Pujit Aggarwal Redivivus - Soundscapes

 

    Silence should ideally be the mother of sound. Without this prerequisite, it would be difficult to differentiate one sound from another. Speech in any context is punctuated with short pauses of silence, which ensure its audibility and, above all, intelligibility. When audibility begins to predominate, it not only mars comprehension but also drowns it in a cacophony of decibels.

    The Gospel according to St. John proclaims that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. There is no indication in the scriptures that this auspicious Gospel was announced by the Creator. The Word itself is construed as God Himself as well as Jesus, who inhered in the Creator. Some exegetes attribute the dualism or the ambiguity to the Greek prototype ‘logos, which was translated as the ‘word.’

    The Greek word is used more than 300 times in the Bible to signify its primary meaning, ‘the Word’. It also connotes message, revelation, knowledge, reason, and speech. By extrapolation, Jesus, the second member of the Holy Trinity, is imbued with all the attributes suggested by the original logos.

    There is a striking analogy to the significance of ‘shabda’ in Hindu philosophy. Were the theologians in the West influenced by the Vedanta philosophy of the East? Perhaps it is a bizarre demonstration of coincidence and synchronicity.

    Shabda in Hinduism is defined as the inner sound, the audible life stream the word is endowed with. It is also believed to be the essence of God. In the Upanishads, shabda first appears in an explanation of two kinds of Brahman: shabda Brahman (with sound) and ashabda Brahman (without sound). In Vedic literature, Shabda Brahman is said to be present in the sound of Om or Aum.

    The soundtrack that set in motion the act of creating the world from chaos was by far the shortest and most memorable. The Lord said, ‘Let there be light!’ and there was light. The universal darkness dissolved instantly to reform itself into a beautiful world.

    The loudest and longest promulgation of divine intervention occurs on Mount Sinai, where God dictates to Moses the Ten Commandments he and his people should strictly adhere to. Not taking any chances, He also engraves them on two tablets with his finger. It must have been extremely demanding to ensure the legibility of the text without the use of a stylus.

    Some of the mistiest traces of theology, mythology, and history furnish us with inklings of commonality between soundscapes and silence. Consequently, the diversity of faith is quite deceptive and illusory. We are all One. The sound of the shofar, the resonance of a conch, and the muezzin’s call to prayer from the minaret are all undisguised echoes of the primal Om.

    According to scientists, the big bang occurred 13.8 billion years ago, kicking off the creation of the cosmos. The exactitudes and evasions of science are mysterious. The AI, with a choir of algorithms, has replaced God.


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