Lord Shiva's ‘oldest prayer’ uncovered: Shiv Trilogy author Amish Tripathi shares how a techie decoded a 4 (original) (raw)
A 4,500-year-old seal discovered in the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro is once again at the centre of a fascinating debate after author Amish Tripathi shared claims that it may contain one of the oldest known prayers to Lord Shiva. The breakthrough, according to Tripathi, came not from archaeologists but from an Indian computer scientist who approached the mysterious Indus script like a cryptographic puzzle.
The ancient artefact, famously known as the Pashupati Seal, has puzzled historians for decades. Unearthed nearly a century ago from the Indus Valley Civilisation site in present-day Pakistan, the small steatite seal shows a horned figure seated in a yogic posture and surrounded by animals including elephants, buffaloes, rhinoceroses and tigers. Many scholars have long linked the figure to a “Proto-Shiva” or Pashupati, the Lord of Animals, but the script carved beside it remained undeciphered.
Techie’s unusual approach sparks fresh interest
The latest excitement around the seal comes from Dr Bharath Rao, a computer scientist known online as @yajnadevam. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Rao began studying the Indus script using concepts from cryptography, pattern recognition and information theory instead of conventional linguistic methods.
Rather than treating the symbols as a normal language, he analysed them as coded information waiting to be unlocked. Inspired by the work of information theory pioneer Claude Shannon, Rao searched for recurring patterns and symbolic connections hidden within the seal.
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According to his findings, several features of the Pashupati Seal closely match descriptions found in the Mahabharata and later Shaivite traditions. He pointed to similarities in the yogic posture, horned headdress, animal imagery and symbolic arrangements surrounding the figure.
Rao believes the inscription may represent an ancient invocation to Lord Shiva, potentially making it one of the oldest recorded Shiva prayers ever discovered.
Amish Tripathi shares the discovery
Amish Tripathi, best known for his bestselling Shiv Trilogy novels, amplified the discussion by sharing Rao’s work with his followers and audiences online. Tripathi described the findings as an important reminder that the Indus Valley Civilisation may have been deeply spiritual alongside being technologically advanced.
“This 4,500-year-old seal is not just an artefact,” Tripathi said while discussing the research. “It may be the oldest recorded proof of Shiva worship.”
The author also argued that many stories once dismissed as mythology by colonial-era scholars could actually preserve historical memories from ancient India.
Why the Pashupati Seal matters
The Indus Valley Civilisation, also called the Harappan or Sindhu-Saraswati Civilisation, flourished between 2600 BCE and 1900 BCE across parts of present-day India and Pakistan. Known for its well-planned cities, drainage systems and trade networks, the civilisation left behind thousands of seals and inscriptions that researchers still struggle to fully decode.
The Pashupati Seal has remained one of its most iconic discoveries because of its striking imagery and possible links to early spiritual practices in the Indian subcontinent.
If Rao’s interpretation gains wider academic support, it could strengthen theories suggesting cultural continuity between the Harappan civilisation and later Vedic traditions, a subject that has long sparked debate among historians and archaeologists.
A mystery that still speaks
Today, the Pashupati Seal rests quietly inside the National Museum in Delhi. Yet after thousands of years, the tiny artefact is once again fuelling conversations about India’s past, spirituality and forgotten knowledge systems.
Whether Dr Rao’s interpretation eventually gains universal scholarly acceptance or remains a compelling theory, the seal has succeeded in doing one thing, reigniting interest in one of history’s greatest unsolved mysteries.