The significance of his appearance
for the Hindu Samaj
Director, Aeon Centre of Cosmology
South India, 17.10.2010
Parts 1 and 2 of this series dedicated to Ramlala have brought forward the need to revisit the calendars in use by the Hindu Samaj, which on numerous occasions I have described as a very clever device to divide 80% of the energies of India’s population. Given the campaign carried out over the past 18 years to bring this matter into prominence, results are finally forthcoming: several Hindu organisations have adopted resolutions calling for a uniform calendar to replace the dozen or more that presently exist. In the words of Jawaharlal Nehru to the Calendar Reform Committee on February 18, 1953:
…I am told that we have at present thirty different calendars, differing from each other in various ways, including the methods of time reckoning. These calendars are the natural result of our past political and cultural history and partly represent past political divisions in the country. Now that we have attained independence, it is obviously desirable that there should be a certain uniformity in the calendar for our civic, social and other purposes and that this should be based on a scientific approach to this problem…It is always difficult to change a calendar to which people are used [to] because it affects social practices, but the attempt has to be made even though it may not be as complete as desired. In any event, the present confusion in our own calendars in India ought to be removed… [Italics mine].
Indeed, each of these calendars has its own method of time reckoning which means that followers of one school prefer a certain ayanamsha (zero starting point) over another; sections of Hindus will celebrate festivals accordingly, as stipulated in a given panchanga (almanac) that is provided by the representative pundits of each school. In other words, each group clings to its own ‘science’ for providing the ‘correct’ ayanamsha. In view of these discrepancies, in spite of any good will that might exist and the best efforts and intentions on the part of the current reformists, the unity I write of and which would form the basis of the cosmic connection for the entire Samaj is unlikely to come about. When all is said and done, out of the numerous ayanamshas currently in use, which one is to serve as the unifying factor? Which is the correct one and who is to determine that correctness? How are we to come to an agreement as to which should be adopted out of so many?
In this age of egalitarianism we resolve such tangles by rule of the majority. Are we therefore to apply that same method in the reformation of the Hindu calendar? Would then the most widely used ayanamsha be the solution based on a majority vote?
In terms of Vedic matters a selective process of this sort appears to be an anachronism. The only basis for deciding this most important of all items on the Hindu agenda would be veda, knowledge. But such Knowledge is the preserve of very few; and those who do possess true veda of the ancient school would not be recognised by today’s enlightened souls precisely because of its antiquity. Everything that we have come to cherish in today’s world of spirituality has to be rightly termed post-Vedic. And since a return to the ancient-most source is the only way to come to a decision regarding matters of time and circumstance, given that the Yoga of the Rig Veda has long been forgotten on the subcontinent, whosoever might have realised that high truth would most likely not be understood or accepted as its proponent. Happily, Ramlala has appeared on the scene to save the day.
Inchoate mass acts as inertia and holds back the Samaj from experiencing the unity that existed in the Vedic Age. All we know today is a spirituality that has carried the Samaj away from the ancient roots and because of this very distancing a plethora of ayanamshas and their respective calendars for ritual observances and horoscopy could come about. Simply put, the Divine Maya, or Measure, of the Veda was lost almost 2000 years ago. In the interim the civilisation has experienced a steady, relentless decline. Invasions, colonisations resulted, and finally partition of the Mother’s sacred Body. The issue now is to arrest that decline, reverse the direction and re-instate the highest Truth ever to manifest on Earth. For Hindus the spirituality of Supermind rather than superpower-hood is the goal.
However, the Hindu organisations that are spear-heading the current campaigns to reform the calendar, are simply seeking uniformity for the Samaj, a choice to be made between all the ayanamshas (majority rule?), none of which are based on veda.
In his masterful The Secret of the Veda, Sri Aurobindo explained the problem succinctly: ‘…The letter lived on when the spirit was forgotten; the symbol, the body of the doctrine, remained, but the soul of knowledge had fled from its coverings.’ And in another context, when writing to the Mother, his co-worker, about a certain experience she had on 26.11.1915, he stated, ‘The experience you have described is Vedic in the real sense, though not one which would easily be recognised by the modern systems of Yoga which call themselves Vedic. It is the union of the “Earth” of the Veda and the Purana with the divine Principle, an earth which is said to be above our earth, that is to say, the physical being and consciousness of which the world and the body are only images. But the modern Yogas hardly recognise the possibility of a material union with the Divine’ (31.12.1915). In these few words Sri Aurobindo has captured the essence of the problem that plagues calendar reform efforts today: the loss of the Divine Measure.
The date of the Mother’s Vedic experience is important to note, though at the time it passed unnoticed. However, 34 years later on 26.11.1949 it would occupy centrestage in the life of a new India by this being the very date of adoption of the Constitution. Prior to this, in 1926 the same date surfaced in the combined yogas of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother when it would become known through them as Immortality Day, requiring a further 37 years for validation. Thus, in 1963 on this date the Hindu Line of Ten Avatars was completed in perfect harmony with the deepest Vedic essence of the Dasavataras, the backbone of Hinduism. Its importance was further highlighted by the combined passings of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo (23 years apart), the former on 17/11 and the latter on 5/12. Immortality Day is the exact midpoint of the 18 days between the two. Recent events have given an iconic resonance to 26/11 through the tragic event in Mumbai in 2008 on that very day, thereby marking a before and after in contemporary history on the subcontinent: the unfolding of an integration process is now accelerated.
