Last time I talked about Sumeru I said that the reason why the region is the only one that represents multiple different countries is because it actually doesn't. Instead it represents an old country that used to stretch across all of these modern ones: The Achaemenid Empire.
But I didn't actually figure this out based on my extensive knowledge of world history. That would have been great for my ego but no. [emoji] Instead it was all thanks to an event we got at the end of v2.3.
So just like the first time Hosseini ran Energy Amplifier he's still available to talk the whole time. And just like last time you can pretty much ignore him the whole time too and just focus on the event. But over the few days the event was around that little icon on the map became this itch I had to scratch so I went over and talked to him.
Darshans and Six of them and Spantamad and Haravatat. Of course anybody would look them up and sure enough it's there in the wiki as well but only if you look at the page on Academia.
Anyway in case you guys didn't look it up yet Darshan is an Indian term so it makes sense with stuff like Kusanali and Purana, all things linked with Sumeru. Darshan is the Hindu name for their six schools of philosophy. But actually neither of the names mentioned by Hosseini are part of it. That's because the original Chinese is not about the Darshans. Instead the names Hosseini mentions all come from Zoroastrianism a Greek name for the religion Mazdayasna named after the creation deity Ahura Mazda also known as the God of Wisdom.
Side note: Darshan is Hindu and in India some Hindus believe that their religion evolved from Mazdayasna. Some even claim that Zarathustra the founder of Mazdayasna was Indian.
And when did Mazdayasna supposedly start? Anywhere between 2000BC - 500BC all within the bounds of the Indo-European Migrations which ended with Achaemenid Persia. (So technically the Hindus who say Zarathustra was Indian might not be wrong. Back then Vedic India was Persian.)
Anyway while there are actually Six Darshans in India's Hinduism there's a totally different group of six in Mazdayasna too called the Amesha Spenta. The 2 Hosseini tells us about are Spantamad and Haravatat. Spantamad focuses on piety specifically as it relates to creation and how it works and in game it's the school of the elements and ley lines both fundamental parts of Teyvat and linked to Celestia. Haravatat is about abundance and perfection which apparently translates to a study in ancient ruins and I'm not quite sure why. (Maybe it's a belief that the old world was more prosperous than the current one?)
Anyway the rest of the Sumeru Darshans are:
Amurdad - Longevity. It is usually tied to Haravatat because of the health aspect to prosperity.
Wahman - Intelligence. This is one of 2 really important Amesha Spenta and it is likely this will be the largest branch in Academia.
Ardwahist - Truth. The other really important one and from how it's defined I feel like this should be the sages and is likely the highest class of Academia but since we know about them from Lisa I feel like this one will be a minority and "sitting underutilized."
Sahrewar - Social Order. This is the last one and it could hold a rank around where Spantamad and Haravatat are.
Side note: In case somebody does look it up just know I'm using the Middle Persian versions of these names because Spantamad is Middle Persian. The original term is Spenta Armaiti.
So what does this have to do with anything? We know Academia predates Kusanali and I said this could mean there's a power struggle between her and the traditionalists in Academia. That causes the frantic quest for knowledge and monetization of knowledge we hear about from Lisa and Yae.
You can kind of see from what they represent that we might see factions within Sumeru with some groups following the crazy scholars of Wahman, some neutral and some siding with Kusanali to push Sumeru forward.
And there's more. I did say there were six schools in Amesha Spenta just like there are Six Hindu Darshans. But actually there's Seven. Spenta Mainyu is usually not included with the other Amesha Spenta because it is sometimes a direct shade of Ahura Mazda itself. (sometimes called the Holy Spirit) As you might expect Spenta Mainyu represents holiness and divinity.
Could it be that this missing Darshan was left out on purpose - maybe even eliminated - by Kusanali so that Academia wouldn't attract the attention of Celestia? Could this Darshan have researched into the truth behind Celestia and Phanes? So this whole folly stuff is Kusanali coercing the Wahman and other Darshans to eventually look into something that they have no expertise in?
Now that's what I'd call a great case study on the phrase: "Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something." Kusanali is wise enough to keep her best and brightest silent while allowing the push for folly that could accidentally give her the results she needs.
And there's maybe even a direction for that already if we want to join up with the Ardwahist or revive the Spenta Mainyu branch at Academia. But I'll save that for that next time.
Tips and Tricks from a Super Casual Genshin f2p
