There is a hue and cry in India and abroad that the nation is not following the path of a true democracy because of the dominance of the Nehrus in Indian politics. The cry is becoming louder now since, with the tragic assassination of Indira Gandhi on 31 October, 1984, her son, Rajiv, has become the country’s new prime minister, making him the third Nehru offspring to hold the office and the fourth to occupy the position of president of the Indian Congress Party. Though this happening may be disagreeable to politicians, or to upholders of democratic traditions which appear, in their eyes, to be violated by this succession, to a cosmologist like myself the matter is viewed very differently. In these studies one is not bound by conventions of a limited nature and scope, but rather the phenomenon is analysed within the framework of cosmic patterns which exceed these conventional limitations. One adopts a detached and scientific attitude and allows the phenomenon of the Nehru succession to reveal its sense and place in the history of India, rather than combat it a priori and seek to closet the happening in a mental framework in large part borrowed from Western democracies which may have little relevance to the Indian experience.
What is taking place in India in this century is a phenomenon wholly Indian and has no parallel or previous model elsewhere. Indeed, it can be stated that India is right now in the process of disclosing what cosmologists call ‘a new model of the universe’.
From ancient times illumined minds have seen in the workings of the cosmos a reflection of the human spirit, and by such ‘models’ have come to a better understanding of humanity’s place in the evolutionary process. Or we could say, the vision of the cosmos seemed to bear a definite correspondence or influence on the evolution of the species, particularly evidenced in systems evolved in certain key civilisations spread around the globe. Some of these cosmologies are better known than others; the Greek, for example, through the Pythagorean and Platonic schools. In this century another such system has come to light in the discoveries archaeologists and astronomers are making in Central America, the area that housed the splendid Maya civilisation among others. However, cosmologies of ancient times were not simply studies in celestial mechanics as are their modern-day counterparts—though even in this the Maya attained in a remarkable degree of perfection on the basis of mere naked-eye astronomy—but were directly related to the life of the societies. Cosmology served as a pattern of harmony that the particular civilisation out of which it evolved could use to orient its collective life and determine its focus. This was made possible because, like the ancient Vedic Rishis, the Maya understood and vibrated to the interconnectedness of creation and the principles of oneness governing macrocosm and microcosm. This is particularly evident in Mayan America, the reason being largely that it centred its cosmology on Time, whereas for the Greeks the pattern was essentially restricted to space. Having a special key to time, it was possible for the Maya to integrate their vision with the collective experience via the calendar. Indeed they possessed, even in those remote times, a calendar that was nearly perfect, just seconds off the true measure.
This was not the case for the Greeks; and not possessing the key to time, their exercise was largely speculative and abstract, a mental diversion which gave birth to modern Western philosophy. To this abstract exercise present-day Western society can trace its roots; whereas for us today the Mayan experience is still an unknown quantity for the most part, though discoveries are being made daily in that area of the globe which bring to light aspects of the quality of the Mayan vision and its potential for practical application.
In an article entitled, ‘Old and New World Naked-Eye Astronomy’ (Astronomy of the Ancients, MIT Press, 1981), Professor of Astronomy at Colgate University, Anthony F. Aveni, in his studies of comparative cosmologies between the Old and New Worlds, has written of the Greek system that its ‘scientific explanation of the Universe was couched in a framework of interlocking orbits’. This, Prof. Aveni points out, centres the practice on a spatial reality. Whereas, referring to the Maya he writes, that they ‘strove for celestial harmony by appealing to the cyclical nature of time’. He states, ‘Time, not space, is the principal medium of expression for all the astronomy gleaned from the Mayan codices’. To this we must add a point he makes in his article that is especially meaningful for the present discussion of India and the Nehrus: the ‘…greatest intellectual achievements of New World (Maya) astronomy are to be found not in geometry but in numerology…’.
I have quoted Prof. Aveni because, as stated, India is at present evolving a new and revolutionary cosmology for the world, whose principal feature is precisely a unification of time and space in its postulation and practical application: not one divorced from the other, but a harmony of the two is its essence. And as it was for the Mayans, this phenomenon is not an abstract exercise but is being experienced in the course of India’s development, particularly since Independence. The Nehrus therefore figure prominently in the scheme, forming, as they do in this cosmology, what I have called: the Lunar Line.
