Religion and science are today considered to be mutually exclusive domains. But one recent new item has shown that these fields are not as far apart as some may imagine.
Invisible Star Causes Extinction on Earth
A news item that was widely circulated in the print and electronic media in early March 2010. It was reported that an invisible star five times the size of Jupiter is orbiting the solar system at 25,000 times the distance between the Earth and the sun.
NASA scientists have nicknamed this star Nemesis because it is believed to be responsible for the mass extinctions that occur on the Earth every 26 million years or so. It's said that the extinction of the dinosaurs was one such extinction. The star’s gravitational pull drags icy bodies out of a huge dust cloud and hurls them towards the Earth as comets; the collisions cause near total annihilation.
Today, there is NASA, the space station, the most complex telescopes and centuries of meticulous research to fall back on. Therefore, this news item does not appear incredible. But it is not difficult to imagine the disbelief had this item being published 1000 years ago or 2000 years ago or 6000 years ago. The further back the news item is projected the greater is the disbelief.
But this news item was published more than 6000 years ago. It is true that the context was different and so was the structure but, the underlying message was very similar.
Creation and Destruction in Hindu Scriptures
The concept of time as described in the ancient Hindu scriptures can be summarized as follows: The universe is created. It flourishes for a period known as a ‘mahayuga’ and is then destroyed. A mahayuga is 4.32 million years.
Hindu writings indicate that after the destruction, the universe lies in a state of nothingness for a mahayuga and then creation again takes place. This cycle continues for 71 mahayugas. This period of 71 mahayugas is known as a manvantra. After one manvantra the universe lies in a state of nothingness for a period of one manvantra. This cycle continues for 14 manvantras. This period of 14 manvantras is called a kalpa. After one kalpa the universe lies in a state of nothingness for a period of one kalpa. This cycle continues for 36,500 kalpas. This period is known Brahma’s lifetime. After 36,500 kalpas the universe lies in a state of nothingness for a period of Brahma’s lifetime. And so on. To many Hindus this description of time is God’s word that occurs with scientific precision. To others it is a metaphorical description of the cyclical nature of time.
This account does not describe how the creation and destruction of the universe occurs. Traditionally, the destruction of the universe is attributed to Shiva. Shiva performs the Tandava, the dance of destruction and the Earth is covered by a deluge. This is as fantastic or as credible as an invisible entity lurking in outer space hurling comets at Earth.
Scientific Observation and Religious Hypothesis
Today, there are scientific hypotheses is available that support an unending sequence of creation followed by destruction. The extinction of life on earth caused by Nemesis is just one of them. The periodic overflow of polar ice caps into what is known as the ice ages is another example. There is even an astrophysical hypothesis that states that the universe expands and contracts alternately in an unending sequence.
The Vedic seers who formulated the Hindu hypothesis of creation and destruction described earlier had none of these scientific theories to go by. But they saw that night follows day and day follows night unerringly and unendingly. They were also aware of the annual cycles of the seasons and climates. They had also figured out the larger stellar cycles of the apparent movement of star arrangements that spanned decades or more. It is hardly surprising then that they envisaged successively larger cycles of time such as mahayuga, manvantra and kalpa.
Resources:
Invisible star ‘shooting comets at Earth’; News.com.au.
The Cycles of Time; Suite101.com.
Creation in the Puranas; Suite101.com.
Harsh Nevatia - I live in Mumbai on the west coast of India. I am an engineer by education, have worked as an executive for most of my career but am ...
