is built on antilife?’
Yaniv understood, ‘Antilife means representing a Universe founded on negative energy. Our Universe will eventually run out of energy and then start contracting and collapsing, but a Universe built on negative energy will keep on expanding forever. So, it will mean Dushita’s permanent victory and Arman’s eternal rule.’
I gasped, ‘So, it’s true. He’s really been promised immortality. That’s quite mental just thinking that this is possible, even in AD 3000. But do these negative universes really exist?’
‘It is. But not unheard of,’ chimed in Tan the lama. ‘An ancient text talked about this at length, but nobody gave it any consideration. It stated that in some universes, moonlight is hot and sunlight is cool, and there is sight in darkness and blindness in sunlight. It is where good is destructive and evil is not, where poison promotes health and nectar kills.’
Hafiz looked at him strangely, ‘So, when Kelikil poisons Maha and kills him, then this Universe will die but that death has a quantum probability to it. It does not mean 100 per cent that the Universe ends completely. There is no absolute certainty in Nature’s practice. That mechanical definitive outcome will happen only in a deterministic Universe. In quantum, there will be other outcomes that will have some small probability to it. The reality of daughter universes exists, even if it turns out to be an anti-energy Universe. And Kelikil residing inside Maha, who will be the last to go, plans to be that outcome.’
‘She wants to be a universe?’ said Tegh, wide-eyed. ‘But as Hafiz had said in the morning, won’t Arman die too when this Life-centric Universe ends?’
‘Yes,’ Yaniv said. ‘But Kelikil will have information in her that is twenty times of what could be contained in that ancient ship that sank, the Titanic. All is packed inside its DNA, all sequences of the four letters: ATCG.’
‘You’re losing me now,’ said Tegh, open-mouthed.
‘Hear me out! The total length of the human genome is over three billion base pairs. If one were to print that out, it would take 26,200 pages. For perspective, less than 500 pages is what makes us unique. Rest we share. As Kelikil grows, she will be trained by Arman and after the apocalypse, she will simply recreate or make a new Arman by taking her human genome and simply reordering those unique to him. It will be as simple as her taking a small part of her, perhaps a section of her rib and rearranging a few letters. Then she and the reborn Arman will be the masters of the Antilife, anti-energy Universe.’
The horrors of the full ramifications of the Great War were now beginning to sink in. The ashen-faced Pandavas showed the worry writ large on their faces as they factored it in. I was myself feeling disgusted and overwhelmed.
I asked Charaka, ‘Good is so simple and evil is so deep. I fear that I cannot dive into its depths.’
Charaka articulated, ‘My child, you have to understand the inner engineering of evil. It all starts with food—something that we take for granted. Food gives us energy. Inside us, food is converted into Rasa, the juice of life, in the liver and the bile. This juice travels to the heart where it gets stored. People with hearts full of Rasa have a fulfilling emotional life and are joyful people.’
‘I’m guessing that’s not the case with Arman’s plan?’ Tegh asked.
‘Yes. You see, in a few situations, the Rasa can turn negative. As the heart pumps blood, the Rasa Juice encounters Life Breath, which is spread all over the body but especially in the head. The Life Breath fires the juice with its life force, and the two work together at a very fine level of wave particles that are called Lifetrons. The entangled particles that transport you through Space and Time are essentially Lifetrons, which are more basic than electrons or neurons but carry consciousness.’
‘This is all so very, very confusing, but it also seems to make sense!’ I said, scratching my head. This was too much knowledge for a mere sixteen-year-old.
‘It is, I know. But think about it alone in peace and quiet and you will understand. You see, when an individual’s Lifetrons in the brain connect with the Maha Lifetron’s grid, such as in unsupervised Kundalini Yoga, then it receives a supercharge like a lightning bolt. Sometimes that can be dangerous if one is not prepared for it, and the brain could get fried. This will lead to madness. If the Life Breath way is about the individual establishing conductivity with Maha, then the Rasa way is the individual tasting Maha. My way is the way of Rasa and it is much safer and far more enjoyable.’
I asked, ‘Tasting Maha? But . . . but okay first, tell me one thing, Charaka, why is Kelikil so important?’
‘So, here is the fiendish genius at work. In one month, the Rasa converts into the procreatory fluid for men and women, which when combined forms a bindu, a dot, whose Lifetrons entangle immediately with Maha’s Lifetrons and that initia
l charge gives an embryo life.’
‘Yuva had told us that it is like the spark coming from a fire.’
