“The Supreme Lord said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most secret wisdom, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.” (Bhagavad-gita, 9.1)

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श्री-भगवान् उवाच
इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं
प्रवक्ष्याम्य् अनसूयवे
ज्ञानं विज्ञान-सहितं
यज् ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसे ऽशुभात्

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
idaṁ tu te guhyatamaṁ
pravakṣyāmy anasūyave
jñānaṁ vijñāna-sahitaṁ
yaj jñātvā mokṣyase ‘śubhāt

“Religion and science tend to collide. Each side has their battle lines. They are firmly entrenched in their camp. That’s why you have the bold and firm declarations. One side says that unless you believe in such and such savior, you are doomed. You will be condemned for all of eternity.

“The other side makes it a point to remind people how great science is. As if science is its own person, akin to a savior. I never quite understood how observation and experiment is something to celebrate, but I also never aligned with either side.

“Which brings me to the point of discussion today. At least with the Vedic tradition there is an appeal towards the scientific. For those who are inclined towards observation and experiment, there is explanation of the different elements, how they come together, their origin, the factor of time, the difference between moving and nonmoving, the presence of consciousness, and so forth.

“With that backdrop, what is the response to the claim from the esteemed scientists about the origin of the universe? They speculate that everything came together from a few chemicals. There was a collision, and gradually that spark led to the world we see around us today.

“They can’t replicate the same. They can’t reproduce this supposed science in a laboratory. They say that the changes take too long for anyone to witness. This is the evolutionary cycle, you see. Man can never be a witness, because for the moment they do not live long enough.

“Setting aside the specifics for a moment. It’s not that difficult, considering that the specifics tend to be lacking. But what about the esteemed aspect? These scientists are respected. They publish books. They have honorary titles attached to their names.

“What does the other side have? There are no credentials. No institution of higher learning will approve the idea of a four-armed figure lying down to rest on a serpent-bed and creating the universes through breathing.

“Do you get what I am saying? Will not followers of Vishnu feel inferior when facing the scientists? The population tends to firmly back such a community. The people who follow religion, such as the Vedas, are considered old, primitive, and outdated.”

The truth is not difficult to understand. A sober, rational, and honest person can land upon the proper conclusion if questioned in the proper manner. To begin, we acknowledge that every human being is a participant within this universe. That is at least for the time they are vibrant. The vibrancy is due to a certain factor which cannot be explained by chemical reactions, since the dead body might have the exact same chemical makeup as the living body.

“Man’s knowledge should be developed to explore the technology which deals with the difference between a living man and a dead man, a living body and a dead body. That spiritual knowledge was taught by Krishna in the beginning of Bhagavad-gita. Arjuna was talking to Krishna as a friend. Of course, whatever he was saying was right, but it was right only to a certain point. Beyond that point there are other subject matters of knowledge, which are called adhokshaja because our direct perception of material knowledge fails to approach them.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna, the Reservoir of Pleasure)

As each person is an equal participant in the sum total that is the universe, they are equally eligible for inquiring about and reaching a resolution into the origins of that universe. The honorary titles suffixed to a given name make no difference in the eligibility. The university professor and the streetsweeper have the same right to investigate the cause of the universe and make an assessment after processing the different information available.

There is the philosophical saying of, “I think, therefore I am.” Every person can think. They can think for themselves. They can contemplate the limits of time and space, for instance. They can wonder why people are put on this earth. They can theorize as to what the universe looked like thousands of years ago.

With the theory of chemicals randomly colliding, there is no evidence to support the claim. The same evidence that the skeptics insist upon for accepting the concept of God is lacking in the very foundation of their belief system.

If chemicals collided, where did those chemicals come from? Any person can ask this question. No amount of university degrees is enough to insulate a person from having to provide a meaningful and believable answer. The streetsweeper can ask the scientist this question. If there is no valid answer, then the university education is practically worthless; at least as it applies to this issue.

A person may argue that religion has no answers here, either. The Vedas at least make an attempt. That original substance is known as pradhana. It is the material nature in the unmanifest state. There is a collision of sorts. Then there is a constant changing of states. There is a succession of reactions taking place in a chain.

The distinction is that the Vedas provide a more complete understanding. The changes to pradhana do not take place randomly. There is first the glance from the original source, of both material and spiritual. We can understand spiritual as the animating force. Sort of like the computer requiring electricity in order to function, material nature is incapable of evolving on its own.

This is just a beginning to the understanding, as even the concept of a beginning is limiting. The material energy is actually eternal. It is anadi, in the same way that the spiritual force glancing over the pradhana is without a beginning.

भूत-ग्रामः स एवायं
भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते
रात्र्य्-आगमे ऽवशः पार्थ
प्रभवत्य् अहर्-आगमे

bhūta-grāmaḥ sa evāyaṁ
bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate
rātry-āgame ‘vaśaḥ pārtha
prabhavaty ahar-āgame

“Again and again the day comes, and this host of beings is active; and again the night falls, O Partha, and they are helplessly dissolved.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.19)

Since man cannot remain vibrant long enough to directly witness the creation, maintenance, and eventual destruction, they must accept the truth based on faith. This is already the case when accepting the events of history, both recent and ancient.

In Bhagavad-gita, Shri Krishna describes the qualifications for understanding the spiritual science. The recipient in that conversation is Arjuna. One of his qualities is anasuyave. He is not envious. He is not looking to exploit nature for his own benefit. He is not in an eager pursuit to eliminate acknowledgment of the ultimate controller. He is not foolish enough to think that everything just occurs randomly.

When there is intelligence embedded into every aspect of nature, intelligence should be used in reconciling that which is beyond the scope of perception. Man is not relegated to the darkness of ignorance, without a hope in sight. There is sufficient knowledge available. Every human being, following the call to action of the blessed human birth, has a right to access that knowledge and make the best use of it.

In Closing:

With credentials to intimidate,
But no logic to demonstrate.

That universe from randomness coming,
How single chemical variety becoming.

Any person confidential knowledge can take,
For a personal assessment to make.

That true what Krishna teaching,
To Arjuna and into future reaching.

Categories: questions

Tags: creation, evolution, feature, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, science