Science in Vedas

We have all been brought up in a such a way that we automatically believe we are steeped in superstitious and are ignorant scientific knowledge. We believe only the west gave us lessons on science.

But the fact is completely the reverse. When Copernicus forumated the theory of earth being a sphere and not flat, he was so prosecuted by the christian clergy that he had to disown his discovery. But our vedas speak of planetary positions and their movements in the Universe. Even our tamil sanga literature, almost 2500 years old, talk of the Universe as a conglomorate of innumerable spherical planets.

Our Panchangas (Almanac) have a cycle of 60 years. For example: This years panchanga will be exactly replicated after 60 years. The calculations will be so exact that even the Solar and Lunar eclipses will be predicted to the exact second.

We laugh at the picturisation of our Sun as riding a chariot driven by seven horses. But then we dutifully accept the fact that the Sun rays are actually made up of seven colors. What we call as Vibgyor, Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red. This is what our vedas conveyed in the seven horse driven chariot parable.

Our Vedas, Upanishad and Puranas are rich store-houses of the deeper meaning of the universe. This can be exemplified in the well known tales of Dhasavathara in vyasa's Bagavatham.

If you ask an educated person, who propounded the theory of mans evolution, the person will unhesitatingly identify Charles Darvin. But in reality it was Vedavyasa who propounded the theory of evolution.

To prove this, we will have to go first to the eigth Avathar. You may know 'Balarama' is the eigth avathar. You may also know that he is shown with a plough in his hand as a weapon. Now, let me ask you, can anyone use a plough as a weapon of war or aggression? As you might be knowing plough can never be used as a weapon. It is truely, only an instrument of agriculture.

Then, what is the real significance of plough at this juncture? Now go back to the 6th and 7th avathars. 'Parasurama' the 6th was a hunter in the forest with a crude weapon made with a stick cut from a branch of a tree, which had at one end a sharp stone tied with fibre extracted from the bark of a tree. This axe was the first weapon that came in the avathar. With the axe one can attack someone in hand-to-hand fight or kill some animal for food.

Next avathar is Rama with an improved version of a weapon which can kill or wound some enemy or some animal from a distance. In fact Rama was the first to invent a launcher. His bow can launch an arrow and attack from a distance.

These two avathars exemplify the primitive man who probably lived in caves in the forest and worked out a living by hunting. From this hunting man advanced into social life with agriculture as his occupation. Consider also, ploughing can be done only by tethering the plough to a pair of bulls.

Now, that needs a herder of cows and bulls. So, Krishna came as the ninth avathar. He, not only was a cowherd but also the first to advent into the fine arts with his musical instrument, a flute. His weapon was a chakra which cannot be used as a weapon of war. Probably, it was the introduction of wheel in the human world for easy travel. Since agriculture presupposes a social life Krishna was the first to propound each ours duty in a society. His 'Geetha' is a set of rules for social life.

We can now begin from the beginning. As we all know life form evolved in water. So the first of the Ten avathars is shown as 'Mathsyavathar or fish avathar'. Then in course of time the life form tried to venture on to the land. Though it often ventured on to the earth, it lived mainly in water. That was 'Kurma Avathar or Tortoise'.

Then, the life form began to live on land, but its affinity to water was still pronounced. So 'Varaga Avathar' or 'The pig' came into being. Now, evolution has reached a crucial stage. Man has to evolve. But, before that, some being halfway between beast and man has to come-in. That halfway mark is signified by 'Narasima Avathar', a half man, half beast. Naturally, he used his teeth and finger nails as weapons.

Then evolved man himself. When compared to the other life-forms, he was very punny. That was 'Vamana Avathar'. He was the first to invent an instrument. He took a stick from a branch of a tree and attached a dried palm leaf on top. That was a crude form of umbrella to ward of the wrath of Nature, like the scorching sun rays or the pelting raindrops. But in that avathar itself man is shown to have conquered the element by his sheer brain power and mental capacity. That is the significance of 'Vamana' transforming into 'Thirivikrama'.

Then, ofcourse came first the crude hunter with an axe and advanced hunter with a bow and arrow. They were primitive forest dwellers. After that evolved the agriculturist with his plough and his co-worker, the cowherd. They were the representatives of social gathering with sets of rules and regulations.

Now we are in Kaliyuga. Kalki has to appear. Kalki has been picturised as a warrior on a white horse with a shinning sword in his hand. Actually, he could be a man on a white space-ship with a ray gun or some weapon in his hand.

If we begin to think in these lines and delving deep into the significance of our ancient literature and begin to interpret them properly we will be astounded to know how far advanced in scientific knowledge, our ancestors had been.