I, Devanampiya Piyadasi is writing this.

Truth is there. Truth is the river. It flows. And we as a species are a part of this flow. Our interpretations of it creates a parallel world of truths and that is what we all perceive and live by. The absolute truth is like the idea of that all encompassing Bhrahman, unquantifiable, undefinable, inimitable. Throughout centuries, with the evolution of human consciousness, the way in which we have lived has drastically changed, evolved and found new meanings. Each generation has interpreted their understanding of this truth in their own way. And they have left remnants of their understanding and decoding through different ways.

From the early men who roamed around not knowing of what shame meant, who discovered meaning and reflections of life through basic elements around them, to a generation which is developing artificial intelligence that is contesting to be some day on par with human cognitive sophistication, we have come a long way. And each event that has occurred so far, has rippled and in one way or another has had a major impact on the other, leading to the society that we live in right now. Different civilisations have taken different takes on truth and they have chosen their own means to memorialise their memories. Some have used art, some stories, some myth, some coercive methods, some innovations, some through the passage of mouth, and a lot has been passed on unconsciously through genetics and a collective social conditioning. Truth had, has been and will be interpreted and understood through different mediums, using different scales, based on the temperament that the individual and the society that he lives in encompasses.

I, Devanampiya Piyadasi is writing this.

The air was so silent that a pin piercing through it could have been audible. It was haunting silence. Time seemed stretched. They now began to row. The ripples under the gamboge scarlet streaks echoed the chores of the atmosphere. Death was a straining reality. And after all these years of violence and screams of horror, my nostrils had gotten used to the stench of blood. I knew I had taken a liking for it. But that day, I had realised how much I had gotten used to it. It was an obsession.

In the back of my head, I always knew that I was going against the law of Prakriti. How could I have the right over someone else’s life? My responsibilities and fate made me do many things, but I wasn’t ignorant. I knew what I was doing all along. It was a struggle, a struggle I revelled in. In this game of power and might and my hunger for more, I was blinded to many fundamental questions that I had never ventured answers to. I was fighting wars, taking lives, claiming lands, but what was I really trying to do?
I know my grandfather under the tutelage of Acharya Chanakya had taken great trouble in establishing this dynasty. Although, me and father weren’t on very good terms, he was an exceptional monarch as well. I have learnt a great deal from him. But, my ascension to the throne was initiated by a cold blooded murder. I was ruthless. I did not quite understand why I had to be king, but I knew that I wanted to.

For years, I lived this way. Before I knew, a lot of time had passed by. Then I was introduced to the philosophy of the Sakyamuni. That is also when I met Devi. Ever since, life has been different. I have found more meaning. I’ve finally faced the questions that I had always shunned away from.

I’m a Chakravartin, and with my title comes great responsibilities and power. I was exploiting it to bring upon pain and destroy lifestyles. Now, I only wish to propagate the mantra of Dhamma. I understand the value of life.
But even now, at times, I can still hear those faint whispers in the wind before it turned completely silent.

Acharya Chanakya’s wisdom and expertise in Arthashastra had given me a good foundation in the art of statecraft. His principles and instructions are well formulated and precise. I do have my disagreements , but without a doubt he is an inspiration.

I am concerned about the wellbeing of my subjects and the tatva of Dhamma is my way to facilitate this. I no longer use coercive measures. I try my best to keep violence in all forms to a minimum in my kingdom. But, the world is not an ideal place. I still fail. I’m aware of this fact. It saddens me at times, but I don’t say it out loud. But what I’ve learnt is at the end of the day, I can do all that I can do, the rest is left to create itself in its own way.

Buddha, the choices that he had to make, the choices he made, the impact that his choices had on the society that he lived in, his entire life’s journey has helped me reflect on my own. Through an understanding of his life, I have been able to relook into the dimensions of my past. It became easier for me to make peace with myself. He, like me, was also born into a royal family. But unlike me, he had realised the need to ask the right questions much earlier in life. I’m glad I was introduced to him.

