India's Glorious Scientific Tradition-LX The Shwetaashwar Upanishad

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The Shwetaa-shwar Upanishad describes what the world is. What is the reason for its existence. While analyzing it, some considered time to be the reason, some considered nature to be the cause, some said it was sudden coincidence, some said nature, some a collection of matter, some considered man to be the cause and someone thought it was a collection of all these. But what will happen when we do not find the ultimate truth? In reply, the Upanishad says?

The dhyaanayogaanugataa apashyan
Devaatmshaktim swagunaeernigoodhaam.
Yah kaaranaani mikhilaani taani.
Kaalaatmayuktaa nyadhitishthatyeka.
?(Shwetaashwar Upanishead 1-3)

This means that when this happened, he took the shelter of dhyaan (meditation) and yoga, and going into the internal depths, perceived the supreme power that is the cause of this entire world including time.

And when this perception occurs, we understand that all that is known and unknown is the expression of that one alone and that the entire world, its powers, animals birds, insects, moths, trees, humans are all various forms of that one element. This experience gives rise to integral vision. This is one of the best gifts from India which ends the difference between the living and the non-living and solves all the problems of the world and its biggest mystery, that is man. Only India can give this knowledge to the world.

The scientific outlook of the West and its consequences

The history of the scientific development in the west had a major role to play in its scientific outlook.

1. The process of scientific development in the West had to suffer the organised cruel assaults of the church. As such, science there has been a little more inclined towards materialism.

2. Because of the thinking of Bacon and Descartes, only those things that were proven through mathematical interpretations and experiments were considered true. As such, all other aspects of life, whether they were psychology, art or literature, were all kept out of the periphery of science. A concept was formed that the human mind, his feelings, his family were not within the periphery of science. They believed that matter and mind are two separate things and that only matter is a subject of science and that anyone who tries to link the mind with matter, is unscientific.

3. Newton presented the concept of a mechanical universe according to which, this world is a machine. If one can acquire knowledge about each part of the machine, then one can get control over the machine. From the view of gaining control, the mentality to win the nature was born. As a result, the earlier concept of looking at nature as a mother was replaced by the concept that it was to be enjoyed and the mentality to use our scientific capabilities to torment nature, to exploit it and to gather things of comfort for ourselves was developed. This is the cause of many of today'sproblems.

4. Newton'sconcept of a mechanical universe, which means that everything works as per set rules, was applied by Darwin in the fields of biology, by John Lock in the field of sociology, by Marx in the field of the process of social change and Malthus in the field of economics from which developed an inanimate but hard system.

5. The principles of quantum theory and relativity destroyed the concepts of a mechanical universe, certainty or definiteness and some fundamental or basic particles because a number of energised electrons, hydrones, means, mesons, etc. inside an atom are striking against each other and making new energies. Hence, one can definitely not say what is happening in the atom right now. We can only express what is happening by saying that such and such a thing may possibly be happening.

Hence, today'sscientist is also compelled to use the same words that the Indian philosophers in the ancient times used for that ultimate truth. For example, Oppenheimer said, ?If anyone asks me if atoms of energy are stationary then I will say no. If anyone asks me if they are a form of particles, I will say no. If anyone asks me if they moving, I will say no. If anyone asks one if they are waves, I will say no. If anyone says if they are neither this nor that, then what are they, then I will say it is just like that.? On this, we are reminded of the Eishawaasya Upanishad in which the sage says:

Tadejati tannejati tad doore tadwantike
Tadantarasya sarvaswa tadu sarvasyasya baahyatah
ishavaasya-5

It moves, it does not move, it is far, it is near, it is within everyone, it is outside everyone.

Similarly, today'sscience says that there is duality in the entire world. There is matter and anti-matter. I one atom of energy in the universe is moving clockwise and moving upwards, then side by side, somewhere else, it's counterpart is moving anti-clockwise and moving downwards. Indian philosophers had also said much earlier that the world is full of dualities?dualities between man and nature, joys and sorrows, cold and heat, day and night.

(This book is available with Ocean Books (P) Ltd. 4/19 Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi-110 002)

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