A fascinating new book by V. Raghnathan, Locks, Mahabharata Mathematics: An Exploration of Unexpected Parallels - The title says it all (review here)!!
With a title that generates immediate curiosity, the book is a fine collection of astonishing analogies between three "unexpected parallels" - the Mahabharata, one of the greatest epics of ancient India, locks and mathematics. It is an interesting study of the author's interpretation of how some of the characters and noteworthy episodes of the Mahabharata, correspond to the shapes and working of some ancient locks, and their resultant logic in the play of numbers.
Duryodhana's humiliation and a lock full of illusions
Another chapter that deserves a mention is when the Kauravas visit the illusory palace created by the Pandavas in Indraprastha. Raghunathan carefully describes the scene where Duryodhana is bedazzled by the optical illusions of mirrors and falls into a pool of water and compares it with a 'Trick Lock' found in Aligarh. Like the palace, the lock too is illusory in the sense that even though the keyhole is clearly visible and the key seems like a perfect fit, the lock still does not open. The keyhole is therefore an illusion and it is not the right keyhole. "The real keyhole is concealed in the lock!" he writes.
The book is replete with many other fascinating analogies reasoned by the author - the game of dice episode compared with 'Chancy Locks', Bhima's encounter with Lord Hanuman with the Hanuman Lock, the Yaksha Prashna episode compared with an impossible to open old bronze lock, and Abhimanyu's breaking into the Chakravyuha formation with that of a rare lock with two keys, one to open the lock with, the other to close it with.
With a title that generates immediate curiosity, the book is a fine collection of astonishing analogies between three "unexpected parallels" - the Mahabharata, one of the greatest epics of ancient India, locks and mathematics. It is an interesting study of the author's interpretation of how some of the characters and noteworthy episodes of the Mahabharata, correspond to the shapes and working of some ancient locks, and their resultant logic in the play of numbers.
Duryodhana's humiliation and a lock full of illusions
Another chapter that deserves a mention is when the Kauravas visit the illusory palace created by the Pandavas in Indraprastha. Raghunathan carefully describes the scene where Duryodhana is bedazzled by the optical illusions of mirrors and falls into a pool of water and compares it with a 'Trick Lock' found in Aligarh. Like the palace, the lock too is illusory in the sense that even though the keyhole is clearly visible and the key seems like a perfect fit, the lock still does not open. The keyhole is therefore an illusion and it is not the right keyhole. "The real keyhole is concealed in the lock!" he writes.
The book is replete with many other fascinating analogies reasoned by the author - the game of dice episode compared with 'Chancy Locks', Bhima's encounter with Lord Hanuman with the Hanuman Lock, the Yaksha Prashna episode compared with an impossible to open old bronze lock, and Abhimanyu's breaking into the Chakravyuha formation with that of a rare lock with two keys, one to open the lock with, the other to close it with.
No comments:
Post a Comment