‘Yes, the human embryo is nourished by Rasa. There is a deep mind-body connection. In AIDawn, the purpose of the AIman mind, which is processing non-stop inputs, is to create deep toxicity within the Rasa of the embryo body. Kelikil will be born not just with violent Life Breath but also with the ability to have Ashanta Rasa.’
‘What is Ashanta Rasa?’ I asked.
‘First, you need to understand Shanta Rasa or Shanti. It is the ultimate peace of mind that Patanjali talked to you about. It is the state of great peace resting within your Self. It is the peacefulness of an embryo. It is the repose of Maha because only Maha has the freedom to be totally free, devoid of any desire, any action, any compulsion.’
‘So . . . we have it or we don’t? Or do we lose it? Is that what Ashanta is?’ asked Yaniv, who looked seriously out of wits.
‘Well, yes, you’re right. Life Breath starts getting contaminated from the moment a baby is delivered. It takes enormous purification for an adult to return to the original state where one can relink with Maha’s state of peace. Only a few who undergo the rigour of great Samadhi get there. One example was Buddha. The easy way for most people to experience the flow of Maha is Rasa, but evil people have always blocked it. Earlier on, Dushita’s agents would forbid music and dance, and now with Kelikil, they want to go to the source and just poison Shanta Rasa.’
‘So, Kelikil won’t have Shanta Rasa but its opposite, the toxic and violent Ashanta Rasa?’ Yaniv asked again.
‘Yes, in Kelikil, between the combination of Ashanta Rasa and impure Life Breath, you will have the making of the anti-Lifetron. No peace, only violence. She will be trained to go into the great Samadhi, but instead of receiving Maha, she will destroy Maha—this will mark the beginning of the anti-energy Universe. That is why the second part of their evil plan is so much more important than the first. That is why I say that this has the mark of Dushita.’
Yaniv’s eyes tightened, as if in sudden pain. ‘I finally understand. Through inner engineering, they want to create the ultimate, unstoppable, Undead force.’
Hafiz added, ‘No different than a malware virus bringing down an entire network.’
‘Throughout history, these evil people have done the same thing,’ Tan said. ‘They would pick highly attractive assassins and feed them very small quantities of snake, asp, spider and scorpion poison. Slowly, the dosage would be increased as the person’s body would gain immunity against the poison. Then one day, when ready, the poisoned person would be sent to an enemy ruler or aristocrat. One kiss from them and that would be the end. People change, technologies change, but the nature of Dushita’s operations does not change.’
I pleaded, ‘Then how do I fight this Undead force?’
‘I have told you what the weapon is. It is Peace Force. As for the gift of this Peace Force—why, that is in the hands of Yuva himself.’ Charaka bowed to Yuva and Yuva smiled, nodding his head slightly. We all looked at him questioningly, but he just smiled and looked ahead.
Charaka concluded, ‘You asked me how to win the war ahead? I will tell you. You will need to have the powers of a Vira, a warrior; a Rasika who can wield the Peace weapon; and a Sadhika who can have one-pointed concentration.’
I somehow had this feeling that this was all slipping away from my hands. I was just sixteen, certainly in the year 3000 when we would seem to be all-powerful to a person in the year 2000. But how much could I do? The forces against us were overwhelming, and the deeper one went into matters, the worse the situation was becoming. Doubt had taken over. I felt I had lost even before I had begun. Several dangerous thoughts kept resurfacing in my mind, which were beginning to tempt me. There was one sure-fire way to stop Kelikil and save Maha even if one could not save the earth and the remaining humans on it. I could trick Death and cheat it from executing the death of the Universe.
I could end myself.
Sarga 12
Rasa
500 BC
Bharata’s Ashram
‘I thought I had the long face in this group. But you have beat me to it,’ Yuva said to me. ‘Why so, my Niti warrior princess?’
‘Yuva, ever since you’ve come into my life, I have grown leaps and bounds, accepting all these new revelations. But I cannot go on. At some point, I have to face the reality. I think I will have to give up in the face of these overwhelming odds . . . this evil. There is no other choice.’
‘You are a warrior, Dawn. You have taken the sworn warrior’s oath.’
‘Yes, Conquer or Die for Life, I remember. Yuva, I will honour my oath.’
He understood the true meaning of what I was saying. Then he said gently, ‘Dawn, you know that Maha is my father. And that I have already slain AIman, Arman and Dushita.’
What was he saying? Was this one of his riddles? I looked at him and then to Kira, who just shook her head side to side in agreement.
