For he would have to suffer the mortification of seeing the ancient Vedic Indians turn on each other in a catastrophic civil war. A minor dispute within a dysfunctional royal family escalated into a mighty conflict which sucked in all the great powers of the day. The calamitous blood-letting in that war destroyed not just all the powerful empires of the time but also the way of life of the ancient Vedic Indians. What was left behind was utter devastation. From these ruins, as is its wont, civilisation did rise again. But this new culture had lost too much. They knew only snippets of the greatness of their ancestors. The descendants were, in many ways, unworthy.
These descendants beheld gods in what were great men of the past, for they believed that such great men couldn’t possibly have existed in reality. These descendants saw magic in what was brilliant science, for their limited intellect could not understand that great knowledge. These descendants retained only rituals of what were deep philosophies, for it took courage and confidence to ask questions. These descendants divined myths in what was really history, for true memories were forgotten in chaos as vast arrays of
daivi astras
used in the Great War ravaged the land. That war destroyed almost everything. It took centuries for India to regain its old cultural vigour and intellectual depth.
When the recreated history of that Great War was written, built through fragments of surviving information, the treatise was initially called
Jaya
or
victory
. But even the unsophisticated minds of the descendants soon realised that this name was inappropriate. That dreadful war did not bring victory to anyone. Every single person who fought that war, lost the war. In fact, the whole of India lost.
Today, we know the inherited tale of that war as one of the world’s greatest epics:
The
Mahabharat
. If the Lord Neelkanth allows it, the unadulterated story of that terrible war shall also be told one day.
Om Namah Shivaiy.
The universe bows to Lord Shiva. I bow to Lord Shiva.
| Agni: | God of fire |
| Agnipariksha: | A trial by fire |
| Angaharas: | Movement of limbs or steps in a dance |
| Ankush: | Hook-shaped prods used to control elephants |
| Annapurna: | The Hindu Goddess of food, nourishment and plenty; also believed to be a form of Goddess Parvati |
| Anshan: | Hunger. It also denotes voluntary fasting. In this book, Anshan is the capital of the kingdom of Elam |
| Apsara: | Celestial maidens from the court of the Lord of the Heavens – Indra; akin to Zeus/Jupiter |
| Arya: | Sir |
| Ashwamedh yagna: | Literally, the Horse sacrifice. In ancient times, an ambitious ruler, who wished to expand his territories and display his military prowess, would release a sacrificial horse to roam freely through the length and breadth of any kingdom in India. If any king stopped/captured the horse, the ruler’s army would declare war against the challenger, defeat the king and annexe that territory. If an opposing king did not stop the horse, the kingdom would become a vassal of the former |
| Asura: | Demon |
| Ayuralay: | Hospital |
| Ayurvedic: | Derived from Ayurved, an ancient Indian form of medicine |
| Ayushman bhav: | May you have a long life |
| Baba: | Father |
| Bhang: | Traditional intoxicant in India; milk mixed with marijuana |
| Bhiksha: | Alms or donations |
| Bhojan graham: | Dining room |
| Brahmacharya: | The vow of celibacy |
| Brahmastra: | Literally, the weapon of Brahma; spoken of in ancient Hindu scriptures. Many experts claim that the description of a Brahmastra and its effects are eerily similar to that of a nuclear weapon. I have assumed this to be true in the context of my book |
| Branga: | The ancient name for modern West Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh. Term coined from the conjoint of the two rivers of this land: Bra hmaputra and Ga nga |
| Brangaridai: | Literally, the heart of Branga. The capital of the kingdom of Branga |
| Chandravanshi: | Descendants of the moon |
| Chaturanga: | Ancient Indian game that evolved into the modern game of chess |
| Chillum: | Clay pipe, usually used to smoke marijuana |
| Choti: | Braid |
| Construction of Devagiri royal court platform: | The description in the book of the court platform is a possible explanation for the mysterious multiple-column buildings made of baked brick discovered at Indus Valley sites, usually next to the public baths, which many historians suppose could have been granaries |
