Conversations with Sri Swamiji -4

Below is another interesting conversation from my conversations with Sri Swamiji..

-K.Janakiraman, Chennai.

Science and Scripture

The study of Science or Mathematics consists of learning the various inventions, theories, hypothesis and facts contributed by several scientists. For example, in physics, scientists like Newton, Einstein, Edison and many others have put forth laws and theories. It is only such contributions which make up the subject called physics that we learn today. None of these can be neglected if we want a complete picture, for one scientist’s finding would have been the spark or seed for the other.

Similarly, in the field of Chemistry, scientists like Avogadro and Mendeleev are very important and the contributions of such great scientists alone has gone into the formation of that subject. So also in Mathematics, we all know about Pythagoras, Pascal, Euclid and of course, the mighty Ramanujam. Such scientists, who were intellectuals, interrogated extensively and deeply the gross external world and gave us such valuable theories.

Now, we have to note that nobody questions why there are so many scientists and theories in this field of Science! Does anybody ever say “Please name just one scientist! Why confuse us with so many names and theories?” That is because we realize that each and every scientist’s contribution is an integral part of the subject.

In our religion, we have many Seers(Rishis) who have given their revelations like Vedic Manthras, Sutras,Vidya-s,(ways to realize the Truth) etc which form our entire scripture. Rishis like Yajnyavalkya, Gautama, Veda Vyasa, Bodhaayana, Aashwalaayana, Vishwaamitra and so on have revealed many such treasures which are very very valuable. Just as the scientists explore the gross world with their intellect and get to understand its intricacies more and more, our Seers explore the subtle inner world with their power of meditation and to them stands revealed all the divine secrets.

Unfortunately, many question as to why there are so many Seers and Mantras in our religion and why not we name a single Rishi as the author of our scriptures! We now have to extend a similar discussion as above in the case of our scriptures too. Each Seer is as important as the other, and all their teachings only add to the richness of our scriptures. So, such a doubt must be dismissed considering it as lack of deeper understanding!