The Universe we live in
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| Vedic View The universe has caught our imagination to such an extent that we placed it as the abode of Gods. The astral bodies like the Sun, the Moon and various planets look like agents of God who guide the destinies of mortal beings on Earth. The universe we live- in is a wonderful place. It is huge beyond our reach and comprehension. We can only make speculations about it. Earth, which appears very large to us, is in reality a very tiny part of the universe, no more than a dot on a football. Vedas described universe as infinite. Om Purnaam Adah Purnaam Idham Purnaati Purnaam Udchayte (The universe is so large that even when we take away all of our manifest universe (the one we are aware of) it still remains whole.) There has been curiosity among humans to know how this visible universe was created. Our ancients thought it beyond their capability to answer that question properly. They closed the discussion by stating the it has been created by God (Brahman) out of His will( Icchaa) to enable humans to improve their destiny (karma) for liberation (moksha) from their sufferings in the world( Samsara).Other people described it differently but all described it as creation of God. However, we find some guesses in the Vedas of later period. They describe that there is unmanifest (avyakta) Cosmic Intelligence (Purusha)Who decides when to project universe out of the huge primordial mass (Prakriti) impregnated with matter and energy and when to withdraw it. All projected universe is a combination of five great elements( Panch mahabhtas) some gross and others invisible to naked eye . These are: ether (Akash), air (Vayu), fire (Agni) water (Apa) and solid matter (Prithvi) All animate life (Char) and inanimate objects (achar) are a combination of these five great elements. All life is pervaded by an invisible life force (Atma) which is a direct constituent of Cosmic Intelligence (Purusha). Modern View While Vedic people broadly guessed about universe, modern science is exploring the universe through both macro and micro lenses. It has explored the distant stars which fascinated our imagination and worked out the structure of the matter to its minutest stable particle, atom and even its sub particles. It has worked out the cosmic forces which hold the atoms together and has solved the mystery of shinning stars. We no longer believe that our Earth is the centre of the universe. We have worked out how laws of gravity operate in the universe and thus, successfully placed a huge telescopes in the orbit around Earth to gather more information about the astral bodies. While our ancestors had told us that there are several bodies of matter, called planets (Grehas), which revolve round the Sun but they had not figured it out that our Sun is just one of the millions of Suns in one of the galaxies which we have named Milkyway and that there are billions of such galaxies in the universe. But we have to admit their vision of universe: It is huge where no mathematical statement is possible. We know geography of our Earth with its oceans, landmasses, mountains, rivers, forests, mineral resources and the people who inhabit it in a much better way. We have found an amazing pattern in this matter so much so that we have graded the individual elements systematically, that constitute matter, by the weight of their atoms. We have explored atoms of minerals and established that their structural pattern is similar to that we find in the cosmos: a proton in the middle with the mass of the atom and many electrons going round the proton in various orbits. We know from our day to day experience that when matter (for example wood ) is burnt we get energy. Recent studied have confirmed reverse is also true. Energy can also be converted into matter. We are very close to Vedic expression of the universe we live in but we don’t have clear logical answers to how life enters the matter. A lot of thought and experimentation goes on but no conclusive proof has emerged. Some suggest (like Charles Darwin) life evolved out of matter by chemical process and diversified into various animal lives over a long period of time and yet others say life entered Earth from outer space through comets (Fred Hoyle-the Intelligent Universe) in the form of bacteria .Human curiosity has no limits. We are working hard to know how all animals including humans came into existence. We may have answer to that question shortly but that will not change the equation that we all living beings are part of the harmony that exists in the universe. We will continue to be governed by the universal laws that govern life on the planet Earth. We will continue to be born and die time and again. May be, we may live a bit longer Life will not manifest by mixing chemicals, for life is not matter only. It is a mix of five great elements each of which have their unique properties. Life without intelligence will not survive. Intelligence is the bond that unites all beings with the Cosmic Intelligence. Robots cannot become humans. | |
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Saddhak is the pen name of Mr. Piyaray Raina. He was born in Srinagar Kashmir in1936.He is Geologist by profession. He received initiation into spiritual fold at an early age. Married to Krishna, he has a son Dijjotam ,who lives in Atlanta and a daughter Jyoti ,who lives in London. He is the author of “ Socio Religious and Cultural Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits.” Published in 2006. He writes for various community journals and maintains his website (www.kpsamarpan.org) Mr. Raina lives in USA with his son and in Gurgaon India Raina family has set up a Charitable Trust( SamarpanPublic Charitable Trust-regd) in India which is engagedin running charitable school (Samarpan Bal Kendra- SBK) and Crystal Children’s Centre-CCC for kids at Gurgaon ,Haryana.The Trust engaged in various charitable activities. | |
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