This article is written by the author of blog Only Hinduism. The thoughts and ideas are of the author and not of hindu-blog.com
Most of us have been taught in school about the awe inspiring laws and theories that have been discovered by scientists in modern times. But, how many of us are aware that we Indians had already understood and implemented these laws hundreds of years before the advent of any western civilization?
In the Vedas there are references to the angular speeds of planets expressed in milliseconds, whose values are correct even according to the most modern measurements. There are even instances of flying vehicles (pushpaka vimana) and nuclear weapons (brahmastra). In this post I present a few possible scientific interpretations of some symbolic concepts in Hinduism. Anantha shayana – It refers to the form of Lord Mahavishnu resting on a five-headed snake. ‘Anantha’, the snake on which lord Vishnu rests, means ‘infinite’ or ‘time’. The word ‘vishnu’ has a meaning that refers to ‘encompassing everything’ or ‘space’. Hence, this depiction shows how time and space are inter coiled, similar to the most modern theories of space-time continuum.
Ardhanarishwara – Is a form that represents Lord Shiva and Devi Parvathi as either halves of a single person. This concept of the union of shiva and parvathi, may be compared to that of matter and energy. Devi parvathi is also known as ‘shakthi’ or energy. Lord Shiva is often known to make anything into dust and smear it over his body. This action may be viewed as the breaking up of matter into it’s most basic form and then uniting it with the source. (an indication of a unified theory as proposed by modern science through theories like the string theory)Lord Shiva and Vishnu are also said to be dark in appearance and omnipresent. Which may be an indication for the fact that dark matter comprises more than 95% of the universe. It is also said by modern science that the atoms have so much space between their sub-atomic particles, that they are 99.9999999% empty. Hence the whole universe has rightly been described by our Vedas as a mixture of space, matter and energy (Shiva, Vishnu, Devi).
As we go deeper into our Vedas, we realise how out-dated ‘modern’ science is and how remarkably advanced our ancestors were. Most of this glory has been lost due to the failure to preserve scriptures. The fact that almost all such texts were in ‘sanskrit’ (which was learned deeply only by the saints and higher castes) is also a factor in the failure to establish the greatness of the Vedas.
These are only a few examples expressed through my perspective. I am sure there are hundreds of other examples in our scriptures and even more explanations based on different perspectives.
Do let me know if you have any similar comparisons between ‘ancient’ Hinduism and ‘modern’ science. Each perspective may be unique and wonderful.