Comments on: Modern Science and the Vedas

By: Gaura-Vijaya

Gaura-Vijaya — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 05:59:31 +0000

Aziz had opened up this thread again. So I looked at the objection raised by Narsingha Maharaja about the relation between Greek Gods and Vedic Gods (he said that all the Greek Gods were unreal and the Vedic Gods were real). This is what noted historian Upinder Singh writes about Kanishka’s coins:

This king’s coinage depicts motifs drawn from a great variety of Indian, Greek and West Asian religious traditions. Apart from the Buddha and Shiva, they include representations of Persian gods such as Atash (a fire god) and Mithra (a sun god), and Greek deities such as Helios (sun god) and Selene (moon goddess). This variety of religious motifs is usually taken as reflecting the king’s personal religious eclecticism or his attitude of religious tolerance. At the level of royal policy, it can be seen as an acknowledgement of the religious diversity within the empire and the attempts of these kings to connect themselves with the deities worshipped in and around their realm.

By: Ritesh

Ritesh — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:45:44 +0000

That’s very interesting, and in fact many yogis, whom Paul Burton met during his course of travels in India during the 1920s, testified about. Perhaps, it takes a higher level of consciousness than that of human beings to actually perceive these realms – which may have totally different physical laws than ours! How small is the human perception then!

By: Aziz

Aziz — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:33:37 +0000

Dear Swami Narasingha, you are giving me a lot of joy reading your text. Although I did not finish reading it, I could not refrain from writing to you “bravo!”. Aziz

But of course, the scientists (physicists) who are doing the research are worthy of respect, honor, great laudations, and sizable salaries because, even though unable to actually prove their theories, they are great and deserve the perks of greatness, because they are able to think about such lofty concepts. They are great minds. See the fun: Vedic knowledge is easily dismissed or not recognized at all. These are simply stories and myths they say, but theoretical physics or science, now that’s something you can believe in!

By: Kula-pavana

Kula-pavana — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:38:21 +0000

Justin, yes – I was not clear earlier, sorry about that. By ‘levels of consciousness’ sometimes people refer to something entirely enclosed within our own sphere of consciousness. When people say that something exists on a ‘subtle plane’ they often mean it does not have a physical side to it, but that is not what the Vedas say about these 14 worlds. All of them have a physical side as well. The ‘subtle body’ refers to mind, intelligence, and ego – but the higher and lower worlds have living beings which have both subtle and physical bodies. That is very clear from the Puranic descriptions. People can even interbreed with the inhabitants of other worlds, which means they are physical. Only ghosts do not have physical bodies.
The Universe is multi-dimensional and the space in it is not linear. These 14 worlds exist physically as separate worlds in this multi-dimensional and non-linear space. And that is what the modern science starts to think as well.

By: Bhakta Justin

Bhakta Justin — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:13:26 +0000

Kula Pavana, I never said the 14 lokas were imaginary. I am a brahmacari after all. What I was saying is that they are on subtle planes of reality. So we are basically saying the same thing.

By: Robotmule

Robotmule — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:12:23 +0000

I’m designing an ontological language using my (“limited”) knowledge of the Vedas and everything else I pick up. I’m trying to foster Bhagavata philosophy, but first the 3 modes must be understood under the correct deities.

http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o149/robotphoto/?action=view&current=NewGon2Web.jpg

Its inspired by the “8 Circuit Grid of Consciousness” of John Lilly, Tim Leary and Robert Anton Wilson. These guys made excellent aesthetic observations on Quantum theory and Neuroscience. Then, it also supports “Evolution” and “Spiritual Functioning”.

Ultimately, it is a non-absolute classification system. My IQ is 245, so this is the level here……..