It can be recalled that in ancient India there were Solar and Lunar Dynasties. These were akin, though very remotely, to the Solar and Lunar Lines of this new cosmology India is offering in the 20th Century. In this brief space it is not possible to deal with all the intricacies of the cosmology. Its complexities have been amply treated and its complete scope presented in my books, especially in The Gnostic Circle and The New Way. In particular, in the latter I have described in great detail the Lunar Line and hence the Nehru place and contribution within this ‘new model of the universe’ as seen from Earth, which harmonises time and space in an exciting and unique manner.
The ultimate purpose of this cosmological revelation of our times is to serve as a foundation for a new world order. As evidenced from Prof. Aveni’s assessments, past cosmologies were necessarily restricted to certain areas of the globe and affected only the societies in which they were born. Perhaps this was due to the fact that a more complete vision had not emerged due to the separation of time and space in their formulations, reflecting itself in an east and west polarisation on the planet. Today, with the advent of modern physics which has largely eliminated this division in its discipline, it stands that the same unification must extend to cosmological models. In so doing, we have a view of cosmic harmonies that tends to unify polar opposites. The new cosmology India offers today is the product of this new age of unity, and establishes a foundation for a world order that does away with any separative perspective and sees the Earth as one.
An unbiased observer of Indira Gandhi’s life, her achievements, aspirations and emphasis, can easily appreciate that she held these concepts of the new age closest to her heart. The theme that consistently permeates the entire fabric of her public and personal life is unity—and above all, the unity and integrity of India. She strove to inspire people in India and elsewhere with the truth of the earth’s oneness, and in her own life gave constant examples of a personality and psyche unrestricted by ideological or religious barriers which hinder this process of unification and integration. In her death as well, she continued to demonstrate this same wideness, having succumbed to an attack by Sikhs who had not been removed from her security staff in spite of the difficult situation then prevailing. It is this consciousness of unity that forms the basis for the new world order, as reflected in India’s cosmological model for our age and centred on the Nehrus. Let us see now in what manner this is accomplished.
For the Maya, number-power was foremost. For the Greeks the paramount concern was the harmony of orbits,—static, however, and devoid of dynamism which is the prerequisite of a model that incorporates time in its structure. The new cosmology India offers is a combination of both; there is orbital value and number equivalence correlated to time; and, like the Mayan model, its basic tool is the calendar—not restricted in this age to a particular civilisation, but the one used throughout the world today. I will demonstrate the manner in which the calendar works in this cosmology, and, above all, how the Lunar Line of the Nehrus figures in the most central part of the model via the calendar and its cosmic equivalencies based on a special perception of the harmonies of our solar system. In this way the reader can come to appreciate that a formidable power of destiny has been and continues to be at work in India. It has worked through the bloodline of the Nehrus, and its purpose is to establish a new world order once the experiment is successfully completed in the subcontinent.
This is the point to be stressed: the process being played out through this ‘dynastic succession’, so hotly criticised, is fulfilling itself regardless of any opposition or limitation the actual political systems in India and elsewhere seek to impose. The Lunar Line consists of four members, and they have all fulfilled the roles allotted to them in this cosmological pattern. We are witnessing here a power of destiny unique in history, supported by a cosmology which is also unique and is revolutionising previous concepts in the field, from ancient to modern times.
I will limit this discussion to the formula applicable to the Lunar (and Solar) Line. We start with our present number scale, 0 to 9. Forthwith it can be observed that India’s outstanding contribution to mathematics is basic to this cosmology. Unlike the Greeks and others who began their counts and built their systems on a progression from 1 to 10, this cosmology begins with the zero, and proceeds to the last number, 9. From a discovery of the most profound attributes of the zero, which cannot be dealt with in this brief space since a variety of fields of knowledge enter into the vision, a formula or equation results. This is a descending progression down the number scale thus: 9 to 6 to 3, finally ending with the zero by means of this triadic shift. There are thus four levels in the progression; but at the last, the zero, a dramatic change takes place. The zero throws up from itself the number 1; and thereafter the progression continues through the scale from 1 to 2 to 3, and so on.