There are several dates to add to the list, cycles mainly of 7 and multiples thereof – a number of preference for the 7th Avatar. It is not possible to describe the significance of each one since a background in the Supramental Yoga would be required which this brief space does not permit. Suffice to state that the most meaningful occurred 34 (=7) years after 1949. A major yogic breakthrough took place then that can succinctly be described as ‘filling the Void’ – the unveiling by an intense tapasya of the Plenum-Point by and through the aid of Time. It was a Yoga based entirely on the Year – or rather the Year facilitated the occurrence, similar to what Bhisma of the Mahabharat experienced in his passage to the realm of the Immortals. With this singular Vedic accomplishment, what could be termed the Binary Creation ceased to hold the world in its grip – the unity of the Point took over. This occurred in 1983-4, after which the binary superpower structure collapsed introducing a very different global experience, opening the way ultimately to a new creation founded on unity. Interestingly Ram played a central role in the breakthrough, immediately after which the Ramjanmabhoomi movement began; then in 1986 Ramlala was liberated from his 36-year seclusion, as if from a period of sanyas. (For details see The New Way, Volume 3, Aeon Books, written in 1983 and published in 2005.)
Coincidences, we again ask? Their volume makes the term somewhat nonsensical. Science will have to seek another escape route to explain the apparently inexplicable.
All the above dates serve to affirm the relevance of the Dasavataras of Vishnu. Indeed, this is the focus of my treatment. In these pages I will disclose the method by which the relevance of the Line of Ten is made contemporary and factual, drawn out of the realm of Myth. The Line and its accompanying Myth describe recurring history which the Ramlala appearance in 1949 consolidates. Myth becomes history before our very eyes, hinging on the fateful night of 22-23 December in that fateful year when he took possession of his sacred abode.
Most important of all for the Hindu Samaj, by his appearance Ramlala solved the conundrum of the correct Hindu Calendar and all matters connected thereto.
The Solstice shortest day of the year occurred during the night of 22-23 December in 1949 – the very time of Ramlala’s appearance in the erstwhile Babri Masjid in the form of a child. I have explained earlier in this series the importance of the form selected, insofar as the Idol as Child ‘grew’ pari passu with the newly-born Indian Republic. But this Solstice has long held a singular position of importance for Vedic civilisation, as many scriptures and the Epics confirm. Perhaps most exemplary of all is the Mahabharat Epic which begins precisely on that Solstice. However, it is Bhisma of the tale who sheds accurate light on the Solstice’s special significance by having chosen that very date as the time he would leave this plane. His choice elucidates an aspect of this particular Solstice and why it has always been considered the most sacred period in Vedic culture.
Its esoteric symbology is that the solar light (cows/rays/energy) experiences maximum compression then, even as daylight is compressed to its shortest length for the northern hemisphere. When exiting this plane of existence the human being experiences the same compression as if to a point of his or her consciousness-being. This is on the order of a scientific wormhole. Only through this extreme compression and with the allegiance of Time can there be entry into Swar, the realm of the Immortals – a conscious passage, it needs to be stated, as Bhisma carried out.
There has been evidence of the compression I refer to in the extensive number of reports of near-death experiences (NDE). All subjects confirm finding themselves in a sort of tunnel when they leave their physical bodies, at the end of which they see a light. This luminous essence envelops them before they return to their bodies and to life on Earth. What that Light is for each person is subject to individual conditioning, because complete detachment from the body has not occurred and memories of one’s lived experience in that body are maintained. No one has returned to tell the tale of what exactly happens once definitive severance has transpired; we know only a part of the process, namely the passage through a compressed darkness as in a tunnel and the experience of light at the end of the passage.
The ‘tunnel’ is the compression, the same as Bhisma would have experienced to reach Swar consciously. It was facilitated by the time set for his departure, which also left a record for the future of the importance of the December Solstice’s and its connection to the Veda.
It is to be recalled that the central figure of the Vedic Sacrifice is precisely the Year whose balancing points in time and space are the Solstices and Equinoxes. Given the above, it stands that our relationship to the Year must be of supreme importance for descendants of the Immortal Ones. But a year with many ayanamshas certainly does not pay tribute or live up to the standards set by the Rishis. However, Ram the Child has come to reinstate the Vedic Year by himself timing his appearance to coincide exactly with the December Solstice. In so doing, he offers us the key to renewal and re-establishment of the ancient truths of the land and the key to the correct ayanamsha.