Criticize this as much as you want, please. It is the service that I’m trying to render. I’m just another rat vying for air……

By: Kula-pavana

Kula-pavana — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:38:21 +0000

Justin, IMO the 14 lokas (or worlds) are real, not imaginary. They are 14 different but simultaneous channels on the ‘Cosmic TV’ broadcast – or the parallel realities some scientists suspect to exist along with our reality. These 14 lokas exist in what the Rig Veda calls ‘abhvam’ – the terrifying void, which may be called the ‘sub-space’. Yogis enter abhvam to instantaneously emerge at any point in the 14 worlds. But if you lose your concentration and become lost in the abhvam, you may be stuck there until the Universe is dissolved. The relationship of the 14 worlds and our chakras is such that you learn how to enter these worlds through a corresponding chakra. Shamanic journeys under the influence of hallucinogens are travels to those paralel realities, where the destination depends both on the hallucinogen used and on our consciousness, resulting in opening a particular chakra and doorway to that world.

By: Bhakta Justin

Bhakta Justin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 02:15:39 +0000

Hare Krishna! For a while the literalistic approach to Puranic cosmology caused me a lot of doubts, and then I decided to do some research. Sadaputa prabhu did the best job of explaining the cosmology of the Puranas in coprehensible terms. The 4 vedas however have some amazing scientific information in them. This is somewhat of a long term research project for me as my service to sri sri Gaura Nitai. I’m planning on writing a paper on fractal geometry, the structure of the vacuum, and how it relates to Krishna consciousness. In the Rig veda it says “Sarva Dishanaam, Suryaha, Suryaha, Suryaha.” meaning that there are suns in all directions, the night sky being full of them. There are also many references in the Vedas to the big bang or bindu sphota. One insight/question I’ve had is that the 14 lokas may be planes of consciousness corresponding to the 14 chakras. If your energy is flowing down it’s going towards lower planes vice versa. It’s sad that some people in Iskcon are opposed to the very knowledge that has the potential to make a lot of scientifically minded people like myself into devotees. By Krishna’s mercy, hopefully my research will have a positive effect. Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

By: swami bv tripurari

swami bv tripurari — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:25:07 +0000

While both these groups of evangelists are propelled by vision of making everyone in world a follower of their respective Holy Books, the situation is even more desperate for Quran zealots. This is because a bulk of Islamic evangelists believe that Jesus will come again towards end of the world after which they would reach Paradise forever. And an important sign of Jesus’ coming is conquest of India. I do not know the original source of this superstition, but this remains a primary motivator for most Islamic evangelists today.

Any references?

By: totagoto

totagoto — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 00:18:01 +0000

The core foundation of Hindu belief is that Vedas contain source of all knowledge – physical or metaphysical. However in last 100 odd years, this belief has come under scrutiny due to the advances that modern science claims to make.

An entire group of Vedic ‘experts’ have stood up to prove that Vedas contain early man theories and are not compatible with modern discoveries. These include communist historians propelled by commentaries on Vedas by western indologists like Max Muller, Griffith et al and a new breed of intellectuals who initiate all research with assumption that ‘old means defective’. However in modern era of religious marketing, another group has come up which would go to any length to discover scientific errors in Vedas. This is the group which would want 800 million Hindus to lose faith in Vedas and their religion and embrace what they believe is the final message of God. Yes I am referring to Islamic and Christian evangelists.

While both these groups of evangelists are propelled by vision of making everyone in world a follower of their respective Holy Books, the situation is even more desperate for Quran zealots. This is because a bulk of Islamic evangelists believe that Jesus will come again towards end of the world after which they would reach Paradise forever. And an important sign of Jesus’ coming is conquest of India. I do not know the original source of this superstition, but this remains a primary motivator for most Islamic evangelists today.

Thus every now and then, we would see references to ‘Scientific Errors in Vedas’. The typical pattern would be english translation of some mantra followed by a Veda Mantra reference. For example
“Earth is flat” – Yajur Ved 32.8

Often the reference and English translation are both pointing to sources best known to authors of these works. But for layman, these create a lot of confusion and doubt over relevance of Vedas. While I would shy away from thrusting my personal faith on Vedas, I would like to provide some excerpts from Vedas that provide clues to deep scientific concepts hidden within them.

