Aditya Hrdayam Again Part 31 - Mitra-Varuna Bonding

Background 

While the true knowledge of the Vedic scriptures seem to have been lost, the core or essence of it were well understood in the past, compared to the present. In particular the essence of the roles of various forces or devas and how they interplay were well understood and known.

 
Over a period even that understanding of that essence got lost. Though I do not want to put a date around these, with rise of Jainism and Buddhism, which came up based on the research of the ‘Self’, the true understanding of the devas were fully lost. Probably, the vedic dharma became more ‘religionized’ than ever before.

For eg., the Vedic dharma has always shown ‘BrAhman’ which means expansion or evolution as the goal and vehicle of the ‘Self’. This meant we need to keep evolving in our knowledge. But Jainism, Buddhism brought in ‘Nirvana’ as the Goal of life. Sankara brought in ‘Moksha’ as an equivalent.

These influences, though they changed the characteristics of the dharma, did not change the understanding of the essence of the vedic texts. 

Varuna hosts the Mitra

An example is the understanding of Mitra-varuna.

 
Mitra-Varuna indicates a 'bonding'. Mitra and Varuna are two different Adityas. But they are said to be bonded together as they manifest together always.

In my understanding of vedic texts, I interpret Varuna as the non-vanishing condensates in Ocean of QCD vacuum. Mitra as the sea quarks pair-production (quark-antiquark) that keeps arising and annihilating in this QCD ocean of vacuum. 

The Satapatha Brahmana of Shukla Yajur veda tried to understand the bonding between Mitra-Varuna by putting up an anology for the bonding.

Satapatha Brahamana says Mitra is the Brahmana, Varuna is the ksatriya. Mitra is the Intelligence. Varuna is the accomplishing will.  Varuna hosts the Mitra, as it is powered by Mitra. Mitra comes into Varuna as varuNA can't do anything without Mitra'. varuNa is perceived through Mitra.

 

Without the pair-production of sea-quarks (mitra)  there is no activity from the non-vanishing condensates of  the QCD ocean of vacuum (varuNa). The pair-production of sea-quarks (mitra) is the 'intelligence' of the non-vanishing condensates of QCD ocean of vacuum (varuNa).

The Mitra-Varuna Bonding 

Any bonding between two entities can be said to be a bonding of Mitra-Varuna if one of them  surrounds the other and mask it completely such that we can’t distinguish between the two.

 
Intelligence and Will cannot be distinguished explicitly. Will is perceived by the Intelligence.

 

In the Chemical world, electro-plating is an example of Mitra-Varuna bonding. A metal gets coated on another object. The coated object is totally hidden and is not seen. What is seen the metal that is getting coated. Mitra is what is seen.  varuNa lies underneath. 

Electroplating in ancient times

Electroplating by definition requires electricity. But there are also methods by which electroplating is done without electricity.

Electroplating is the process of plating one metal onto another by hydrolysis, most commonly for decorative purposes or to prevent corrosion of a metal. There are also specific types of electroplating such as copper plating, silver plating, and chromium plating. Electroplating allows manufacturers to use inexpensive metals such as steel or zinc for the majority of the product and then apply different metals on the outside to account for appearance, protection, and other properties desired for the product. The surface can be a metal.

The process of electroplating uses an electrolytic cell, which consists of putting a negative charge on the metal and dipping it into a solution that contains metal salt (electrolytes) which contain positively charged metal ions. Then, due to the negative and positive charges, the two metals are attracted to each other. The positive and negative charges are created using a battery.

But then there are also processes which almost do the same without electricity, but which takes a longer time to happen.