With this basic pattern, let us see how the Nehru Lunar Line fits into the formulation.
The Lunar Line began with Motilal Nehru, extended to his son, Jawaharlal, then to his daughter, Indira Nehru Gandhi, and finally to her sons, Rajiv and Sanjay, both of whom fill the final position because of their identical number equivalents. Like the Mayan system this new cosmology makes use of the calendar and a numerological system of reduction of dates to a single digit in the traditional manner. To offer an example, let us take the following date, 1 January, 1985. By this method of reduction, this becomes 1+1+1+9+8+5=25, which in turn becomes 2+5=7. We use the same method of reduction for the birthdates of the members of the Lunar Line:
| MOTILAL NEHRU | 6. | 5. | 1861 | = 9 | |
| JAWAHARLAL NEHRU | 14. | 11. | 1889 | = 6 | |
| INDIRA NEHRU GANDHI | 19. | 11. | 1917 | = 3 | |
| ——————————————————————————————————————————————- | |||||
| RAJIV GANDHI NEHRU | 20. | 8. | 1944 | = 1 | |
| SANJAY GANDHI NEHRU | 14. | 12. | 1946 | = 1 | |
Concerning the number 1, or the fourth poise in the scale, it may be noted that both Mrs. Gandhi’s sons were born on days whose numerological equivalents reveal the same harmony. Thus either one could occupy the fourth place, which seems to have been purposefully arranged given the fact that Sanjay died in an accident that put an abrupt end to his succession. But the most prominent feature of this scale, which has fulfilled itself to perfection in the Nehrus, is the change of direction at the fourth poise. In the above list I have indicated this by a line separating the sons from the rest of the Nehrus. Until the fourth level is reached we see a descending order, from 9 to 6 to 3. However, this descent or vertical direction is arrested at the number 3, in this case corresponding to Indira Gandhi. That is, she is the last element in the vertical descent. From her third poise a dramatic change must ensue. Indeed, the precise attribute of the 3 in this cosmology is the ability to construct a bridge, as it were, to the number 1 (via the zero). That is, the 3 must give birth to the new by virtue of this drastic shift initiating a new direction, and in so doing the old is undone. It is very much like an actual birth process with its concurrent labour pains. For this reason this poise is the most difficult of all and the one that receives the bitterest opposition, because the demands made upon it are to undo the old while at the same time giving birth to the new. The 3 in such a cosmic process relates to our formulation of the Feminine Principle in creation, and hence its human equivalent is played out through a female birth.
From the fourth poise, or the 0/1, in metaphysics related to the Son Principle, an entirely new direction sets in. The descending progression makes a shift to a horizontal extension and a process of rapid expansion. We leave the triadic leaps and begin a movement through the number scale from 1 to 2 to 3, and so on.
A dispassionate assessment of Indira Gandhi’s career will bear ample testimony to the above. She inherited the old structure and was unexpectedly made the country’s third prime minister by the old guard of the Congress Party. No sooner had she begun her long career than the true power of the 3 in its attribute of breaking down the old and introducing the new became evident. The outer effects were the several splits in the party, without which she could not have carried on with her task. There has been much criticism of her in this regard, but from the more objective vision offered by this cosmology, her actions could not have been otherwise. An impartial study of her leadership in this light will reveal an individual perfectly in tune with this cosmic model that is ultimately to form the basis of a new world order. The method by which this is translated into such a radical change for the Earth forms the core of this cosmology.
