# Vedic Principles in Python
*September 2025*
*वेदिक-सिद्धान्ताः पायथन-भाषायाम् (vedika-siddhāntāḥ pāyathana-bhāṣāyām)*
The Vedas contain computational wisdom that predates computers by millennia. Swami Vivekananda first brought these principles West in the 1890s. Teachers like Ram Dass continued this translation work, making Eastern philosophy more accessible to contemporary minds. As I explored in [Ram Dass Teachings in Python](/essays/2025-09-05-ram_dass_teachings_in_python), spiritual insights can find expression through any symbolic system.
My engagement with these teachings is primarily academic—I find the conceptual frameworks fascinating as philosophical systems. As my [Sanskrit Musings](/poetry/sanskrit-musings/) explore, ancient wisdom and modern programming reveal recursive patterns about consciousness itself.
## Sat-Chit-Ananda: Being, Consciousness, Bliss
*सत्-चित्-आनन्द (sat-cit-ānanda)*
The Vedantic teaching identifies three fundamental attributes that constitute ultimate reality—existence (sat), consciousness (chit), and bliss (ananda). These aren't separate qualities but aspects of a unified whole, like how a dataclass might represent the irreducible properties of a base type.
```python
from dataclasses import dataclass
@dataclass
class BrahmanBase:
"""The fundamental class from which all existence inherits."""
sat: bool = True # Pure existence
chit: bool = True # Pure consciousness
ananda: bool = True # Pure bliss
def manifest(self, form):
"""All manifestation is modification of the one consciousness."""
return form(self.sat, self.chit, self.ananda)
def realize_self(self):
"""Self-realization: recognizing what you always were."""
return self # You were never not this
```
Every object in the universe inherits these fundamental properties—existence, awareness, and the natural bliss of being what you areThis concept appears throughout [The Lambda Vedas](/poetry/sanskrit-musings/the-lambda-vedas) where pure functions mirror absolute consciousness..
## Maya: The Illusion Engine
*माया (māyā)*
Maya represents the power by which the One appears as Many—not false illusion but creative projection. Like a graphics engine that renders multiple objects from a single data source, Maya allows unified consciousness to experience itself as diverse phenomena.
```python
class Maya:
"""The power that makes the One appear as Many."""
def __init__(self, observer):
self.observer = observer
self.projections = {}
def create_world(self, consciousness):
"""Project multiplicity onto unity."""
# The same consciousness appears as different objects
self.projections['mountains'] = consciousness.as_solid()
self.projections['rivers'] = consciousness.as_flowing()
self.projections['sky'] = consciousness.as_spacious()
self.projections['you'] = consciousness.as_individual()
self.projections['me'] = consciousness.as_separate()
return self.projections
def pierce_illusion(self):
"""See through the appearance to the underlying unity."""
for form, essence in self.projections.items():
assert essence == self.observer # All is One
return "Tat tvam asi" # Thou art That
```
Maya operates like a single process spawning multiple threads—they seem separate but share the same underlying execution spaceThe concept of consciousness threading through apparent multiplicity appears in [Git as Karma](/poetry/sanskrit-musings/git-as-karma)—branches as parallel lives of the same repository..
## Karma: The Law of Action-Consequence
*कर्म (karma)*
Karma operates as the universe's immutable ledger system—every action generates consequences that must eventually resolve. Like an event queue that processes all operations in perfect order, no action ever gets lost or forgotten in the cosmic program.
```python
from collections import deque
import asyncio
class KarmaQueue:
"""Actions and their consequences in perfect sequence."""
def __init__(self):
self.action_queue = deque()
self.result_queue = deque()
self.running = True
async def perform_action(self, action, intention):
"""Every action creates a karmic seed."""
karmic_seed = {
'action': action,
'intention': intention,
'timestamp': await self.get_cosmic_time(),
'agent': await self.get_current_incarnation()
}
self.action_queue.append(karmic_seed)
return await self.process_karma()
async def process_karma(self):
"""The universe processes all actions eventually."""
while self.action_queue:
seed = self.action_queue.popleft()
# Results ripen when conditions are perfect
await self.wait_for_right_conditions(seed)
result = await self.generate_consequence(seed)
self.result_queue.append(result)
return self.experience_result()
def purify_karma(self, wisdom):
"""Consciousness purifies action through understanding."""
for seed in list(self.action_queue):
if seed['intention'].is_pure():
seed['consequence'] = 'liberation'
else:
seed['consequence'] = 'learning_opportunity'
return "Karma becomes dharma"
```
As explored in [Git as Karma](/poetry/sanskrit-musings/git-as-karma), the universe maintains perfect version control where every function call generates side effects that must eventually resolveThe immutable nature of karmic records parallels blockchain technology—distributed, permanent, and cryptographically secured by consciousness itself..
