Scientific Parallels in Hindu Mythology
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Indian people consider Hinduism not as a religion, but a culture. Generally Hindu mythology is linked with superstitions, impossibile facts, magic and occult practices, mystic customs etc. But in many cases hidden behind this ‘impossible’ portrayal of facts lies facts of science. The Vedas,Puranas and epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata are full of information that if interpreted correctly give us clearly established scientific facts.
This method may have been employed by the sages of ancient India to carry forward scientific knowledge to other generations and not let the knowledge be lost due to ignorance on behalf of the people, since Hindus consider knowledge divine and supreme. They may have concealed these facts within religion.
Thus religion was used as a carrier of scientific information, as a transmitter of knowledge. Extensive symbology may have been used for this purpose:
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[edit] Evolution mentioned in the Bhaagavta
Evolution is suggested in the Hindu text of Bhagavata. The text speaks of the Dashavatar - the 10 incarnations of Vishnu, a Hindu God, across four eons of time. They are:
1. Matsya - The Fish
2. Kurma - The Tortoise
3. Varaha - The Boar
4. Narasimha - The half man and half lion form
Note- this point marks the transition from a theriomorphic (animal form) to partially anthropomorphic (man-like form)
5. Vamana - The Dwarf man
6. Parashurama - Rama with the axe
7. Rama
8. Balarama
9. Krishna (the more popular form)
10. Kalki the destroyer.
[Article On Dashavatar[1]
This order suggests the development of animal life on earth to its most evolved form. The science of Evolution suggests animal life first appeared in the ocean, then turned amphibious at some point in time, and from these developed terrestrial life of lesser orders to more advanced forms of carnivores to mammals, to human.
Parashurama mythology suggests the ancient history of man. For example, Parashurama is pictured as holding an axe- it may have been a symbology for less developed forms of tools that prehistoric man used. Also, Parashurama is famous for his temper - which may imply primitive man.
Rama is said to have been exiled to the forest for a large part of his life (in the famous epic the ‘Ramayana’), and he is often pictured with the bow and arrow. This may have been symbolic of hunting - ie, as man the Hunter.
Balarama is pictured as holding the plough(which his supposed to be his Ayudha- ie. Weapon or tool). This is clearly symbolic of agriculture- which started later on in human history after hunting and after more sophisticated tools were made.
Krishna may have depicted Man the Philosopher, or Man the Scientist (advanced Science developed later on in human history). The next- Kalki (the destroyer)- is depicted as holding the sword, a symbol of killing- and the Kalki form is then perhaps a symbol of the destructive nature of man.
Thus, the Dashavatar can be interpreted as a symbolic representation of development of life on earth and man’s progress throughout history.
[edit] The Law of conservation of energy in Hinduism
The ‘Shivpurana’ is a set of texts devoted to the history and description of Shiva - a Hindu God. One of the lines says-
“He is Shakthi(meaning energy or power)…. He was never created, he is never destroyed. He exists, and is seen in many forms by us.”
In this quote, if one substitutes ‘energy’ instead of ‘he’, it suggests the Law of conservation of energy. It is said in the beginning that ‘he is shakthi’ there could clearly be no other meaning implied. This is amazing, to know that such a law that was discovered in a comparatively later age (latter half of second millennium) was known even in the ancient ages in India.
[edit] Earth’s spherical nature mentionded in the Bhaagavta
The ‘Bhaagavata’ describes in detail the Hindu God Vishnu and his ten incarnations. The very beginning of Bhaagavata mentions earth as the ‘BhooGola’- meaning the sphere of earth. The same spherical nature of earth has been mentioned several times throughout the text (especially in the Varaha avatar- boar form). Though we know that now it is accepted that earth is spherical(more or less) this is an amazing fact that it comes from such an ancient age when people were believed to be in the middle of the ‘earth is flat’ superstition.
Note- The spherical nature of Earth seems to have found voice in the Bible also, where it refers to the ‘Circle Of Earth’, which probably implies the round or spherical shape of earth.