However, it is not sufficient to establish the December Solstice as the key to the rightness of calendrical matters. That is only half the equation. Today’s pundits have gone a step further in distancing themselves from the Veda. They do accept that the shortest day in the northern hemisphere is the December Solstice, because they cannot deny the physical fact and astronomical observations. But veda was set aside in matters temporal when they boldly disconnected zodiacal Capricorn/Makar from that Solstice, an aberration known only to post-Vedic India and nowhere else on the globe. Without zodiacal Makar joined to the Solstice there cannot be veda in the fullest sense of the word; and positing Makar Sankranti 23 days after said Solstice makes a mockery of Bhisma’s choice and so many other myths incorporating this sacred passage. It is the new cosmology of our present times that conclusively proves the undeniable unity of the two – Solstice and Zodiac, especially Makar of the twelve signs/months, because as known to astrologers from time immemorial this has universally been considered India’s astrological ruler.
Thus Ramlala not only drew attention to the overlooked December Solstice by his 1949 appearance, but through the Capricorn/Makar rulership he disclosed India’s involvement based on the ancient lore wherein the two are inseparable. The full relevance and impact of his appearance is entirely lost with a Makar Sankranti 23 days after the Solstice. Given this situation, it is not at all surprising that no astrologer, pundit, saint or yogi of the post-Vedic schools has grasped the all-inclusiveness of his 1949 appearance and just why it has occupied centrestage in the affairs of the nation since then, because ‘…the soul of knowledge…’ was lost.
The new cosmology is the new science of Time, updating the cosmology of all that we find in the Vedas and the Puranas. Thus, in this age of rationalism a measure of factuality is demanded of the discipline. However, it is a new ‘science’ that Ramlala unveils; as such the old or even the contemporary science we know with its own incompleteness and limitations cannot be applied to what Ramlala has revealed. His appearance on the Solstice makes it abundantly clear that he stands as confirmation of the accuracy of the new cosmology, as well as of the unity of Solstice and Zodiac. This is accomplished through the sign’s own ancient hieroglyph . In this magical notation, whose origin is lost in the mists of time, we find the history of contemporary India with roots in the distant Vedic Age, brought into the present by the very contours of the glyph itself which astonishingly describes minutely the ‘measure’ of Akhand Bharat – or pre-Independence India, whole and integral.
What would contemporary science make of this synchronisation dating from pre-history, millennia before the advanced cartogrophy and satellite imaging wonders of our times? How could the ancients have known what shape India’s geographical contours would be thousands of years into the future at the time of the British Raj? But the new cosmology does use this ancient hieroglyph to determine longitude and latitude coordinates of Bharat Mata based on its contemporary updated application. Therefore, when its inseparability with the shortest day is grasped, a point in zodiacal time that Ramlala established in 1949, his appearance in the mosque takes on an even more important meaning for India and the Hindu Samaj. It stands as the bowstring of Vedic civilisation in the 21st Century. This was given a conclusive imprimatur by the Ayodhya Verdict of 30 September when the sacred Janmabhoomi was divided into three parts, since the ancient hierolgyph itself is threefold, as the symbol-map confirms which includes the three energy expressions of the Mother, as below.
In this light we cannot fail to see the 1947 partition of Bharat Mata in three parts as connected in a direct line to Ramlala’s appearance two years later in the mosque. (See The Partition of India, Aeon Centre of Cosmology, 2009, an analysis based on the above ancient Capricorn/Makar hieroglyph.) Partition, similar to the Ayodhya conundrum, remains unresolved. Sri Aurobindo’s words at the time of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination refer to this incompletion:
‘…The light which led us to freedom, though not yet to unity, still burns and will burn till it conquers. I believe firmly that a great and united future is the destiny of this nation and its people. The Power that brought us through so much struggle and suffering to freedom, will achieve also, through whatever strife and trouble, the aim which so poignantly occupied the thoughts of the fallen leader at the time of his tragic ending; as it brought us freedom, it will bring us unity. A free and united India will be there and the Mother will gather around her her sons and wield them into a single national strength in the life of a great and united people.’ (5.2.1948)
Is it time for his prophetic vision to come to fruition? Is this the deeper significance of the entire Ayodhya controversy insofar as the same communal divide appears to affect both circumstances? Or, as Ramlala’s Solstice appearance seems to indicate, is a resolution to be sought elsewhere for this matter of such great importance, in an as yet undetected area not apparent to the uninitiated? This recondite dimension would require implementation of the key Ramlala offers: the correct ayanamsha and the union of Makar Sankranti with the Solstice of his appearance for the entire Hindu Samaj – a unity affecting 80% of the population.
Surely for fruition to occur, Sri Aurobindo’s words point to an experience that is able to unite energies now disunited by cutting through obstacles that currently seem insurmountable. Through the time-tested Vedic method of correspondences and equivalences, in which Ramlala is central, this desired unity is accomplished in spite of our resistances, differences and prejudices. Mahakal controls the play of circumstances and has fashioned a method to heal divides that would otherwise remain resistant to the experience of unity.
Ramlala’s message is unmistakable. It has been brought to the fore in the Ayodhya Verdict of the honourable judges – one more step forward in the process of integration that the Avatar oversees.