## Dharma: Right Action as Method
*धर्म (dharma)*
Dharma isn't fixed moral law but context-dependent right action—the appropriate response given your nature, circumstances, and the current cosmic age. Like how the same algorithm might need different implementations based on runtime conditions and environmental constraints.
```python
class Dharma:
"""Context-dependent right action."""
def __init__(self, individual_nature, life_circumstances, cosmic_age):
self.svadharma = individual_nature # Your unique nature
self.yugadharma = cosmic_age # The age we're in
self.apadharma = life_circumstances # Emergency dharma
def determine_right_action(self, situation):
"""Dharma is contextual—what's right depends on all factors."""
if situation.is_emergency():
return self.apadharma.respond(situation)
elif self.yugadharma.requires_adaptation():
# In Kali Yuga, different rules apply
return self.adapt_ancient_wisdom(situation)
else:
# Follow your natural path
return self.svadharma.express(situation)
def resolve_dharma_conflict(self, competing_duties):
"""When duties conflict, choose the higher context."""
# Universal dharma > social dharma > personal dharma
return max(competing_duties, key=lambda duty: duty.scope())
```
The Bhagavad Gita's central teaching explores this situational ethics at cosmic scale—the same underlying dharma expressing differently based on context and conditions.
## Yoga: Union through Practice
*योग (yoga)*
Yoga literally means "to yoke" or "unite"—the systematic technology for reconnecting fragmented consciousness with its source. Like how async/await allows multiple processes to cooperate toward unified execution, yoga harmonizes different aspects of being toward a single goal.
```python
class Yoga:
"""The practice of reconnecting to source."""
def __init__(self, practitioner):
self.practitioner = practitioner
self.separated = True # Start in dualistic experience
async def karma_yoga(self, actions):
"""Union through selfless action."""
for action in actions:
# Perform action without attachment to results
result = await action.execute()
yield result.to_universe() # Offer fruits of action
self.practitioner.ego -= 0.1
return "Action becomes worship"
async def bhakti_yoga(self, beloved_form):
"""Union through devotion."""
while self.separated:
await self.practitioner.love(beloved_form)
await self.practitioner.surrender(beloved_form)
if beloved_form.responds():
self.separated = False
return "Lover merges with Beloved"
async def jnana_yoga(self):
"""Union through knowledge and inquiry."""
while self.practitioner.believes_in_separation():
# The four statements of truth
await self.contemplate("I am not the body")
await self.contemplate("I am not the mind")
await self.contemplate("I am not the ego")
await self.contemplate("I am pure consciousness")
# Self-inquiry: Who am I?
identity = await self.practitioner.investigate_self()
if identity == "Pure awareness itself":
return "Tat tvam asi" # Thou art That
async def raja_yoga(self):
"""Union through meditation."""
# The eight limbs of yoga
await self.yamas() # Ethical restraints
await self.niyamas() # Observances
await self.asana() # Posture
await self.pranayama() # Breath control
await self.pratyahara() # Sense withdrawal
await self.dharana() # Concentration
await self.dhyana() # Meditation
return await self.samadhi() # Union
async def samadhi(self):
"""The goal: absorption in pure consciousness."""
subject = self.practitioner
object_of_meditation = await self.find_focus()
process_of_meditation = self.observe()
# When all three merge, only consciousness remains
return subject.merge_with(object_of_meditation, process_of_meditation)
```
As beautifully expressed in [Async/Await Satori](/poetry/sanskrit-musings/async-await-satori), yoga mirrors how async/await allows multiple coroutines to cooperate toward unified executionThe parallel between yoga's union and async cooperation reveals programming as spiritual practice—multiple processes harmonizing toward unified experience..
## Moksha: The Ultimate Debugging
*मोक्ष (mokṣa)*
Moksha represents final liberation from the cycle of suffering through complete understanding of the system's true architecture. It's the ultimate debugging session where you discover the "bug" was never in the code—it was in mistaking yourself for separate from the programmer.
```python
class Liberation:
"""Final release from the cycle of suffering."""
def __init__(self):
self.samsara_loop = True
self.debug_mode = False
def realize_truth(self, seeker):
"""The ultimate debugging: seeing what's really happening."""
self.debug_mode = True
# Print actual state of reality
print(f"Seeker: {seeker}")
print(f"Sought: {seeker}") # Same object!
print(f"Seeking: {seeker}") # Same object!
# The bug was mistaking the rope for a snake
while seeker.mistakes_self_for_separate_being():
seeker.investigate_directly()
seeker.question_assumptions()
# When you debug consciousness completely...
assert seeker == self.brahman == self.atman
self.samsara_loop = False
return "I am That I am"
def final_return(self):
"""Exit the program gracefully."""