In her death Indira Gandhi continued to serve this cause and to fulfil her role in this cosmic vision. Briefly, it can be explained in this manner: 1984 was a year corresponding to the fourth power/orbit/planet of this decade, a decade which is to see India well on her way to achieving her role in this new age. The number-power of the year is itself 4 (1+9+8+4=22=4). For complex reasons, described in my books, the summer of 1984 was the most critical point of the decade,—what I have called, the Reversal Point. In the number scale 0 to 9, it marks the exact halfway measure, the 4.5. If we were to lay this scale against the solar system of 9 orbit/planets, this reversal point would fall at the Asteroid Belt. That vast abyss in our system presents us with a visual impact of the reversal point’s effects when experienced in time on this planet, housing, as it does, billions of particles of some shattered cosmic body that once occupied the zone. Disintegration is thus its keyword,—a splintering, a shattering, a dismembering. And as stated, according to India’s new cosmology, this reversal was experienced in the summer of 1984 in the decade of the 1980’s. The events of that period do indeed bear witness to the difficult passage the nation had to pass through, as if it were a space ship travelling through that dangerous abyss in the heavens. In the previous decade the very same correlation occurred in the summer of 1975, when the emergency was declared. It was then that Indira Gandhi’s son, Sanjay, shot into prominence and began his political career. There was talk from that point onward that he would one day become the country’s prime minister, that he was being ‘groomed’ for the post. Yet now, after a return to the same cosmological equivalent (in time), it is Mrs. Gandhi’s other son, Rajiv, who has indeed become the next Nehru in the Lunar Line to hold the position of prime minister of India.
The structure of this cosmological model is not restricted to the Lunar Line however. There is, what I have called, the Solar Line as well. In fact, it is the foremost piece in the model. In order to describe the attributes and relevance of the Solar Line, far more space is required than allotted here. Suffice it to say that for the Solar Line the same equation holds, 9 to 6 to 3 to 0/1; but this progression uses only the year count. The actual Solar Line began in 1872 (=9) with the birth of Sri Aurobindo. The passage was then to the Mother, his co-worker, and the year count was 1878 (=6). Thereafter down the scale it has been fulfilled in the same precise manner as the Lunar Line. In this context it may be pointed out that India’s Independence occurred on 15 August, Sri Aurobindo’s birthday.
What we are dealing with in this cosmology centred on India are patterns formed by events and interconnections in time. The most important contribution that India makes in this respect is to present a perfect model for a new perception of the mechanics of time in the context of the earthly evolutionary process. The reason for this is that by such a process a ‘blueprint’ is created which then facilitates reproductions through the mechanics of time, rather on the order of the morphogenetic fields Dr. Rupert Sheldrake describes in his hypothesis of formative causation, a new theory which seeks to explain the reproduction of forms, biological as well as psychological, expressing themselves in habit and instinct. Such a contribution, however, can only be appreciated in this new age which has seen the emergence of a universally accepted calendar. The model under analysis is precisely concerned with a universal order, affecting the entire planet and not just one nation or race, and the ultimate establishment of what I have called a planetary society. This does not do away with distinctions nor postulate a uniformity of system or creed. Rather, this new model from India describes a perfect harmonisation of multiplicity in unity – or what is commonly known as India’s diversity in unity. It is just such a harmonious blend of difference within an all-embracing unity and wholeness that is India’s main contribution to the new age and serves as a model which can extend in the future to other points of the globe. India’s capacity to fulfil this role is evident in a logical, objective assessment, for surely there is no other nation on earth that can boast of such a vast variety of peoples and languages and creeds, gathered together under the umbrella of a single national culture and ideal.
However, patterns of this nature cannot be perceived nor understood unless time is viewed differently, with a yardstick that is not appreciated in modern times by most researchers in the field, though in ancient India these mechanisms were well known. Yet these synchronisations and patterns continue to fascinate thinkers, such as Carl Jung, the noted psychologist. In another field, we find the same fascination in the author, Doris Lessing, who is presently popular among new age groups because of her intriguing space fiction series, Canopus in Argos. In an interview with The New Age Journal (January, 1984), she states; ‘It is not individual coincidences that concern me; it is patterns. Things will start happening along a certain line, coincidences in a certain field or between fields, or people who are linked will suddenly meet…I think the human animal is one; we are one organism. We have a mind that we share.’
