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Sanatana Dharma-The Earliest Concepts of Science

Hinduism as we know of today is an evolved or I should say is a simplified version of Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan is a Sanskrit word which means which is Anadi (beginingless) and Anant (endless) and does not cease to be, that which is eternal and everlasting. Therefore, we can ascertain from this meaning that this religion has always been trying to locate that is invisible, grab that is without form and know what is unknown, much like the Modern Science.

The recorded history of Hinduism or in correct terms Sanatan Dharma starts from the Vedic period when the Hymns of Rig Veda were created by our great Maharishis. The texts of this religion may contain hymns, rituals, meditation, magic etc, but it is the most scientific religion world may have ever known. Our beliefs, the knowledge in our religious texts is full of scientific ideas that Modern science has explored in recent past and some of the knowledge is still out of bounds to Modern Science.

Let me start from the concept of Energy.  The discovery of the concept of energy is one of the most important works of Modern Science as this discovery explains how every system in this world works. The scientific definition of energy is “the capability of an object or system to do work on another system or object.” And the properties of energy are as follows:

  • ·         Energy can neither be created nor destroyed

  • ·         Energy can be converted from one form to another

  • ·         Energy comes in multiple forms

  • ·         Energy can be transferred from one object or system to another through interaction of forces between objects


Now, what comes across as the most important concept of Sanatan Dharma? It is the concept of “Atma.” How is Atma described in our scriptures and texts? Atma is describes as something that neither takes birth nor dies (i.e. can neither be created nor destroyed.) Atma changes bodies just like we change clothes. There is no fixed form for Atma; it is formless like water or air. And Atma is transferred from one form to another when forces of life and death act upon a body.

The definitions of Atma and Energy bring to light two important points. First, the concept of energy was always known to our Vadic scholars and second the Atma as well as Parmatma as mentioned in all our scriptures and texts is nothing but energy; in its purest form. All of us; Human Beings, Animals, Plants, Insects and even Rocks are just energy in different forms. The entire cosmos is a big block of energy and we are just a part of it and our ultimate fate is to get dissolved into this block.

The next important achievement of Modern Science that I would like to explore is the Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Darwin argued that all organisms evolve, or change very slowly over time. The changes are adaptations that allow a species to survive in its environment. When I read this theory the first image that came to my mind was the story of Matsya Avatar in Vishnupurana. How a fish that fits in the hand of a sage called Manu evolves overtime before a great flood and turns into a giant fish that is so big that it rows a big ship carrying Manu and all species of animals and plants to safety though that flood. If this story does not explains Theory of Evolution then what does?

Now let us direct our attention towards our Puranas. Puranas are the ancient scriptures that are full of stories and helped the common man understand the difficult concepts of Vedas. These stories made use of complex human relationships, emotions, social laws and miracles to present a picture of God in front of common man so that the essence of vedic knowledge reaches him. However, these pauranic tales also give us a glimpse into some of the scientific knowledge that our modern scientists have achieved after a lot of struggle and some knowledge that still eludes them.

Today the benchmark of being a superpower is Nuclear Weapon stock pile of a country. Scientists worked day and night to create weapons of mass destruction. Nuclear Bombs, Hydrogen Bombs, Bio-Chemical weapons are all capable of erasing human life form from the face of earth. Now let’s travel back in time and through the window of Puranas and peek into the stories of Ramayana, Mahabharata and other divine tales. There we would find mention of Bhramastra, Narayanastra which had the power to annihilate the entire world. There is mention of Pashupatastra, a weapon with the power of all the plants and animals. These are the first written records of Nuclear, Hydrogen and Bio-Chemical Weapons. An important point to note here is that all these stories were written way before any scientist even thought of developing an Atomic Bomb.

When we hear the stories about cities of Indraprastha in Mahabharata and Lanka in Ramayana, it gives an insight into the advancement in architectural brilliance of that era. Pushpak Viman diverts our attention towards Aeronautical Engineering.  The stories of Charaka, the first surgeon, the story of Lakshmana recovering from a fatal wound through Sanjivini and ability of Bhishma to live as long as he desired, give us a glimpse into advancement in the field of Medicine.

The above mentioned ideas are the examples of achievements that Modern Science has also accomplished. But there are some ideas which the modern science still has not been able to decipher. One of these ideas is that of Teleportation, i.e. transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. However, when we go through the stories of Ramayana, Mahabharata and other Pauranic Tales, we see examples of sages and Gods appearing and disappearing from one place to another in a matter of seconds. This is a perfect example of Teleportation. Even if it may not have been possible at that time, but it still shows that our Sages were thinking about this idea even during Vedic era.

So these were some of the scientific ideas which form the basis of Sanatan Dharma. These ideas were recorded hundreds of years before Modern Science could even think about them. Hence, it would not be wrong for me to say here that Sanatan Dharma is the world’s first and only Scientific Religion in the world. The idea of science and Sanatan Dharma are two sides of same coin.

But this is not all that this religion has to offer to the world. Apart from science, Sanatan Dharma contributed in a variety of fields. Through the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata, we get the understanding about how to and how not to govern a kingdom. Ramayana teaches us that even a king is not above law of the land and a perfect society is one where even the word of a washer man is given importance. Also it teaches us that a King should never keep his personal interests above the welfare of his subjects, because failure in doing so would result in the destruction of entire kingdom.

On the other side Mahabharata teaches us that the selection of a king should depend upon the merit and not on the birth. Also if rules of social justice are broken, it could result into the annihilation of entire clan.

The Varna system, the modified version of which has become a curse for our nation today, was one of the best systems designed to ensure a balance in the society. This system was created to ensure that a person is assigned a job based upon his abilities and not birth (which it turned out to be later because of greed of wealthy.) This was a society where there was no inefficiency and everyone was a master of his work and that ensured job satisfaction and developed society.

The masterclass of politics has been taught to the world by masters like Krishna, Vidur and even Shakuni. We can learn from Mahabharata different strategies adopted by these different masters to ensure victory for their group. The stories of Chakravyuh, and strategic killing of Bhishma, Drona and Karna give an insight into tactics of warfare.


Therefore, Sanatan Dharma should not be seen just as a religion but as an institute where the subject of life is taught and explained. And we should approach it as a student with an open mind and with a mind full of questions, because whatever our questions are an answer would be mentioned somewhere in the texts of Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata and all other texts and Scriptures. Most of what our Modern Scientists have achieved and are trying to achieve is already there in Sanatan Dharma. The essence and concepts of a perfect society is mentioned in these texts. All one has to do is to look for them.

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