| Dada: | Elder brother |
| Daivi Astra: | Daivi = Divine; Astra = Weapon. A term used in ancient Hindu epics to describe weapons of mass destruction |
| Dandakaranya: | Aranya = forest. Dandak is the ancient name for modern Maharashtra and parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. So Dandakaranya means the forests of Dandak |
| Deva: | God |
| Dharma: | Dharma literally translates as religion. But in traditional Hindu belief, it means far more than that. The word encompasses holy, right knowledge, right living, tradition, natural order of the universe and duty. Essentially, dharma refers to everything that can be classified as ‘good’ in the universe. It is the Law of Life |
| Dharmayudh: | The holy war |
| Dhobi: | Washerman |
| Divyadrishti: | Divine sight |
| Dumru: | A small, hand-held, hour-glass shaped percussion instrument |
| Egyptian women: | Historians believe that ancient Egyptians, just like ancient Indians, treated their women with respect. The anti-women attitude attributed to Swuth and the assassins of Aten is fictional. Having said that, like most societies, ancient Egyptians also had some patriarchal segments in their society, which did, regrettably, have an appalling attitude towards women |
| Fire song: | This is a song sung by Guna warriors to agni (fire). They also had songs dedicated to the other elements viz: bhūmi (earth), jal (water), pavan (air or wind), vyom or shunya or akash (ether or void or sky) |
| Fravashi: | Is the guardian spirit mentioned in the Avesta , the sacred writings of the Zoroastrian religion. Although, according to most researchers, there is no physical description of Fravashi, the language grammar of Avesta clearly shows it to be feminine. Considering the importance given to fire in ancient Hinduism and Zoroastrianism, I’ve assumed the Fravashi to be represented by fire. This is, of course, a fictional representation |
| Ganesh-Kartik relationship: | In northern India, traditional myths hold Lord Kartik as older than Lord Ganesh; in large parts of southern India, Lord Ganesh is considered elder. In my story, Ganesh is older than Kartik. What is the truth? Only Lord Shiva knows |
| Guruji: | Teacher; ji is a term of respect, added to a name or title |
| Gurukul: | The family of the guru or the family of the teacher. In ancient times, also used to denote a school |
| Har Har Mahadev: | This is the rallying cry of Lord Shiva’s devotees. I believe it means ‘All of us are Mahadevs’ |
| Hariyupa: | This city is currently known as Harappa. A note on the cities of Meluha (or as we call it in modern times, the Indus Valley Civilisation): historians and researchers have consistently marvelled at the fixation that the Indus Valley Civilisation seemed to have for water and hygiene. In fact historian M Jansen used the term ‘wasserluxus’ (obsession with water) to describe their magnificent obsession with the physical and symbolic aspects of water, a term Gregory Possehl builds upon in his brilliant book, The Indus Civilisation — A Contemporary Perspective . In the book, The Immortals of Meluha , the obsession with water is shown to arise due to its cleansing of the toxic sweat and urine triggered by consuming the Somras. Historians have also marvelled at the level of sophisticated standardisation in the Indus Valley Civilisation. One of the examples of this was the bricks, which across the entire civilisation, had similar proportions and specifications |
| Holi: | Festival of colours |
| Howdah: | Carriage placed on top of elephants |
| Indra: | The God of the sky; believed to be the King of the gods |
| Jai Guru Vishwamitra: | Glory to the teacher Vishwamitra |
| Jai Guru Vashishta: | Glory to the teacher Vashishta. Only two Suryavanshis were privileged to have had both Guru Vashishta and Guru Vishwamitra as their gurus (teachers) viz. Lord Ram and Lord Lakshman |
| Jai Shri Brahma: | Glory to Lord Brahma |
| Jai Shri Ram: | Glory to Lord Ram |
| Janau: | A ceremonial thread tied from the shoulders, across the torso. It was one of the symbols of knowledge in ancient India. Later, it was corrupted to become a caste symbol to denote those born as Brahmins and not those who’d acquired knowledge through their effort and deeds |
| Ji: | A suffix added to a name or title as a form of respect |
| Kajal: | Kohl, or eye liner |