The manner in which this consciousness is shared by all people, cutting across space and utilising the mechanics of time is the subject of this new cosmology. The presentation ceases to be theoretical in this instance, since India is offering the living model and the process is being activated at this very moment. On this basis the discussion becomes an exciting one, especially for India, in that we are not dealing with a theoretical pattern that awaits verification in the future. Rather, this new model of the universe, with projections into a new world order, is taking shape today before our very eyes.
The difficulty encountered in matters requiring a different perceptive capacity is the human being’s inability to see the threads of these harmonious patterns woven in the fabric of daily living. This is largely due to our preconceived notions of what ‘should’ be, based on formulations and systems unrelated to what is. In India’s case, this finds its expression in criticisms of ‘dynastic succession’ regarding the Nehrus, and a failure to appreciate that what is taking place in the subcontinent is unique and has no previous model. It is India’s own system. For if we are speaking of and indeed seeking a new world order for this ailing civilisation, it stands that we shall not be able to fall back on old patterns for the creation of this newness, a contradiction in terms, in any case.
Basically, the order India presents to the world is nothing other than the harmony of our solar system, translated into our lived experience on this planet, via time. To understand this new order we need only study the harmony of the System we inhabit, but with an enhanced understanding of its correlation to time in its periodicities, and regulated for our collective awareness via the calendar. There is nothing recondite or esoteric in this perception. It is merely a new capacity to perceive these interwoven and interrelated threads, regardless of surface appearances. To the ancient Vedic seers, this might have been termed a ‘consciousness of unity’.
Another difficulty to be surmounted is the human being’s tendency to label events negative or positive, according to limited frameworks. In this regard, we may take Indira Gandhi’s assassination as an example.
In a more integral vision of events transpiring in time, a vision this new cosmology offers, death is simply the result of what I have called a conspiracy of circumstances. Be the cause illness, accident, old age, suicide or a volley of bullets, the only common denominator is this conspiracy of circumstances. Indira Gandhi’s demise was no exception. But the field in which this circumstantial development or conjunction organises and plays itself out is time. However, the circumstances are not limited to present or past. Nor are they cut off from the future. The contemporary human being should not have any difficulty with this fading of the time barriers, in view of the way modern physics has conditioned us to a new understanding in these matters. Nonetheless, in this area we approach the most baffling enigma the human mind has ever dealt with, an enigma which remains unsolved but which continues to intrigue us all: the question of destiny, of predetermination, covering the arc of our collective and individual lives. Thus, to return to our example, Indira Gandhi’s assassination, as all other deaths, was a conspiracy of circumstances. That is, the totality of conditions prevailing and focussed on her at that given moment determined the nature of her death. And those conditions, belonging to the past and present, extend as well into the future. Consequently if the succession of the fourth Nehru is an event that already exists (in the same way as the future is indistinguishable from the present and past in particle physics) in the future of India, it stands that her demise, which is a temporary nexus of the prevailing circumstances in the nation’s web of time (its destiny pattern), will conform to the future and will moreover facilitate the emergence of that future into the nation’s experience of the present.
A result of Indira Gandhi’s assassination was therefore the smooth succession of Rajiv, fulfilling the cosmological pattern to perfection. It is evident that the circumstances of her death were the elements that allowed for this smooth transition and her son’s subsequent overwhelming victory at the polls. In keeping with this vision, one of Indira’s final public utterances, the day before her death, was that every drop of her blood would invigorate the nation.
These cosmic harmonies focussed on the destiny of India find their ultimate resolution in the number 9, last in the series. The number scale of 9 corresponds to our present vision of the solar system consisting of 9 planets plus the sun (the zero). This has its correspondence in our method of demarcating time. Thus one of the principal features of this new cosmology is the cycle of 9 years. This represents a period of wholeness and allows for the completion of a process, even as the human gestation period is also a measure of 9 and results in the completion of a living, mental creature. We have then cycles of 9 months, 9 years, and even 99 years. Indeed, a particularly sensitive cycle is the final 9 years of a 99-year span. In the nation’s political life, let us focus our attention on the Congress Party which has served as a vehicle for the Nehrus’ succession, and which, at this very time has completed 99 years of age. All four members of the Lunar Line have been president of the party, starting with Motilal Nehru.
