CHHANDA
It is a well known fact
in modern sciences that whatever work is done, it leads to increase in entropy, the degree of disorder. In vedic and puraanic
literature, this increase in entropy has been given the name of ‘sin’. It has been stated in sacred texts that
if one adheres to Chhandas, the verses, then one can avoid this increase in entropy. There are different statements regarding
definition of chhanda. At one place, the juice has been called chhanda. At another place, praana, In puraanic literature,
when different types of milks are milked from a divine cow, then chhandas become the vessels. The description of a sacrificial
place can be helpful in understanding chhandas. As has been shown in the picture, there are mainly three types of fires. The
most sacred fire is situated in the east and it’s chhanda is Gaayatri. The middle fire’s chhanda is Trishtup and
that of 3rd fire, the homely one, is Jagati. The nature of middle fire provides a chance to connect these with
the laws of thermodynamics. Dr. Lakshmi Narayan Dhoot has explained in his paper that the middle fire is connected with chance,
the play of dice, one’s luck. Einsteen says that God does not play dice. The law of physics says that no system is perfect
enough to convert one type of energy into another with 100% efficiency. Some part of it is lost in noise, heat etc. If there
can be any system which can have 100% efficiency, it will go against the second law of thermodynamics. This statement makes
it possible to understand Trishtup and Jagati chhandas. Trishtup is connected with efficiency. Then the lowest efficiency
of Trishtup is that every event in this world is a chance, the play of dice.
The part of energy which is lost in heat, noise
etc. while performing work, leads to increase in entropy, increase in degree of disorder. Jagati chhanda deals with this part.
This chhanda is connected with lord Yama who delivers from all types of sins.
The most important key to understand chhanda
is provided by one text Shatapatha Braahmana 8.2.4.16 where the gradual approach to chhanda is mentioned. The first stage
is animal. The vedic trait of an animal is that it can have only a limited view of the world. It's senses are not wide. The
second stage is a bird. A bird can fly in the sky. Bird's view of the world is more wide. Then comes the stage of chhanda.
This stage belongs to gods.
Can chhanda can be compared to formation of bands
in modern theory of solids? When atoms come together, the charge sphere around them interacts with each other and creates
attractive and repulsive forces. This leads to formation of bands and band gaps. The property of a band is that it allows
free motion of charge in it. The motion of charge is forbidden in band gap. As will be discussed in connection with Stoma,
the formation of chhanda in the realm of consciousness can not be compared with formation of bands and band gaps because the
particles forming bands and band gaps obey different types of statistical rules called Fermi - Dirac statistics. On the other
hand, it seems that formation of chhanda is limited to Bose - Einsteen statistics only.