| Karma: | Duty and deeds; also the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous births, considered to limit the options of future action and affect future fate |
| Karmasaathi: | Fellow traveller in karma or duty |
| Kashi: | The ancient name for modern Varanasi. Kashi means the city where the supreme light shines |
| Kathak: | A form of traditional Indian dance |
| Kriyas: | Actions |
| Kulhads: | Mud cups |
| Maa: | Mother |
| Mandal: | Literally, Sanskrit word meaning circle. Mandals are created, as per ancient Hindu and Buddhist tradition, to make a sacred space and help focus the attention of the devotees |
| Mahadev: | Maha = Great and Dev = God. Hence Mahadev means the greatest God or the God of Gods. I believe that there were many ‘destroyers of evil’ but a few of them were so great that they would be called ‘Mahadev’. Amongst the Mahadevs were Lord Rudra and Lord Shiva |
| Mahasagar: | Great Ocean; Hind Mahasagar is the Indian Ocean |
| Mahendra: | Ancient Indian name meaning conqueror of the world |
| Mahout: | Human handler of elephants |
| Manu’s story: | Those interested in finding out more about the historical validity of the South India origin theory of Manu should read Graham Hancock’s pathbreaking book, Underworld |
| Mausi: | Mother’s sister, literally translating as maa si i.e. like a mother |
| Maya: | Illusion |
| Mehragarh: | Modern archaeologists believe that Mehragarh is the progenitor of the Indus Valley civilisation. Mehragarh represents a sudden burst of civilised living, without any archaeological evidence of a gradual progression to that level. Hence, those who established Mehragarh were either immigrants or refugees |
| Meluha: | The land of pure life. This is the land ruled by the Suryavanshi kings. It is the area that we in the modern world call the Indus Valley Civilisation |
| Meluhans: | People of Meluha |
| Mudras: | Gestures |
| Naga: | Serpent people |
| Namaste: | An ancient Indian greeting. Spoken along with the hand gesture of open palms of both the hands joined together. Conjoin of three words. ‘Namah’, ‘Astu’ and ‘Te’ – meaning ‘I bow to the godhood in you’. Namaste can be used as both ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ |
| Nirvana: | Enlightenment; freedom from the cycle of rebirths |
| Oxygen/anti-oxidants theory: | Modern research backs this theory. Interested readers can read the article ‘Radical Proposal’ by Kathryn Brown in the Scientific American |
| Panchavati: | The land of the five banyan trees |
| Pandit: | Priest |
| Paradaeza: | An ancient Persian word which means ‘the walled place of harmony’; the root of the English word, Paradise |
| Pariha: | The land of fairies. Refers to modern Persia/Iran. I believe Lord Rudra came from this land |
| Parmatma: | The ultimate soul or the sum of all souls |
| Parsee immigration to India: | Groups of Zoroastrian refugees immigrated to India perhaps between the 8 th and 10 th century AD to escape religious persecution. They landed in Gujarat, and the local ruler Jadav Rana gave them refuge |
| Pashupatiastra: | Literally, the weapon of the Lord of the Animals. The descriptions of the effects of the Pashupatiastra in Hindu scriptures are quite similar to that of nuclear weapons. In modern nuclear technology, weapons have been built primarily on the concept of nuclear fission. While fusion-boosted fission weapons have been invented, pure fusion weapons have not been invented as yet. Scientists hold that a pure nuclear fusion weapon has far less radioactive fallout and can theoretically serve as a more targeted weapon. In this trilogy, I have assumed that the Pashupatiastra is one such weapon |
| Patallok: | The underworld |
| Pawan Dev: | God of the winds |
| Pitratulya: | The term for a man who is ‘like a father’ |
| Prahar: | Four slots of six hours each into which the day was divided by the ancient Hindus; the first prahar began at twelve midnight |
| Prithvi: | Earth |
| Prakrati: | Nature |
| Puja: | Prayer |
| Puja thali: | Prayer tray |
| Raj dharma: | Literally, the royal duties of a king or ruler. In ancient India, this term embodied pious and just administration of the king’s royal duties |
| Raj guru: | Royal sage |
| Rajat: | Silver |
| Rajya Sabha: | The royal council |
| Rakshabandhan: | Raksha = Protection; Bandhan = thread/tie. An ancient Indian festival in which a sister ties a sacred thread on her brother’s wrist, seeking his protection |
| Ram Chandra: | Ram = Face; Chandra = Moon. Hence Ram Chandra is ‘the face of the moon’ |