Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma

Perceptions of Vedic Seers and Modern Scientists

Abstract

In this article, the theist approach towards epistemology and knowledge of universe creation is discussed. It is based on fourteen propositions about existence of the Brahman i.e. the Supreme Entity. These are in tune with the understanding of the creation theories of the modern cosmology. R?gvedic theism asserts that there is a Supreme Entity (SE) which manifests itself in different forms. As the present author proposes, all the knowledge of every type, regardless of discipline, related to basic and advanced sciences, astronomy and cosmology is part and parcel of the brahmajñ?na. Here only the development of scientific theories in science in the West through sheer intuition is discussed. Scientists who discovered those theories were no way influenced by the theistic or theological background. They had no inkling towards attributing these discoveries to any SE. Thus a) Einstein’s discovery of the ‘principle of equivalence’ leading to the general theory of relativity; b) the initial perception of the loss of energy from the black holes by Stephen Hawking; c) Cosmologist Tryon’s visualization of the universe erupting out of nothing as a quantum fluctuation and explanation of the critical density of the universe stands on par with ?di Shankar?c?rya’s dictum brahma satya? jaganmithy?| Brahman real, the world illusion; d) the technical marvels created by the ancient and mediaeval temple architects, engraving fractal like patterns on the walls in many south Indian temples, all these were intuitive and not strictly mathematical. In many instances what the ancient seers and sages perceived through grand intuitive perceptions run parallel with the intuitive perceptions of the modern scientists and cosmologists. P?tañjala Yogas?tras give us clues towards an intuitive reception of the universal cosmological and even the materialistic laws in the physical sciences