In my book, The New Way, written in the 1970s, I discuss the Congress Party and the very important phase it entered in 1975. The party was formed in the winter solstice of 1885 and therefore in 1975 it was 90 years old. I wrote that during the following nine years—that is, from December, 1975 to December, 1984—a complete remaking or transformation of the Party would ensue, for this is the nature of that particular time-cycle. In conjunction with this, we must consider what has been written here concerning the critical midway point in the 9 cycle, its 4.5 point. We may, and indeed we must, apply this knowledge to what has transpired in the Party during this period and in particular at those critical points, in this case the Party’s 94.5th year, or the last week of June, 1980. Moreover, it is to be noted that the ‘answer’ to the stress engendered in that period of intense shattering or disintegration is provided by the fourth power, according to this cosmology. In the case of the Lunar Line and the Nehrus, that power is offered by either of Mrs. Gandhi’s sons, Sanjay and Rajiv. In the following I will show how both her sons collaborated to provide, in life and in death, this crucial ingredient in a unique and unmistakable manner.
It was precisely between the Party’s 90 and 99th years that the two fourth powers attained exceptional prominence, and only during that period. Before that time, neither of the sons took any major interest in politics. Indeed, it was at the Congress Party’s 90th birthday session in Gauhati, in December of 1975, that Sanjay Gandhi came fully to the fore in the party’s organisation. Let us then examine closely the nature of subsequent events according to the new vision of time.
The really critical period for the Congress (and the nation) was its 94.5th year reversal point, which fell on or about 23 June, 1980. This was the very day Sanjay was killed in an airplane crash. From that point onward in the cycle, the remaining 4.5 years are characterised by a reassembling around a remaining solidly forged core, the result precisely of such a crushing experience or collapse of energy in a cosmic process. On this basis unity is strengthened and eventually comes into being. This cycle for the Congress ended at the winter solstice of 1984. At that very time Mrs. Gandhi’s other son—who entered politics precisely because of Sanjay’s death—went to the polls. The overwhelming majority he secured has assured his supremacy in the party.
As stated, this 9 upon 90-year span of the Congress signified a remaking, a transformation, the forming of a new body as it were. An assessment of these last 9 years in the life of the party amply reveals that an entire reorganisation has been in progress. And the period was neatly marked off by the contributions of Mrs. Gandhi’s two sons, starting in December, 1975, reaching the critical stress point at the exact midway period in June, 1980 (Sanjay’s death), and culminating in the completion of the process at the winter solstice of 1984 with Rajiv’s tremendous victory. More than that. The entire political body of the nation has experienced an upheaval and a remaking during this important period. For in the final analysis, in India’s new cosmology no division is seen between competing political bodies in stark opposition. There is only one process and one goal; and all energies offered by the victors or the losers are collected in a cauldron that is the single destiny of the nation. Therefore the so-called opposition parties cannot be excluded from this reorganisation. In consequence, we observe that the new Lok Sabha, the result of these elections, in its entirety presents a bold new face: Indira Gandhi, even in her death, fulfilled her allotted role, for the old has given way to the radically new.
The opposition stalwarts, most of who formerly belonged to the Congress, have been swept away. A homogeneous field is left ready to serve as the transformed vehicle for the exciting times that await India.
To conclude this extravaganza of time, number, and measure on a lighter though no less significant note, I would like to point out that the third position in the descending scale of the Lunar Line, occupied by Indira Gandhi, corresponds to the third orbit of our solar system, the Earth and its satellite, the Moon. Mrs. Gandhi embodied that lunar essence in her lifetime, serving India (the Earth’s soul) as the Moon does in its protective spin around the planet, like a mother nurturing her child until she is ready to embark alone upon her awesome journey through the world’s future time. She left India ready for her new future, leader of nations on the path to a different world order, of a harmonised diversity in unity. This article is an homage to that great woman who served India in death no less than in life, and who, in her intimate circle of family and friends, was always known simply as Indu,—a Sanskrit name of the Moon.
P.N.-B.
Aeon Books 1985