Archaeologists excavating a site in the Godavari River basin have unearthed a series of stone stelae containing 'Karma-Dhyana' inscriptions dating back to the 6th century BCE. These inscriptions pre-date many known formal treatises on action and meditation, offering a glimpse into the early Vedic synthesis of ritual and internal contemplation.
The text describes a philosophy where physical actions (Karma) are treated as extensions of a meditative state (Dhyana), positing that the efficacy of an act is derived entirely from the 'Chetana-Suddhi' or purity of consciousness of the practitioner. This find challenges the traditional timeline of the development of the Karma-Yoga philosophy and suggests a much older roots for the internalized ritualism found in later Upanishadic texts.