June 23, 2006

Like Warp and Woof

Then Gârgî Vâkaknavî asked.
'Yâgñavalkya,' she said, 'everything here is woven, like warp and woof, in water. What then is that in which water is woven, like warp and woof?'
'In air, O Gârgî,' he replied.
'In what then is air woven, like warp and woof?'
'In the worlds of the sky, O Gârgî, 'he replied.
'In what then are the worlds of the sky woven, like warp and woof?'
'In the worlds of the Gandharvas, O Gârgî,' he replied.
'In what then are the worlds of the Gandharvas woven, like warp and woof?'
'In the worlds of Âditya (sun), O Gârgî,' he replied.
'In what then are the worlds of Âditya (sun) woven, like warp and woof?'
'In the worlds of Kandra (moon), O Gârgî,' he replied.
'In what then are the worlds of Kandra (moon) woven, like warp and woof?'
, In the worlds of the Nakshatras (stars), O Gârgî,' he replied.
'In what then are the worlds of the Nakshatras (stars) woven, like warp and woof?'
'In the worlds of the Devas (gods), O Gârgî,' he replied.
'In what then are the worlds of the Devas (gods) woven, like warp and woof?'
'In the worlds of Indra, O Gârgî,' he replied.
'In what then are the worlds of Indra woven, like warp and woof?'
'In the worlds of Pragâpati, O Gârgî,' he replied.
'In what then are the worlds of Pragâpati woven, like warp and woof?'
'In the worlds of Brahman, O Gârgî,' he replied.
'In what then are the worlds of Brahman woven, like warp and woof?'
Yâgñavalkya said: 'O Gârgî, Do not ask too much, lest thy head should fall off. Thou askest too much about a deity about which we are not to ask too much . Do not ask too much, O Gârgî.' After that Gargî Vâkaknavî held her peace.

Although this particular extract is from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, this post was prompted by my reading a book called "Code Name God" by Dr.Mani Bhaumik the co-inventer of the Excimer LASER used in LASIK surgery. That book has spawned a revival in my love for Physics and Maths and neglected tomes by Feynman, Lippmann, Dirac, and Penrose have been dusted out of the closets. Symmetries is what i find particularly fascinating. I've been reading about how at particular higher temperatures and pressures ( and therefore even extreme physical proximities will suffice) fundamental forces like electromagnetism/ nuclear/ weak/ gravity come together to form one force . The interesting thing that struck me, and I haven't seen much written on these lines is whether at lower temperatures and pressures any of the fundamental forces (especially the Nuclear Interaction) may split again!!....
I hate Yajnavalkya...but realise he is right...I hold my peace for the nonce..till I may better appreciate reality and myquestions do not make my head fall off..