Vedic vs modern science

There was a very nice comment given for a previous post by a reader, so I decided to put it up here...

"
Just want to share the following points about Vedic civilization compare to modern scientific development.

Some example (I am quoting directly from scripture which were dated around 3000 B.C.):

a) Atomic Theory“The material manifestation's ultimate particle, which is indivisible and not formed into a body, is called the “parama-anu”. It exists always as an invisible identity, even after the dissolution of all forms. The material body is but a combination of such particles, but it is misunderstood by the common man. They are the ultimate state of the manifest universe. When they stay in their own forms without forming different bodies, they are called the unlimited oneness. There are certainly different bodies in physical forms, but the particles themselves form the complete manifestation. One can estimate time by measuring the movement of the atomic combination…”Bhagavad Purana 3.11 [Calculation of Time from Atom] http://www.vedabase.net/sb/3/11/en

Remark: The idea of atom/fundamental particles was first accepted as scientific in 1803 (John Dalton)…almost 5 millennium after this scripture!

b)The world was surprise with amazement when Einstein proposes theory of relativity(TOR)-1905. But this theory is very common to any regular Vedic student. It is accepted as a matter of fact in Vedic literatures/Puranas. This is one of the reasons why Puranas are often considered myth by common public – it requires a genius like Einstein to recognize and understand such a theory.

c) Genetic scienceGenetic scientists were struggling for centuries to determine the most basic of our human origin – how our body is formed in womb.

Vedic: “The Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body. On the first night, the sperm and ovum mix, and on the fifth night the mixture ferments into a bubble…”Bhagavad Purana 3.31.1 [Lord Kapila's Instructions on the Movements of the Living Entities] http://www.vedabase.net/sb/3/31/en

Remark: Only in 1843-The fact that human conception occurs when the sperm enters the ovum is discovered by physician Martin Berry! and changed the way the world sees human reproduction. Before people used to believe that the male implants life into the female.

d) World map was discovered in 16th/17th centuries only. In Mahabharata how our earth looks from moon is explains – and with some intelligent interpretation it is exactly the modern map! [Sorry, can’t get the exact reference right now].

e) Definitions: Vedas also has a very precise definition. For millennium non of the definitions and models were changed...and they fit the purpose very well. However, modern science is not like that. Very often we find the previous definition is no more valid. Just last year “planet” was redefined. “Species” is defined in science with sooo many exception (remember studying about this in one of my bio module). “Living entity” is only described and not defined in science. However, all these are precisely defined in vedic science.

And there are many more things. But we can see the pattern; modern science is eventually approaching Vedic science. Modern science is still in a stage under research, whereas Vedic science is matured & conclusive. The final answer in modern science is always “under research” but not so for Vedas.

Btw, I am not against modern science. I am too a science student – and science was always my favorite. My approach is that I accept science till the extend it doesn’t contradict with Vedas. If it does, then I accept science as an approximate useful model. Factually speaking this is how science is viewed… as model within a given constrain. For example, Einstein has proven Newtons Laws to be inaccurate (in fact false), however we still study and use Newton’s Law because it is a good and useful approximation in low energy analysis. Beyond certain range Newton’s Law fails terribly. So I believe the same is true for all scientific theories/models, they apply well within certain constrain.

Non of the vedic “models” have been proven to be wrong, yet. "

- written by 'brajahari'