Unfortunately, due to thousand years of slavery, burning of our universities and libraries by barbarians and then demands for tackling issues of survival first, there remains a lot of work to be done to rediscover the Vedic sciences. However, sufficient clues exist to justify why this rediscovery would be worthwhile. In this article, I shall provide some brief snippets of such clues.

A point of note: Vedas not being dogmatic in nature and containing eternal truths, do not try to spoon-feed us. Thus Vedas would contain seeds for all forms of knowledge and would urge humans to explore further. Because in the Vedic framework, its our efforts that can provide us bliss.

You can refer to original mantras at http://www.aryasamajjamnagar.org

MOTION OF EARTH

Rig Veda 10.22.14
“This earth is devoid of hands and legs, yet it moves ahead. All the objects over the earth also move with it. It moves around the sun.

In this mantra,
Kshaa = Earth (refer Nigantu 1.1)
Ahastaa = without hands
Apadee = without legs
Vardhat = moves ahead
Shushnam Pari = Around the sun
Pradakshinit = revolves

Rig Veda 10.149.1
“The sun has tied Earth and other planets through attraction and moves them around itself as if a trainer moves newly trained horses around itself holding their reins.”

In this mantra,
Savita = Sun
Yantraih = through reins
Prithiveem = Earth
Aramnaat = Ties
Dyaam Andahat = Other planets in sky as well
Atoorte = Unbreakable
Baddham = Holds
Ashwam Iv Adhukshat = Like horses

GRAVITATIONAL FORCE

Rig Veda 8.12.28
“O Indra! by putting forth your mighty rays, which possess the qualities of gravitation and attraction-illumination and motion – keep up the netire universe in order through the Power of your attraction.”

Rig Veda 1.6.5, Rig Veda 8.12.30
“O God, You have created this Sun. You possess infinite power. You are upholding the sun and other spheres and render them steadfast by your power of attraction.

Yajur Veda 33.43
“The sun moves in its own orbit in space taking along with itself the mortal bodies like earth through force of attraction.”

Rig Veda 1.35.9
“The sun moves in its own orbit but holding earth and other heavenly bodies in a manner that they do not collide with each other through force of attraction.

Rig Veda 1.164.13
“Sun moves in its orbit which itself is moving. Earth and other bodies move around sun due to force of attraction, because sun is heavier than them.

Atharva Veda 4.11.1
“The sun has held the earth and other planets”

LIGHT OF MOON

Rig Veda 1.84.15
“The moving moon always receives a ray of light from sun”

Rig Veda 10.85.9
“Moon decided to marry. Day and Night attended its wedding. And sun gifted his daughter “Sun ray” to Moon.”

ECLIPSE

Rig Veda 5.40.5
“O Sun! When you are blocked by the one whom you gifted your own light (moon), then earth gets scared by sudden darkness.”

“SCIENCE OF BUILDING SHIPS AND AIRPLANES”
Swami Dayanand has detailed Mantras regarding these in his Vedic commentary and Introduction to Vedas” (1876). The scientists of IISc concluded that the mechanism of airplane as suggested by Dayanand is feasible. The first manned plane was built 20 years after death of Swami Dayanand.

The verses are difficult to translate in English here, but readers are advised to review “Introduction to Vedas” by Swami Dayanand or interpretations of following mantras: Rig Veda 1.116.3, 1.116.4, 10.62.1, 1.116.5, 1.116.6, 1.34.2, 1.34.7, 1.48.8 etc.

SCIENCE OF TELEGRAPHY

Rig Veda 1.119.10
“With the help of bipolar forces (Asvins), you should employ telegraphic apparatus made of good conductor of electricity. It is necessary for efficient military operations but should be used with caution.”