Chapter 6: The Brahman's Curse
Anne looked at Stern in surprise, and only reacted in a half-loud voice: "Oh... That can be said, but I personally think that this curse is much more terrifying than the curse of Tutankhamun's tomb, because the original Sanskrit meaning is difficult to translate accurately. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoAncient India has a very early history of civilization, but there are very few written records that have survived, and languages such as Sanskrit were created in the centuries BC, so even if we have studied a lot of research on the translation of the word 'Sanskrit', it is difficult for us to understand the meaning. ”
"You mean the destruction of the Brahman... A horrible curse? So what does 'Brahman' mean? The corners of Stern's mouth twitched.
Anne thought for a moment in her mind and organized the language: "As far as I know, in various ancient Indian Sanskrit texts that have been handed down, this word has various esoteric meanings such as the essence of the universe, the supreme spirit of the universe, or the opposite of 'I'. However, since ancient times, various Indian Brahmins have constantly put forward their own understanding of the word 'Brahman', which makes it difficult for us to make a specific definition of this word. And because of the lack of written archaeological data handed down by the Brahmins of the Angkor Dynasty, it is difficult for me to explain the 'Brahman' in this last sentence. ”
Stern listened for a moment: "What did the professor say?" ”
The professor only told me that this was just a means of warning for the brahmins to prevent unscrupulous thieves from stealing their property. But I don't think it's that simple, because it's written in Sanskrit, not in the Khmer script of the time, and the average invader can't read Sanskrit. ”
Anne paused, then continued: "As far as I know, all our modern archaeologists have too little knowledge of the Khmer history before the 13th century, especially about how the Brahmins of the Angkor Dynasty protected the places of worship that preserved a large number of religious properties. Including them, we can only interpret them through Sanskrit tablets found in various parts of Cambodia about such accounts. And we can't really restore the Brahmins of that time, and their anti-theft patterns. ”
When Anne finished speaking, she felt a little dry in her mouth, so she poured a cup of hot water from the pot on the fire, blew it a few times, and sent it to her mouth. She caught a glimpse of the sergeant across from her, staring at her with a serious expression, thinking he hadn't understood.
So he continued, "Do you know what the Brahmins of the Angkor dynasty did? Their duties were priests, they knew the language of God, they knew how to communicate with God, and they had the most advanced core knowledge in society at that time, and they were now clergy, scientists, teachers, and officials in a certain sense. Their job was to instruct the gods in their sacrifices, to divinate good fortune and evil, and to be knowledgeable about astronomy and geography. It is also likely that the Brahmanical culture of the pre-Angkor period was brought about by the Brahmins in India, and thus brought about the unification and flourishing of the Angkor dynasty. ”
"Oh......" Stern heard in a fog, but couldn't bear to interrupt Annie, so he could only continue listening.
"Of course, they were also influenced by the Chinese and Javanese cultures of the same period, because these regions had long had trade relations with each other. And the Sanskrit inscriptions we find now are not like those found elsewhere, but only in beautiful psalms depicting the great deeds of kings, praising God's generosity, recording important deeds, and so on. ”
"Sergeant, you know what? For example, this sentence 'The evil spirit devoured his flesh, Naga sucked his blood, and the Asura cut off his head' is almost a very vicious curse that has hardly been found in previous archaeology. When Anne said this, she emphasized it in particular.
"And this... Curse... Will it work? Hearing this sentence made Stern's scalp tingle.
