Posted on by wrote in Creation, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Science and the Bible.

Editor’s note:  This is a rather long question, with many parts, but the answer is down below!

Question:

Hindu religious texts (Puranas) contain several cosmological descriptions that intriguingly align with modern scientific understanding. While these alignments may not be exact or systematically scientific, they can be interpreted as reflections of profound philosophical and observational insights. Here are a few examples:

1. Concept of Time and Scale

Puranic Description: The Hindu texts describe time in vast scales. For example:

A kalpa (a day of Brahma) equals 4.32 billion human years.

A maha-yuga (a cycle of four yugas) spans 4.32 million years.

These scales are cyclic, suggesting an infinite and eternal universe.

Modern Parallel: The timescales in Hindu cosmology are remarkably close to the estimated age of Earth (4.5 billion years) and the universe’s cyclical models in modern cosmology (like the Big Bang and Big Crunch theories).

2. Multiverse Theory

Puranic Description: The concept of multiple universes (anda-koti brahmandas) appears in texts like the Vishnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana. Each universe exists within a cosmic “egg” and has its own creator, sustainer, and destroyer.

Modern Parallel: The multiverse hypothesis in modern physics suggests that multiple universes may exist simultaneously, each with its own laws of physics.

3. Creation and Destruction of the Universe

Puranic Description: The universe is cyclically created and destroyed through the processes of srishti (creation), sthiti (preservation), and pralaya (dissolution). This aligns with Shiva’s dance (Tandava), symbolizing cosmic rhythms of creation and destruction.

Modern Parallel: The cyclic nature of the universe resonates with theories like the Oscillating Universe model, where expansion and contraction repeat over infinite cycles.

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4. Shape and Nature of Earth and Space

Puranic Description: Ancient texts describe Earth as spherical (bhu-gola) and mention it as floating in space, supported by cosmic forces (interpreted as gravitational forces in modern terms).

Modern Parallel: The understanding of Earth’s shape and its position in space aligns with our current knowledge of planetary science.

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5. The Concept of Infinity

Puranic Description: The Rigveda refers to the universe as “Ananta” (infinite), and descriptions of the cosmos often emphasize endlessness in both time and space.

Modern Parallel: Modern cosmology also explores the possibility of an infinite universe or multiverse.

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6. Quantum-like Concepts

Puranic Description: The Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads discuss the interconnectedness of all existence, the illusion of separateness (maya), and the notion of the observer influencing reality (drishti-srishti vada).

Modern Parallel: These ideas resonate with quantum physics concepts like wave-particle duality, observer effect, and entanglement.

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7. Evolution of Life

Puranic Description: The Dashavatara (10 avatars of Vishnu) can be interpreted as a symbolic progression of life forms:

1. Matsya (Fish) – Aquatic life.

2. Kurma (Tortoise) – Amphibians.

3. Varaha (Boar) – Terrestrial mammals.

4. Narasimha (Half-man, half-lion) – Transition to humans.

5. Vamana (Dwarf) – Early human forms.

6. Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, etc. – Advanced human evolution and societal development.

Modern Parallel: This sequence is comparable to the biological evolution of life on Earth, though it is metaphorical rather than scientific.

Here is my insight:

For me Most intriguing and fascinating ones are the age of the earth and theory of evolution philosophical concepts of hindusim

What do you say when some body more proud of hindu cosmological facts that are so near to the modern science that motivates them to believe in Hindu philosophy because it has extensive cosmological facts than any religion, it has got them because it is a true world view and because it has got the origin of universe and human so rightly near to the modern science we need to consider it, obviously we may not find everything to be understood but it has got the mysteries of origin right that aligns with the modern science then it definitely knows everything and we may not understand them fully with this limited mind.

What is your response?

Answer:

What a great question.  My overall response is that, outside of the coincidence of the length of a kalpa, I see no real parallel between Hindu cosmology and science.  In fact, what I see is a cosmology completely incompatible with current scientific understanding. Let me explain.

Here is the bottom line:  Hindu cosmology not only proposes, but requires an infinite uncreated universe.  Because of its commitment to the pantheist world view, with its concept of God being coextensive with the universe, Hinduism simply cannot live with a universe which was created out of nothing in a “big bang” event.
In fact, the very use of infinity which you mention, does not comport with the known universe.  By the way, just so you know, the current cosmological model does not propose an infinitely big universe!  So this parallel is not a parallel at all, but a difference.
Now I will go through the points one at a time:
1. Yes, it is a bit interesting, I suppose that the kalpa is a bit over four billion years, but what about the maha-yuga of a bit over four million years.  And, it has been a while, but I believe that there is also another cycle which is a bit over four trillion years.  To cherry-pick the kalpa as “evidence” but then ignore the other cycle lengths, which have no correspondence with any reality in the physical world is to make a very week argument indeed.  It amounts to a logical fallacy.
2. I see no parallel between the multiverse theory and hindu cosmology whatsoever.  The Hindu concept is consecutive creations and destructions, not multiple simultaneous, separate universes,  Again, I see no parallel whatsoever here.
3. With the natural universe, this idea of consecutive creations and destructions has literally no parallel. None.  The entire idea of an infinite chain of trillions of years-long cycles repeated over and over is absotutely and fundamentally not in agreement with current cosmological understanding.  Again, I see no parallel here, other than the idea that Hindu cosmology conceives of long periods of time.
4. I have also seen the puranic model of the earth supported on the back of four turtles, floating in a sea of milk.  Perhaps this is even the one being used here.  Unless I see an actual quote from the Puranas, I am VERY skeptical that this claim that Hindu cosmology conceives of a sphere floating through space is accurate.  I need to see the actual source.  I am prepared to consider this as worth responding to if you or someone else can get the quote from which this supposed model is taken.  Again, I am extremely skeptical that this will work if the actual quote is given.
5. As I already mentioned, the idea of infinity does not comport with the current cosmological models.  It is not uncommon for many less-informed people to assume that the universe is infinite in either time or space, but this is not the case.  The parallel, therefore, is not a true one.
6. Sorry, but the concept of maya, a philosophical or theological one, has no parallel in quantum mechanics.  I am a chemical physics PhD, and I can say with confidence that there is nothing even remotely like the Hindu concept of maya found in quantum physics.  This is a very big stretch.  Maya is the idea that what we see is an illusion–that it is not fundamentally real.  This is not at all what is proposed by quantum mechanics.  Quantum mechanics does allow for a level of uncertainty in energy, location and so forth, but not for the idea of illusion.
7. Sorry, but I had to laugh at this one.  Parallels between the supposed list of atavars of Vishnu and organic evolution of species.  Can anyone take this seriously?   Please….  This is such a stretch that the person proposing this ought to be embarrassed–it makes me less likely to take any of the other proposals seriously.
In summary, the fundamentally-required cosmology of Hinduism is in diametric opposition to what science seems to tell us.  Science tells us that there is one known universe, not many.  Multiverse theory is pure speculation, with no basis in evidence.  In any case, the absolute requirement of pantheistic Hinduism is an infinite, uncreated universe.  Infinite time, infinite space, and trillions of years long cycles of creation and destruction are simply and unequivocally incompatible with what we know about the natural universe.
John Oakes

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