The link here describes such a process. This uses copper sulphate and vinegar.
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=2834

Another inexpensive way to Copper-plate without electricity is here. This uses Copper sulphate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoCyRQsDNco

Sloka of Agasthya saMhita

An almost similar process is described in this sloka.

sansthapya Mrinmaya Patre Tamrapatram Su saMkritam

chhadye chhikhi griven Chardrarbhih Kashthpamsubhih

dastaloshto Nidhatavyah Parda chhaditaSTah

saMyogajjayte Tejo Mitravarunsangyitam

aanen Jal bhagosti Prano Daneshu Vayushu

evam Shatanam Kumbhanam sanyog karya kritsmrita

Agastya Samhita - Equivalent of Baghdad Battery..? 

I happened to see this sloka on internet blogs. This sloka is said to have been retrieved from texts that were supposed to have been documented in 1350. They were known as Agastya Samhita (collections of Agastya).

Read more about it in Sanskriti Magazine. ]http://www.sanskritimagazine.com/vedic_science/indian-chemist-discovers-secrets-agastya-samhita-1927/

More about how it is interpreted currently
http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.in/2012/07/volta-galvani-electrical-battery-and.html

But when I read the sloka I did not get any inkling of it being an equivalent of Baghdad Battery or any electrolyte cell. I understand it as an copper electroplating process without electricity as described in the Home Model Video.

Electroplating copper without electricity

SaMsthapya (By establishing) Mrinmaya patre (A Clay Vessel) Tamrapatram (Vessel of Copper) Su saMkritam (arranged well)

Place or Establish a Copper Vessel in a Clay Vessel. Arrange it well.

Chhadye (Covered) zikhi griven (Neck of tuft headed, Neck of peacock, Bluish green Copper sulphate) Char (flowing down) drarbhih (hold from) Kashtha (wood) apamsubhih (fluid of the wood).

Zikhi griven refers to neck of the peacock, which is bluish in color. Naturally occurring copper sulphate is in the color of the neck of the peacock.

kaSTha - wood, KaSTh apam - fluid of the wood. Fluid of the wood is wood vinegar. Wood Vinegar is got from burning of the wood and liquefying the smoke of the charcoal. Wood Vinegar primarily contains Acetic acid apart from other chemicals.

Jhardrar roughly means held from flowing away. I translate it as ‘dissolved’. The copper sulphate is held from flowing away in the Kasthapam, which is the wood-vinegar. It is essentially dissolved in the wood vinegar. KaSThapam is wood vinegar.

Thus it means
“Cover the vessel with Copper sulphate that is dissolved in the wood vinegar”

Dasta (zinc or Clay) loshto (clods or lumps) Nidhatavyah (to be put down or deposited) Parada (to give up in the barter or exchange ) chhadita (cover/ disguise/conceal) STa (Copper)

The deposited zinc clods or lumps exchange their cover for Copper. Copper is referred to as dviSTa or dvyaSTa or tapaneSTa.

 

SaMyoga (conjunction/combination/direct material contact) jjayte (is born) Tejo (Splendor of) Mitravaruna sangyitam (put togehter)

This direct material contact or conjunction is born with the splendor of putting together of Mitravaruna.

 

Anena (By this) Jal bhagosti (the fluid is bestowed with) Prano Daneshu Vayushu (Prana rich Gas)

By this the water is bestowed with Prana rich gas

Evam (thus) Shatanam (thinning down or belling ) Kumbhanam (of the vessel) saMyog (combining) karya krit (work is done) smrita (is mentioned/defined).

Thus thinning down the copper vessel, doing conjunction work (electroplating) is mentioned/defined.

Summing it up

“Place Copper vessel inside a clay vessel. Fill it up with Copper sulphate dissolved in wood vinegar. Place lumps of Zinc in it. The zinc is covered with copper. The bonding of Mitra-varuna is born. (meaning permanent, cannot be separated). The water gets bestowed with Prana rich gas. The Copper vessel thins down”

Important points to note here are the following:

The electroplating described in the above sloka is exactly same as in the videos using copper sulphate and vinegar without electricity.

I assume this kind of process should have been used in the past for long times and held as family secrets, passed on generation after generation.

The copper coating achieved on the zinc clods is said to be the bonding of Mitra-varuna, which is not separable. This is the bonding electroplating achieves.