Anne glanced at the person opposite, and then said, "I don't know if it will work, but it is said that in ancient India, once the curse of Brahmin was issued, the curse could not be revoked!" So now let's assume that the curse is true, and we are not stepping into this place as Brahmins, then it is very likely that we will encounter evil spirits, nagas, asuras, and in what form will these images appear, tangible or invisible? If it is according to the archetype of ancient Brahmanical mythology, then these may still be visible to us. ”
"But the last sentence, 'Eventually he will see the destruction of Brahma,' is difficult for me to understand, on the one hand, what does Brahma really represent? On the other hand, if Brahman is understood to mean the world outside of me, what kind of force will lead to the destruction of the world outside of me? Now I don't have a clue, if things go according to my assumptions, then we are probably in a very dangerous situation, more terrible than running into Siamese crocodiles, Mekong catfish, etc. ”
Stern listened with a chill and a feeling that his blood had clotted all over his body, and to be honest, it was the first time he had heard such a thing in more than thirty years of life. He was originally just an ordinary Christian, and he still didn't believe much in the existence of God in this world. Now I suddenly heard what Anne said, what evil spirits, asuras, giant snakes, the destruction of the world. I was a little scared for some reason
This brought back memories of his time on the battlefield in Vietnam a few years ago, when he was tasked with leading a well-equipped and well-trained special operations team into the jungles on the Vietnam-Cambodian border to find and destroy a secret supply route for enemy rear. It was in the course of more than two months of mission that he wanted to desert for the last few times, because the combat conditions in Vietnam were too difficult! The hardships were not due to a lack of weapons, not to a lack of ammunition, not to the strength of the enemy, but to the various unaware "falls" that had to be faced in a tropical jungle environment. The unaccustomed hot and humid climate, the malaria that spread like a wandering spirit in the army, and the uncertain movement of the enemy in the jungle were enough to break down - during those more than two months of searching, they had endured several encounters with the local Viet Cong guerrillas, large and small, dead and wounded.
The ghostly guerrillas set all sorts of traps and mines in their path. In the course of reconnaissance, they often unknowingly run into the ambush circle of the guerrillas, and then they do not know which direction the bullets are fired, and they are unable to prevent them...... Sometimes, when there is a jungle in front of them, they take a step forward and immediately trigger the mine...... In an instant, the flesh and blood were blurred, the broken leg dripping with blood, the stump hand wearing the wedding ring stained red by blood, and the teammate who was blown up to only half of his body lying in his arms forever... These later became lingering figures in his nightmares......
He felt that the most painful thing about him during that time was not fighting people, but racing against death, his teammates fell in front of him one by one, and he was under tremendous mental pressure until he collapsed......
Because of this, what he is most afraid of now is those invisible threats! And now he felt like he was once again in the middle of that invisible and deadly threat from all sides...
While Stern was in the middle of a painful memory, Anne noticed his strangeness and asked him, "Sgt. Stern, what's wrong with you?" ”
"Sergeant, what are you thinking?"
Stern pulled away from his memories after hearing a few of Anne's inquiries and spread his hands: "It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered some things from before... Miss Anne, I would like to ask you a question. ”
Anne waited for his question with a tacit look
"Do you have faith?"
Anne was surprised by such a sudden question, but she thought for a moment and quickly replied: "Strictly speaking, I have no faith right now. But I grew up in a Catholic family, and I was instilled with the ideas of the Bible, and I always believed that Jesus was our Savior. However, when I chose to study archaeology in college, and I was exposed to a lot of knowledge that I had never heard of before, my beliefs began to blur. Especially in the past few years, I have followed Professor Morrill as his archaeological assistant all over the world, and witnessed that several great dynasties that once existed in the world are now buried in the dust, and I prefer to believe that human beings are a very small part of this world. So now I am even more convinced that the power of nature is far superior to God and Jesus. I can even say that my current belief is in science."
When Stern, who was sitting across from him at the moment, heard this, he couldn't help but look at the frank-talking woman opposite, and even admired her a little, but the question he asked was just to verify some of his doubts.
So he went on to ask, "Thank you, Miss Anne, for answering my question so frankly, and since you don't believe much in God now, do you believe in the curses of your so-called Brahmins, who lived nearly a thousand years ago?" And the obscure goblins they describe that eat human flesh and blood? Personally, I don't really believe that there is a god in the world, but I also hate things that are inexplicable. Do you think these things can be proven by science now? ”