[On the pavement of a common street in Barzakh.]

SOCRATES: One, two, three, four, five, six, but where is the seventh, Ishtar? Yesterday I was the guest of seven of you, today you were supposed to be my guest.

Ishtar: Juno is late as always.

SOCRATES: If we don’t get all seven people, we won’t have a good conversation.

Ravi: I heard that Juno went to a Buddhist monastery between Manas Sarovar and Rakshasthal in the morning, and has not returned yet. How about if we leave Barzakh and go down to earth now? You can entertain us there.

SOCRATES: Not a bad idea. And the discourse with which I wish to entertain you is best suited on the shores of Manas Sarovar. Come on then.

[Between Manas Sarovar and Rakshasthal.]

SOCRATES: What’s up, Juno? Missing you, we fell from the sky to the earth.

Juno: I was on my way to Barzakh, and suddenly forgot about you when I saw the shadow of the clouds on the lake. You know how rare the clouds are here.

SOCRATES: I should not look too much at the clouds. I have already heard many insults of Aristophanes without seeing the cloud.

Juno: Well don’t see the clouds. Let’s go to the roof of that temple, come all of you. Rakshastal, Manas Sarovar and Mount Kailash can be seen together from the roof.

Socrates: If you have so many things to see, do you need my gift of words?

JUNO: That is the test, Socrates. Yesterday we gifted you with the grand talk about the constitution of an ideal state, today you have to give us something good so that our eyes don’t turn away.

[On the roof of a Buddhist monastery on the banks of Manas Sarovar.]

SOCRATES: I will speak of the fourteen billion years of history of the universe. Our European successors combined ‘uni’ and ‘verse’ to form the word ‘universe’. ‘Uni’ means one, ‘verse’ means to transform, ‘universe’ means ‘to transform into one thing’. Yesterday you were talking about the nation, the reason why the institution built to create that nation is named ‘university’ is found in the meaning of ‘universe’. Just as the university unites all the student-teachers into a nation, the word universe unites everything in the universe into a single entity. I have many parts including hands feet nose mouth ears heart, but all in all I am a single person. Likewise, the cosmic web contains many galaxies gas stars planets satellites asteroids, but all in all the Universe is a single thing.

The fourteen billion year history of this universe can be divided into seven epochs: Particle, Galactic, Stellar, Planetary, Chemical, Biological, and Cultural epochs. The first 300,000 years are the Particle Age, and the last 300,000 years are the Cultural Age.

Ravi: The river Brahmaputra, which originates from many glaciers near Manas Sarovar, also has seven stages.

SOCRATES: Right. And the river also has a metaphorical relationship with time. What do you think?

Rhea: Yes, like a river our time only goes in one direction.

SOCRATES: Then we can elevate the comparison of the Brahmaputra to the time of the universe from metaphor to allegory. The seven stages of the Brahmaputra (Angsi, Tsangpo, Siang, Brahmaputra, Yamuna, Padma, Meghna) may be a metaphor for the seven ages of the universe. Shakespeare talked about the seven ages of human life from childhood to old age. The universe has now grown quite large after seven ages have passed since its birth. Brahmaputra flows through the Meghna into the Bay of Bengal. Can you see a relationship between the ocean and the time of the universe?

Rhea: If all the rivers from Angsi to Meghna are compared to the past and present, then the ocean is undoubtedly the metaphor of the future.

SOCRATES: That’s right. Rivers are as narrow as the past, seas are as wide as the future. In the past only one set of events happened in my life, like a river blocked by two banks. But many things can happen in the future, just like the ocean, the possibilities are endless.

Rhea: Excellent, Socrates, you have a wonderful start.

SOCRATES: Thank you. But remember the words of Rabindranath: ‘I will meet this light, your eyes will be successful’. If you do not open the eyes of your mind, I will not be able to see. You must first take the responsibility of showing the relationship of each stage of the Brahmaputra to each age of the universe. Then I will talk about each age in detail over the next seven days.

Rhea: We agree. Who will say which?

SOCRATES: You understand that. Your names coincidentally correspond to the seven times of the week, or the seven planets of our era. Sunday and Sun with Rabi, Monday and Moon with Luna, Mars with Mars; Hermes, being another name for Mercury, goes with Mercury, Juno as the consort of Jupiter corresponds to Jupiter, Ishtar goes with Venus as the progenitor of Venus, and Rhea is associated with Saturn as the consort of Saturn. Ravi will start by comparing Angsi to the Particle Age, followed by everyone, and Rhea will finish by comparing Meghna to the Cultural Age. Ravi, start.