[edit] Mention of existence of radioactive ores on coast of India
Hindu mythology relates the end of the Krishna Avatar of the God Vishnu and his clan to a curse. It says that according to a curse, the fall of the Yadava clan of Krishna was to be from a particular mace. In order to negate the threat of this curse, the Yadavas powdered this mace and put it into the ocean. This powder was washed ashore where it mingled with the sand on the coast and grew into a deadly grass, and here the Yadavas are said to have fought and died.
According to mythology, Krishna’s empire spanned the western Malabar coast of India, with capital at Dwaraka in Gujarat. However, the Malabar coast is also famous for another thing- it holds the world’s richest sources of radioactive Thorium and also quantities of Uranium. Much of the world's current demand for thorium metal and its compounds is satisfied by mining placers along India's Malabar Coast, where wave action deposits monazite as a coarse yellow-to-brown sand on beaches. Also, the study of geochemical behavior of thorium and uranium isotopes and their activity ratios have in the coastal marine sediments of the West Coast region of India and the surrounding sea region show that these regions have an anomalously higher concentration of radioactive ores when compared to the northern or eastern Indian coast (for more detailed explanation of this study mail me). Scientists maintain that results of this study can be correlated with the transport and deposition of artificially introduced radioactivity or any run-off terrestrial pollutants in the region.
A ‘deadly sand’ could be descriptive of the West Coast's radioactive ore - which may have led to the destruction of the Yadava clan.
[edit] The Five forms of matter
Today scientists recognize mainly four forms of matter- solid, liquid, gas and plasma (which lies at a sort of transition state between energy and matter and exists in stars, etc). Apart from this, energy is also considered a form of matter (or vice-versa) after Einstein proved energy and matter could be interconverted through the famous formula E=mc2.
Hindu texts state that the World is made of five elements (PanchaTatva): Earth (Bhoomi), Water(Jal), Air(Vayu), Fire(Agni) and Sky (Aakash).
Soil, water, air and fire describes the scientific forms of matter - solid, liquid, gas and energy, while the fifth Hindu element - sky - might describe vacuum - nothing but empty space, or even Ether, a hypothesized fluid said to span the entire universe.
Thus the forms of matter are covered in the Panchatatva.
[edit] Law Of Entropy
Hinduism holds that once the Universe was more pure and free of sin, and as the Yugas (Time cycles) progress, the condition of the Universe deteriorates more and more, until at the end of the last Yuga- the Kali Yuga (which is linked with disorder) the state of disorder will reach an apex and then God will come and purge the world of all sin and destruction.
Almost all the religions throughout the world also describe disorder is increasing and that on a final Judgment day (or doomsday)- God will come to cleanse the world of Evil. The Bible has several verses that imply disorder is always on the increase (contrasting with ideas of Civilization, progress and development.)
The Law of Entropy" is the second law of thermodynamics: every reaction, physical or chemical, in this Universe goes forward only if it attains a state of more disorder. By definition entropy is the measure of disorder of a system. For example, the evaporation of water to vapor or melting of ice to liquid leads to more ‘disorder’ among water molecules, which were once tightly packed together but are now more separated and disarranged.
In other words, with forward movement of time, entropy of the Universe increases. This is what is implied in mentioning that the Universe is always moving towards disorder until it reaches a state of maximal entropy.
[edit] The Bridge Of Ramayana
A recently discovered bridge currently named as Adam's Bridge made of chain of shoals, c.18 mi (30 km) long, in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka has a unique curvature and composition that it is man made. The legends as well as Archeological studies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to the a primitive age, about 1,750,000 years ago and the bridge's age is also almost equivalent.
[Rama's Bridge: Related Article[2]
This information supports the epic Ramayana, which was supposed to have taken place in tretha yuga (more than 1,700,000 years ago). In this epic, there is a mention about a bridge, which was built between Rameshwaram (India) and Sri lankan coast under the supervision of a dynamic and invincible figure called Rama who is supposed to be the incarnation of the supreme (Dashavatar). This information may not be of much importance to the archeologists who are interested in exploring the origins of man, but it is sure to open the spiritual gates of the people of the world to have come to know an ancient history linked to the Indian mythology.