The entire truth that surrounds around war has had the most impact on my life.
I still remember this one war in particular. It is the one that has had the most impact on me. I wanted to conquer the land of Kalinga. None of my ancestors had done it before. That had only irked my passion further. But after that fatal event, many things changed in me. The entire battlefield was red and I was feeling the coarse stench of it all piercing through my skin. I remember walking around the cities that we had just burned down. Scattered corpses floating on waters and left in the open to rot. I was feeling their pain and it was nothing like anything that I had felt before.

It is true when they say that a man learns from his experiences like nothing else. It makes him who he is and all of the interactions that he has since helps him shape his life from that point. One can attempt and evolve from there. But one can never escape the reality of its occurrence. I have seen the fear in the eyes of those I raced towards with a raised sword. I have seen what people are capable of doing when they are at their most vulnerable. I have witnessed the crying and wailing of widows, children, old people as everything that they held close to them was shattered right before their eyes. I have seen, known and been the reason for pain. It is not worth it.
The value of sorrow and the meaning of desire, and the approaches towards life one can choose to take after knowing the two and their umpteen manifestations makes one mores sensitive toward life, all forms of life. That is why I chose the path of the dharmachakra.

I have strong faith in the path set forth by Gautama. And it is my wish that every single person that my periphery of impact can reach yields of the benefit that this humane philosophy has to offer. In order to facilitate this, I have made several changes in my administration. I still abide with the etiquettes in my court and administration that was laid forward by Acharya Chanakya. But I have made several changes as well. It is not a perfect system. I still have to face a lot of opposition and criticism. My principles are contested by many. Yet, I stand firmly with my belief in this ideology. Sometimes in the night, I find myself worrying that this decision of mine would someday spiral and completely crumble the pillars of my family name.

Are humans inherently violent? Is anyone capable of evil? If I have committed an evil, can I still be good? Will I ever be able to completely forgive myself? So many linked tangents are drawn, they just flood my mind.

But then I’m a king. I have duties and rights to uphold. I appointed the Dharmamahamatras to travel across the geographies, to share on their way the life and message of the Sakyamuni, to leave behind engraved words and symbols that would familiarise the common folk with the profound tatva of Dhamma. My son, Mahindra and daughter, Sangamitra have also taken on their journeys for the same cause. I’m proud of them. I have also made sure that the vernacular of the region is used to engrave the words because it is not about how and why I’m saying it that is important, but what I’m trying to say. I want my words to reach people who belong under different skies, standing on different soil to connect with what I have to say. I have also commissioned the construction of several stupas, chaityas and viharas. These energy centres not just transmit knowledge and wisdom, but also harnesses this unexplainable bundle of energy. I have many other structures that are to be constructed in mind as well.
My kingdom also has many people who follow and believe in different faiths, the Bhrahmanas, the Jaina and the Ajivikas. I have my respect for them. I’m tolerant to each of them because if I can have an ideology, so can they. As long as it is in accordance with righteousness, it may prevail under my reign.

 

I am not a perfect human being. Nirvana is a goal that is far away. There are many things that I have to do yet. But I’m aiming towards it. I am working towards it. And as I go along, I will keep doing more. I prioritise and uplift the principle of Dhamma above all, but this is not with an intention of promising a divine entry to heaven. My logic intends to influence the conduct of categories of people, in relation to each other. Especially where I find inequality. And this is possible through the three fold path put forth by Gauthama. My subjects are like my children and I will make sure as long as I live, I will attempt at making the lives of those whose lives are impacted by me turn more lucid and meaningful. I hope to add to the history of Bharatavarsha in ways that I can and someday when someone looks back at it with retrospect, they find some meaning in it.

Reflections

Sun and the waves

Reflections

Like the rivers we are

The birth of Maya

She was no ordinary. She had legends buried beneath her womb..

The pace

Like the ink blots, we are…dripping through a source, reaching a source and leaving an impression.

The sea of life

When we capture a moment and frame it, we do a lot more than just encapsulate the present. Through it, its history and prospective can also be scaled.

Message in a bottle

Listen, listen close to the ancient folklores witnessed by the stars beside the cosmos.

