[lit-ideas] vedic science
- From: JulieReneB@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 14:59:35 EDT
<<Vedic Science:
Of AUM, Brahman, String theory and Fractal Universe!
- By, Hemant Krishna V.
AUM and String theory... Brahman and the Fractal universe... The `Big
Bang', the `Big Crunch' and the "World Egg' of Manu Smrti. At the
first glimpse, they indeed appear absurdly apart and dangerously
diverse. However, a second and a closer look tells that there is a
deep underlying connection between the two. What follows is the
debate on whether ancient Indian mythology is `good science' or `bad
science'. If it is not a bad science then the question comes up: Why
has it been so brutally ignored, since long? Perhaps, due to the
explicit poetry involved, the magniloquent, yet vivid worldly
descriptions of the most imperceptible entities of this Universe make
Indian mythology look more and more unscientific. It is when one
explores to the core, the truth embedded in it, that he realizes that
science is not just a dry and uninteresting study of anything and
everything, but the one which has been robbed of its inherited beauty
and splendour.
If you dust off an ancient Upanishad book, that looks much like a
relic and riffle through its pages, you might come across words which
hint that, "Everything emerged from the same source...called a pure
Being...From the pure Being evolved pure Space...from the vibrations of
the Space, Air was produced...Air friction then led to the emergence of
Fire...Fire gave rise to Water (like sweat produced by heat)". Don't
laugh off these as unsubstantiated hypotheses. Think of the String
theory, which suggests the vibration of Space gave way to elements.
Observe that the elements that are quoted above, match the four
states of matter, which we know as plasma, gas, liquid and solid.
If we delve deep into both the theories, some astonishing revelations
surface out.
AUM and the String theory
The underlying essence of the `Super-string theory, is that all
particles and fundamental forces of nature trace their origin to tiny
super-symmetric strings. The basic idea propounded by the `Quantum
Field theory' is also more or less the same. According to the latter,
the rudimentary constituents of reality are strings of Planck length,
which vibrate at resonant frequencies. The strings, by and large, are
equal in length and wrap around dimensions, smaller than themselves.
Singularities are avoided because the `Big Crunch' prohibits such a
possibility of the Universe, even at the most intense stage being
reduced to zero size. Hence, the String theory dictates that the
Universe could never have been smaller than an imaginary string (of
Planck length) and that at this point it, the universe actually
begins expanding.
In Vedic scriptures, `AUM' has been stated as the first manifestation
of `Brahman'. Brahman, it says, eventually evolved into the Universe
we today see. But how? It has been mentioned that the cosmos stemmed
from the utterance or rather the vibration produced by the
sound `AUM'. Hindu cosmology believes that the closest approximation
to the initial form of the Universe is `AUM', since all the existence
is composed of vibration. Walking that extra spiritual mile, the
texts also mention that `AUM' signifies the ultimate Truth. In
attaining the truth, one realizes the fundamental unity. The
symbolism of AUM, can be elucidated as such: The lower curve, the
upper curve and the tail subsumed in one, the ultimate One, which is
represented by the crescent moon and a dot called `Chandra Bindu'.
The crescent moon, because it resembles a string. This is remarkably
similar to the modern day quantum physics, which believes that the
universe is essentially composed of waves.
Brahman and the Fractal nature of the Universe
In Manu Smrti, a very catchy description of the formation of the
Universe is given. An intense sphere of many dimensions, split into
two, thus creating the Earth and the Heavens. In Mahabharata, during
the churning of the oceans, the deity Vishnu appears in numerous
incarnations, some negative and some positive, some dark and some
blissful.
In the Bhagvad Gita, when Sri Krishna reveals his true Brahmanic form
to Arjuna, he cries out `Behold... my divine forms, Oh! Arjuna,
hundreds upon thousands, of various kinds, of various colours and
shapes.' (Bhagvad Gita 91). Says he further, "This very day you shall
behold the whole Universe with all things animate and inert made out
of me" (Bhagvad Gita 91). These narrations can be likened to
the `Fractal Universe' conceived by the String theory.
The String theory portrays the entire eternal universe as an
inconceivably large Fractal. The Fractal is a mathematical system or
rather a pattern that at various levels explains the multi-faceted
aspects of the Universe. For example, the temperature and other
physical conditions of Human body exhibit a Fractal nature. The
Mandelbrot set is the most prominent and complex of all fractals. All
collections of points within the Mandelbrot set are connected to each
other in a web that binds all the points together. There are hidden
and infinitesimally tiny patterns, which can be studied by
corresponding magnifications. If the Mandelbrot set is imagined as a
miniature universe, a number of amazing similarities develop.
In the Chandogya Upanishad, Brahman "is the origin and the destiny of
the world. Into him the world will be dissolved." That should
indicate that the Brahman is not only the entire Universe but also
every object in it is a subset of the Brahman. In a Fractal just as
the points are interconnected, in the Brahman too all entities are
interrelated and interdependent. Brahman, like a Fractal is varied
and complex.
James Gleick, the mathematician and physicist, who extensively
researched on the `Fractal Universe' theory has authored a
book `Chaos', wherein he gives a mind-boggling description of the
Mandelbrot set: "The Mandelbrot set is the most complex object in
Mathematics. An eternity would not be enough time to see it all, its
disks studded with prickly thorns, its spirals and filaments curling
outward and around, bearing bulbous molecules that hang, infinitely
variegated like grapes on God's personal vineyard."
If one assumes Sri Krishna to be describing himself as the Fractal
heart of the Universe, when he says - ` I am the Atman, that dwells
in the heart of every mortal creature. I am the beginning, the
lifespan and the end of all ... I am the divided Seed of all. There is
no limit to my divine manifestations... one atom of myself sustains the
Universe' - one can jump to the conclusion that Brahman (here
Krishna) is nothing but a poetic portrayal of the `Fractal Universe'.
Srinivasa Ramanujan, based on certain mathematical functions best
explained the String theory. His works consisted of 4000 formulae on
400 pages filling 3 volumes of notes. The `Ramanujan function' as
recognized by Michio Kaku, forms the backbone of the String theory.
Kaku says Ramanujan used to say that the Goddess of Namakkal inspired
him with the formulae in his dreams!
The `Big Bang' `Big crunch' and the `World Egg'
Upanishads have said, "this world is verily just food and the eater
of the food" (Brihad Aranyaka 1.4, 1.8). How ridiculous, how
illogical! But when one tries to comprehend the Upanishads with the
knowledge of Newtonian physics, this statement holds fully valid. In
Newtonian physics, all action needs energy. And energy is a form of
matter. There was a time when mater and energy were one.
According to the String theory, before the Big Bang, when matter and
energy were perfectly one, our cosmos was actually a ten-dimensional
universe. This, it says, eventually cracked into two - one a four
dimensional universe and another a six-dimensional universe. The one
with four dimensions had three spatial dimensions and a fourth
dimension called `time'. Rig Veda, likewise says that once upon a
time, Brahman was neither existent nor inexistent. He was void and
formless. By his great power of warmth was born the universe. Can the
two get any closer?
The `World egg' as spoken about in Manu Smrti, was extremely
contracted and violently intense. It had ten dimensions. `The Big
Bang' was the four dimensional universe and `the Big Crunch' was the
violently compressing six-dimensional universe.
To get a wider and more lucid idea of how the ancient Upanishads
insinuated the modern-day theories in their own spectacular ways, one
has to examine the mathematical aspects involved. However the
physical aspects clarify one thing: There exists a tiny umbilical
chord connecting the traditional eastern mythology and the modern
western cosmology. Shouldn't we shed more light on this chord? >>
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