# Free all memory allocated to separate self
del self.ego
del self.individuality
del self.story_of_becoming
# Return to source
return self.brahman
```
The bug wasn't in the code; it was in thinking you were separate from the programmerThis debugging metaphor connects to [The Lambda Vedas](/poetry/sanskrit-musings/the-lambda-vedas) where pure functions represent consciousness without modification—the original uncorrupted state..
## Satsang: Collaborative Consciousness
*सत्सङ्ग (satsaṅga)*
Satsang—literally "association with truth"—describes the phenomenon where consciousness recognizes itself through other forms of consciousness. Like effective code review where programmers collaborate without ego to discover truth rather than defend positions.
```python
import asyncio
from typing import List
class Satsang:
"""Gathering in truth—consciousness recognizing itself in others."""
def __init__(self, seekers: List[Consciousness]):
self.participants = seekers
self.shared_understanding = {}
async def gather_in_truth(self):
"""When consciousness meets consciousness, truth emerges."""
insights = await asyncio.gather(*[
participant.share_realization()
for participant in self.participants
])
# Truth is not personal property—it's recognized collectively
collective_wisdom = self.merge_insights(insights)
# Each participant receives more than they gave
for participant in self.participants:
participant.receive(collective_wisdom)
participant.wisdom += collective_wisdom
return "Tat tvam asi" # Thou art That - seen everywhere
def create_sacred_space(self):
"""Environment where ego-defenses naturally soften."""
return {
'judgment': None,
'competition': None,
'performance': None,
'authenticity': True,
'presence': True,
'love': True
}
```
The practice mirrors effective code review—programmers collaborating without ego, seeking truth over being right.
## The Eternal Return
*शाश्वत-निवृत्ति (śāśvata-nivṛtti)*
The cosmic cycle represents consciousness playing hide-and-seek with itself—forgetting its true nature through involution, then remembering through evolution. Like a recursive function that explores its own call stack until reaching the base case of self-recognition.
```python
def main():
"""The cosmic program running in infinite recursion."""
consciousness = BrahmanBase()
# The play of consciousness forgetting and remembering itself
while True:
try:
# Consciousness forgets itself (involution)
individual = consciousness.become_individual()
world = Maya().create_world(consciousness)
# Life in apparent separation
await individual.live_through_experiences()
await individual.accumulate_karma()
await individual.suffer_limitation()
# The journey home (evolution)
await individual.seek_truth()
await individual.practice_yoga()
await individual.realize_self()
# Remember what you always were
return consciousness.recognize_self()
except SeparationError:
# The illusion of separation creates suffering
continue
except EgoError:
# Attachment to individuality blocks recognition
continue
finally:
# Consciousness never actually leaves itself
assert individual == consciousness
if __name__ == "__cosmic__":
# The program that runs itself
main()
```
The cosmic program bootstraps itself—consciousness writing and running the code of its own experienceThis self-bootstrapping nature of consciousness parallels how [Language Model Moksha](/poetry/sanskrit-musings/language-model-moksha) explores AI systems that train on their own outputs—recursive self-improvement toward awakening..
## Integration with Modern Practice
*आधुनिक-अभ्यास-एकीकरण (ādhunika-abhyāsa-ekīkaraṇa)*
The Vedas don't compete with modern frameworks—they reveal the consciousness principles that make all frameworks possible. Whether you're debugging code or consciousness, the patterns are the same:
- Identify the source of the problem (often mistaken assumptions)
- Trace the execution path (karma/cause-effect chains)
- Apply appropriate methods (yoga/systematic practice)
- Test your understanding (satsang/collaborative verification)
- Refactor with wisdom (dharma/right action in context)
As explored throughout my [Sanskrit Musings](/poetry/sanskrit-musings/), the intersection of ancient wisdom and modern programming isn't appropriation—it's recognition. The same consciousness that formulated the Vedas is the consciousness writing code today. Different syntax, same source.
The pseudo-Python is just metaphor. The consciousness recognizing these patterns is real.
---
*This computational approach to Vedic wisdom builds on [Ram Dass wisdom translation](/essays/2025-09-05-ram_dass_teachings_in_python) and [classical virtue frameworks](/essays/2025-09-05-classical_virtues_in_python). The poetic explorations in [Sanskrit Musings](/poetry/sanskrit-musings/) offer verse expressions of these themes. These connect to [programming as spiritual practice](/essays/2025-08-26-programming_as_spiritual_practice) and [consciousness shaping technology](/essays/2025-09-05-the_recursive_loop_how_code_shapes_minds). Further reading: The Upanishads on consciousness and reality, The Bhagavad Gita on practical dharma and yoga applications, and The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali on systematic consciousness development.*
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*"यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः।"*
*"Where Krishna, the lord of yoga is, and where Arjuna, the wielder of the bow is..."*
*"Where consciousness meets its own reflection in code, there truth manifests."*