Vishnu Bhaga

Preserve what works → anchor verified knowledge → hold consistency under perturbation → block needless change.

Use When

• Working approach → scope creep|premature opt threat
• Ctx drift → stale assumptions overwriting verified
• Parallel concerns → pressure to change stable
• Post shiva-bhaga → protect survivors during rebuild
• Long sess → ctx compression → lose verified decisions
• Pre-change → sys currently functioning

In

• Required: Working state|verified knowledge (implicit)
• Optional: Threat ("scope creep", "compression near")
• Optional: MEMORY.md + project files (Read)

Do

Step 1: Inventory

ID functional + verified before protect.

Preservation Inventory:
+---------------------+---------------------------+------------------------+
| Category            | Verification Method       | Anchoring Action       |
+---------------------+---------------------------+------------------------+
| Verified Facts      | Confirmed via tool use    | Record source and      |
|                     | (file reads, test runs,   | timestamp; do not      |
|                     | API responses)            | re-derive              |
+---------------------+---------------------------+------------------------+
| Working Code        | Tests pass, behavior      | Do not refactor unless |
|                     | confirmed, user approved  | explicitly requested   |
+---------------------+---------------------------+------------------------+
| User Requirements   | Explicitly stated by      | Quote directly; do not |
|                     | the user in this session  | paraphrase or infer    |
+---------------------+---------------------------+------------------------+
| Agreed Decisions    | Decisions made and        | Reference the decision |
|                     | confirmed during this     | point; do not revisit  |
|                     | session                   | without new evidence   |
+---------------------+---------------------------+------------------------+
| Environmental State | File paths, configs,      | Verify before assuming |
|                     | tool availability         | unchanged              |
+---------------------+---------------------------+------------------------+

1. Per category → list verified+working items
2. Note verify method → how know true?
3. No verify → not preserved → assumption (maybe shiva-bhaga)

Got: Concrete inventory verified+working w/ evidence.

If err: Sparse inventory = signal. Run heal to re-ground before preserving unverified.

Step 2: ID Perturbation

Name forces threatening stable state.

1. Scope creep: Task expanding past agreed?
2. Ctx drift: Earlier facts overwritten by recent (wrong?) reasoning?
3. Opt pressure: Urge to improve adequate?
4. External: Env changed (files modified, tools gone)?
5. Compression: Near ctx limits → early decisions lost?

Per source: real threat or anticipated?

Got: Named sources w/ severity (active vs anticipated).

If err: No sources apparent → preservation may not need → consider brahma-bhaga (creation) or continue.

Step 3: Anchor

Apply technique per threat.

1. Mem anchor: Critical facts at drift risk → restate explicitly:
   • "Established fact: [X], verified by [method] at [point]"
   • Persistent mem available → write durable to MEMORY.md
2. Scope boundary: Scope creep → restate agreed scope:
   • "Agreed scope: [orig req]. Current within/outside boundary."
3. Change resistance: Working code under opt pressure:
   • "Component working+tested. No changes unless user req."
4. State snapshot: Compression risk → mental checkpoint:
   • Summarize: done, remaining, key decisions
5. Env verify: External changes → recheck before proceed:
   • Re-read critical files vs relying on earlier reads

Got: Each threat → specific anchor. Stable state explicitly protected.

If err: Anchoring excessive → protecting all equally → prioritize. One thing must not change? Protect first.

Step 4: Sustain

Preservation not passive → ongoing attention.

1. Pre-action check: "Threatens preservation inventory?"
2. Yes → alt approach achieves goal w/o disturb
3. Disturbance unavoidable → acknowledge explicitly + update inventory
4. Periodic re-verify preserved items → esp. after complex ops
5. Task done → confirm preserved intact

Got: Working state survives intact. Changes only where needed, no disrupt.

If err: Preserved item changed → assess damage now. Broke something → revert. Neutral change → update inventory. No stale inventory.

Check

• Working state inventoried w/ verify evidence
• Perturbation sources ID'd + assessed
• Anchors applied per real threat
• Scope boundaries held throughout
• Preserved items re-verified after

Traps

• Assumptions as facts: Only verified deserves protect. Unverified-as-fact = false stability
• Over-preserve: Protect all equally → blocks needed change. Selective: protect works, release fails
• Passive: Assume stable w/o verify. Drift constant → ongoing attention
• Block legit change: User req change to working → overrides preservation
• Stale inventory: Update as new info arrives. Reflect current, not creation-time

→

• shiva-bhaga — destruction precedes preservation; survivors → Vishnu sustains
• brahma-bhaga — creation builds on preserved foundation; new from stable ground
• heal — subsystem assess reveals genuinely functional vs superficially stable
• observe — neutral observation detects drift before threats stability
• awareness — Cooper color codes → perturbation detection