Though the societies visualized Mitra and Varuna as some ‘devas’, that their bonding in inseparable was carried through always.

The most important point here is about the ‘Prana rich gas’. Indeed the copper sulphate dissolved wood-vinegar (acetic acid) will become rich with Oxygen in this process. How come people knew that the gas evolved is rich in Prana..? 

Actually the description of Prana gave me a doubt if it was written much much later during British times. But the talk of Mitra-Varuna bonding makes me think that it was indeed written in much ancient times. That also means sages of those times had an inkling that the gas that evolved in that process is the ‘Prana’.

Differences in the translations

These are the differences in my understanding and the translation offered

1.  The first line "SaMsthapya (By establishing) Mrinmaya patre (A Clay Vessel) Tamrapatram (Vessel of Copper) Su saMkritam (arranged well)" - is translated in both in the same way. There is not much difference if we take it as patra or pAtra - in both cases a copper metal is placed (inform of a plate or pot) inside clay vessel.

2.   The second line Chhadye (Covered) zikhi griven (Neck of tuft headed, Neck of peacock, Bluish green Copper sulphate) Char (flowing down) drarbhih (hold from) Kashtha (wood) apamsubhih (fluid of the wood) is translated differently.

I translate it as “Cover the vessel with Copper sulphate that is dissolved/held in the wood vinegar” while the other translation is It is covered first by copper sulfate and then moist sawdust.

I translate kaSTha-Apam as wood-water which is vinegar, while it is translated as moist saw-dust in other place.

Kastha-apam - It's translated as saw dust - I translate it as wood-water which is vinegar

3. The third line Dasta (zinc or Clay) loshto (clods or lumps) Nidhatavyah (to be put down or deposited) Parada (to give up in the barter or exchange ) chhadita (cover/ disguise/conceal) STa (Copper) is also translated differently. 

I translate it as "The deposited zinc clods or lumps exchange their cover for Copper. Copper is referred to as dviSTa or dvyaSTa or tapaneSTa" while the other translation is "After that put a mercury-amalgamated-zinc sheet"

4. The fourth line is SaMyoga (conjunction/combination/direct material contact) jjayte (is born) Tejo (Splendor of) Mitravaruna sangyitam (put togehter)

I translate it as "The conjunction is born with the splendor of union of Mitravaruna" while the translation offered is on top of an energy known by the twin name of Mitra-Varuna.

Mitra-varuna is famous for their bonding all through the scriptures.

5. The fifth line is Anena (By this) Jal bhagosti (the fluid is bestowed with) Prano Daneshu Vayushu (Prana rich Gas)

I translate it as "By this the water is bestowed with Prana rich gas", whle the translation offered is Water will be split by this current into Pranavayu and Udanavayu.

6. The sixth line is "Evam (thus) Shatanam (thinning down or belling ) Kumbhanam (of the vessel) saMyog (combining) karya krit (work is done) smrita (is mentioned/defined)"

I translate it as thus thinning down the copper vessel, combining work (electroplating) is done as defined, while the other translation offered is "A chain of one hundred jars is used to give a very strong electricity"

I read/hear it as 'zatanam' which is belling or thinning down. while it is taken as 'zatAnAm kumbhAnAm' (100 kumbhas)

7. Since we are sure  that electroplating was done without electricity in olden times, I would tilt towards an electroplating formula, given mitr-varuna samyoga is about the bonding than electricity. 

Disclaimer

I have not read the verses in Agastya Samhita in their original sanskrit source, though I have them. I have read them in several of the internet sources. I am not sure when these verses were written. I think they cannot be of recent origin given the understanding of the Mitra-Varuna bonding. They should be sufficiently old, passed on through generations and documented few hundred years before.

 
Several renowned scholars whom I admire have interpreted these verses as example of a battery, which I don’t get to understand as I see it here. As I go deeper into various other slokas and improve my understanding, may be I will re-visit the verses of the samhita to check if I change my understanding.