India has provided many things to the world from times long past - the decimal system, simple numbering scheme, Yoga etc. It has often been claimed that ancient Indians knew a lot of things which are being rediscovered now - like nuclear weapons(?). It has also been said that many things that Indians discovered have wrongly been attributed to foreigners, for whatever reasons - calculus, the Pythagoras theorem etc. There are also people who have claimed things like the presence of plastic surgery, taking Ganesha's story.
Certain points are readily available for people to check. Some are conjecture-based. Some are obviously purely chauvinistic. I get a bit surprised when I see these chauvinists. Hinduism and Vedas are not so weak that they need western confirmation on every point. While rightly defending what must be attributed to Hindus it is also foolish to claim that everything originated here.
Often, there are people who feel very proud when they see something mentioned in the scriptures find scientific confirmation. While this is obviously nice, people should also note that what is considered "science" or "scientific information" keeps changing. So, if the aforementioned "scientific fact" is later disproved, will they lose their faith also? Hindus consider the Vedas infallible as these are apauruSheya (अपौरुषेय, అపౌరుషేయ), not written by man. Hence, it is kind of self defeating to keep on trying to find validation in the material world.
One such thing is that the Hindu dashaavataaraas, the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu portray the concept of evolution. The logic is that they begin with a fish, move to an amphibian, land animal and then man. I disagree. Let me explain why.
1. Contrary to popular belief, Lord Vishnu did not have only ten incarnations.
2. The SreemadbhAgavatam itself lists many more (I think 25) like Kapila, Vyasa et al. It also mentions that His incarnations are countless. Other well known incarnations are Mohini and Dattatreya.
3. The ten listed incarnations are not in chronological order. For example, Parashurama was a precursor to Rama. However, in the list Rama comes before Parasurama.
4. There are different kinds of incarnations. For example the incarnations of Rama and Krishna are considered to be paripoorNa (परिपूर्ण, పరిపూర్ణ) avatArAs which means the "entire essence" of God descended to the earth. Parasurama's is said to be an aavesha (आवेश, ఆవేశ) avataara wherein only a part is said to have descended.
Now if someone were to ask me whether Hinduism has a problem with evolution, my personal opinion is that it does not. My personal belief is that the end result of evolution is mukti. I have dealt with this earlier. This is not the Abrahamic heaven or hell but is something beyond these. Many may have heard of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Interestingly he himself later added a fifth one related to spirituality. In the bhagavadgeeta Lord Krishna says the following:
बहूनाम् जन्मनाम् अन्ते ञानवान् माम् प्रपद्यते
वासुदेवः सर्वमिति स महात्मा सुदुर्लभः
బహూనామ్ జన్మనామ్ అంతే జ్ఞానవాన్ మాం ప్రపద్యతే
వాసుదేవః సర్వమితి స మహాత్మా సుదుర్లభః
bahoonAm janmanAm ante gnyAnavAn mAm prapadyate
vAsudevah sarvamiti sa mahAtmA sudurlabhah
At the end of many births, the enlightened one attains me. That great soul who thinks Vaasudeva is everything, it is immensely difficult to find.
I know, this is not the same as the "scientific" concept of evolution. In evolution there is no continuity of the same entity. It is the genes that are passed down. I feel science has not yet discovered (or publicly acknowledged sufficiently) certain concepts. The theory of karma allows for a soul to take birth as the simplest (lowest?) life form and then ultimately become a human being (I hope to discuss karma a little later). The ultimate aim of human life is again, mutki.
Thus ends this post.
References:
http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-07-19.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs
Sanskrit transliteration: https://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/sanskrit_devanagari.htm
One such thing is that the Hindu dashaavataaraas, the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu portray the concept of evolution. The logic is that they begin with a fish, move to an amphibian, land animal and then man. I disagree. Let me explain why.
1. Contrary to popular belief, Lord Vishnu did not have only ten incarnations.
2. The SreemadbhAgavatam itself lists many more (I think 25) like Kapila, Vyasa et al. It also mentions that His incarnations are countless. Other well known incarnations are Mohini and Dattatreya.
3. The ten listed incarnations are not in chronological order. For example, Parashurama was a precursor to Rama. However, in the list Rama comes before Parasurama.
4. There are different kinds of incarnations. For example the incarnations of Rama and Krishna are considered to be paripoorNa (परिपूर्ण, పరిపూర్ణ) avatArAs which means the "entire essence" of God descended to the earth. Parasurama's is said to be an aavesha (आवेश, ఆవేశ) avataara wherein only a part is said to have descended.
Now if someone were to ask me whether Hinduism has a problem with evolution, my personal opinion is that it does not. My personal belief is that the end result of evolution is mukti. I have dealt with this earlier. This is not the Abrahamic heaven or hell but is something beyond these. Many may have heard of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Interestingly he himself later added a fifth one related to spirituality. In the bhagavadgeeta Lord Krishna says the following:
बहूनाम् जन्मनाम् अन्ते ञानवान् माम् प्रपद्यते
वासुदेवः सर्वमिति स महात्मा सुदुर्लभः
బహూనామ్ జన్మనామ్ అంతే జ్ఞానవాన్ మాం ప్రపద్యతే
వాసుదేవః సర్వమితి స మహాత్మా సుదుర్లభః
bahoonAm janmanAm ante gnyAnavAn mAm prapadyate
vAsudevah sarvamiti sa mahAtmA sudurlabhah
At the end of many births, the enlightened one attains me. That great soul who thinks Vaasudeva is everything, it is immensely difficult to find.
I know, this is not the same as the "scientific" concept of evolution. In evolution there is no continuity of the same entity. It is the genes that are passed down. I feel science has not yet discovered (or publicly acknowledged sufficiently) certain concepts. The theory of karma allows for a soul to take birth as the simplest (lowest?) life form and then ultimately become a human being (I hope to discuss karma a little later). The ultimate aim of human life is again, mutki.
Thus ends this post.
References:
http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-07-19.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs
Sanskrit transliteration: https://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/sanskrit_devanagari.htm
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