‘If you have, then what do you need from me? What is my role here?’
‘Dawn, Life is not for Maha. Life is for you. When you slay the evil Troika, you are establishing what is already a reality. But far more importantly, you are reaffirming that you are for Life. That desire must come from a human. Remember your oath: Conquer or Die for Life. We came to see Charaka because he is the beacon of life—a long, healthy and whole life. Over and over humans forget what life is and then it needs course correction by someone like you. But it has to be your free will. Maha will not dictate to humans, otherwise, Maha becomes Dushita.’
‘Then why do I doubt? My mother had conviction in me, but somehow, it is failing me despite all the knowledge that I have gained.’
‘Dawn, you learnt that Niti tells us to trust each other. Did you trust me?’
I was flustered. ‘Yuva, everything I know is because of my mother and you. But I don’t know you. Where is this Peace Weapon that Charaka said you would hand over to me?’
Yuva beamed and said, ‘My princess has now become a warrior. You are ready. This will be our last lesson before you go into battle with AIman and Arman.’
At Bharata’s ashram, the residents went around running excitedly, sharing the news of Yuva’s arrival. Some started blowing the conch. Others started reciting his many names. It seemed that they were all going mad with happiness. I was keeping count of his names; there were 1,008 in all.
Surely, it was a reception like none other. Luckily, Tabah was able to sneak away and come with us too. It was a sweet reunion with him, filled with many questions about the enemy.
Soon, Bharata came out running and welcomed Yuva, ‘Salutation to he who is loved by the teachers and is celebrated by them. Salutation to he who is the refuge of the teachers and stays in the heart of the teachers. Salutation to he who is the light of the teachers and who is filled with the virtue of Adi, the first teacher.’
Yuva smiled and raised his hand, palm outward.
‘He surely is important to these people,’ whispered Yaniv into my ear.
Then Bharata turned his attention to Kira. He saluted the bird and then to our surprise prostrated himself before her, calling her ‘Mother of all.’ ‘Mother?’ I saw Yaniv mouthing the word as if in total disbelief. It was all so surprising and I could see the other Pandavas were stupefied as well. We clearly had no idea as to who Yuva and Kira really were.
Yuva was escorted to a huge throne, which he ascended. Next to him were wicker stools on which we sat, and Bharata sat next to us on a cane seat. Soon, an army of servers came rushing, offering us roths. I saw Yuva eating them with great gusto. Finally, the recital of Yuva’s 1,008 names ended.
I had to ask Yuva, ‘Why do you have so many names? I have only one.’
‘You were given your name by someone else. They labelled you. Have you ever thought about what names describe you best? Make up your own list of 18 or 108 or 1,008 names. Each day, pick one name and live it. Go ahead, try it. The more names you give yourself,
the more you will grow and like yourself.’
Bharata, listening to our exchange, smiled. ‘The simplest techniques are the most powerful.’
Yuva nodded, ‘Bharata, we are here for help. Dawn has a mind-born enemy who is out to destroy her. The enemy’s creator is set on destroying the Universe by destroying all heart-based activity. Dawn knows from Patanjali that what she must do is to still her enemies’ violent mind with Life Breath, while Teacher Charaka has told her that stilling the mind must be combined with the opening of the heart so that it flows with the juice of life. But she needs to know how to do that using the Peace Force. That is why we are here.’
‘Oh, that is the perfect reason to have a theatrical show!’ Bharata exclaimed.
I was taken aback by the answer. ‘A show?’
‘Why, yes, Dawn! Because an art performance is the Peace Force that both shuts the mind and awakens the heart. It triggers the flow of thoughts that operates pre-mind, which then overcomes one’s pre-programmed mind. When you move the body, move the mind and move the spirit, you move the Universe. That is why Patanjali, who was focused on the mind, loved to dance. That is why Charaka, who correctly identified the heart as the controlling centre, took his name that means movement. You will see and experience what I am talking about,’ he said happily.
Tabah piped in, ‘I agree completely. I had no idea though that I was wielding the Peace Force . . . that I was giving Arman’s crazy mind and empty heart some relief, even though he didn’t know what it really meant.’
As I thought about what Bharata had said, a man in pure white clothes came in front of us on the stage. ‘He’s the art director,’ said our host. The man threw a clod of earth from a basket on the stage. I noticed that an audience had assembled behind us and they were all dressed in off-white clothes. The director then sprinkled water on the four corners of the stage, followed by mustard seeds.