For the love of travelling, life and stories

Dedicated to the dreamers, the wanderers, the storytellers, the doers and everyone else who is witnessing the magic of life.

“Talk to me of life”

“Movement is in our instinct. The colliding mass that entered into the earth’s orbit billions of years ago brought with it traces of life. The ocean nourished it. The journey continued. Years of evolution, life surfaced on water, then out, and now it circles the very orbit it once entered from.
The journey continues.”

“With little trembling feet, one tiny step at a time, after who knows how many trial and errors, we finally learn to walk. There was no giving up. It was in our instinct. Listen, before you give up, why don’t you try it one last time? There’s nothing at stake either…”

“I wrote another message on the water today. It had been a while. I know not when it will reach you. I know not of the curves and crawls and jumps that it will go through. But this I know; it will reach you. Someday, I promise”

Seasons passed. It had finally reached. And somewhere in the distant sky, the north star smiled looking at the moon and the twilight.

“Before you see the world off the edge there is that sudden rush of tremble that runs through your body; good tremble. You feel uneasy and restless. The hunger for the glimpse, for that one feeling strengthens with every passing heavy breath. You know it’s right there, just a few steps ahead of you. In a few moments it’ll be inked in the pages of your life. This feeling is one of my favorites.

Ah! Just before you see the world off the edge…”

“.. because we are all stardust.
Fresh; marked; both at once.
We shone in the sky ages ago.
And here we are now.
Your journey like mine has been a long one.
Most of it unknown.
Now we meet.
On this juncture. This moment.
Me writing this
And you reading this..
It’s a pleasure knowing you.
Where did you say you were heading from here?

I keep forgetting…”

The old man paused to look around, stiffening his fist holding the old parchment.

 

“Talk to me of brotherhood”

“Everything around exists because of every other thing around it. Nothing is exclusive and alien within the entirety of this creation.

Abiding by these principles, brotherhood is one of those pure feelings that holds everything together. Its got to do something with another unexplainable bond, a strong incomprehensible one.

Like the wind, when it’s around you, you will know it. You won’t need scales or words to measure it.

It is those rare sunrises and sunsets that we witness; incomparable; unfathomable; unique; most importantly, true.”

The sun was rising in the horizon.

“The culture that has nurtured us all these years has taught me many valuable lessons unconsciously as well. Our way of life was a ritualistic approach towards every figment of existence around us, but the innate purpose was simple. It became a part of our day to day life. Our customs being a complex vocabulary, every word had a interconnected meaning. However, they were all thought of mindfully.

Coexistence is in our roots. That is the sole reason for all this life thriving around you.

Look around, tell me, what do you see?”

“I see far as the eye can see and then pause. Shutting the world around I focus harder.

‘It’s not very hard flying over the clouds’,

those words were familar. I had learnt this when I saw that gigantic cloud in the sky that afternoon, many years down the lane. It was an innocent fledgling’s first few encounters with the world. Who cares if it was a dreamy memory or a memory that’s now a dream…all that matters is I believe I can fly”,

he said and took off towards an endless horizon.

“A broken poetry
Came down from the sky,
Fell down on the soil.
A Broken poetry,
Crawled down its roots,
Climbed out its shoots… And lo,
There it stands now,
even years later.
Except that it now knows,
It was always complete;
in its own ways..
That broken poetry..”

“The realm of dreams is that way.
It isn’t biased or predictable.
Sometimes from this scramble, comes out a story.
Time exists here, but the understanding of it is very different.
In one such episode, I met that friend again.
A friend who is now back with the five elements he came from.
Of the many twenty five odd minutes talks that we have had on a daily basis, the topic of death was certainly one of them. Our understanding of it was different back then.
We were kids.
I don’t remember where the dialogue started from this time.
But we had the same conversation again… The realm of dreams is that way.
It isn’t biased or predictable.
It is a vague reflection; abstract, unclear, at times even unsettling but some you will remember forever”

“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”

 -Alan Watts

@thesobermaniac

(Excerpts are part of a series that I am currently working on)