The Pseudo scientific Hinduism

Few friends of mine raised an objection towards my criticism of Islam, and not being equally fair for Christianity or well my own religion- Hinduism. Some even started sharing me the "islam love" photos that how people should treat Muslims "well".  I told them that criticizing a religion and hating a religion are two different things! Also, as some wise men correctly pointed out on twitter and later got shared with Dawkins, "If I hate cancer, it does not  mean I hate people with cancer!" I promised to them that I will do a piece on Hinduism too so here it is!

In the rising wave of secularist world, it is now the trend to market "science" in the religion to make it sell to the gullible.  Although there are also many books and lectures delivered to depict "science" in Christianity and Islam(Yeah its the Zakir Naik who will eat your head!), but in Hinduism it as at a completely different level.

A completely baseless opinion is established and then the all the 'facts' corresponding to the wishful thinking is first presented in a slow manner and suddenly a big leap is taken  just right at the crucial point and the guillible falls prey. It is a matter of strong base that we should stand up to scrutinize these facts when it is thundered down upon us. I find a lot of bad science arguments put in the favor of Hinduism which steals away the spiritual treasure it contains and make it a mechanical practice which seriously needs to be addressed.

Speed of Light is calculated in Vedas more accurately than Einstein did

This is literally the topic of an article. It takes special amount of guts to write, but it seems that the author don't give a damn about the modern science. The claim goes like this-

Ancient Vedic science “Nimisharda” is a phrase used in Indian languages of Sanskrit origin while referring to something that happens/moves instantly, similar to the ‘blink of an eye’. Nimisharda means half of a Nimesa, (Ardha is half).

In Sanskrit ‘Nimisha’ means ‘blink of an eye’ and Nimisharda implies within the blink of an eye. This phrase is commonly used to refer to instantaneous events.

Below is the mathematical calculations of a research done by S S De and P V Vartak on the speed of light calculated using the Rigvedic hymns and commentaries on them.

The fourth verse of the Rigvedic hymn 1:50 (50th hymn in book 1 of rigveda) is as follows:

तरणिर्विश्वदर्शतो जयोतिष्क्र्दसि सूर्य | विश्वमा भासिरोचनम |

taraNir vishvadarshato jyotishkrdasi surya | vishvamaa bhaasirochanam ||

which means:

“Swift and all beautiful art thou, O Surya (Surya=Sun), maker of the light, Illumining all the radiant realm.”

Commenting on this verse in his Rigvedic commentary, Sayana who was a minister in the court of Bukka of the great Vijayanagar Empire of Karnataka in South India (in early 14th century) says:

“ tatha ca smaryate yojananam. sahasre dve dve sate dve ca yojane ekena nimishardhena kramaman.” which means “It is remembered here that Sun (light) traverses 2,202 yojanas in half a nimisha”

NOTE: Nimisharda= half of a nimisha.

In the vedas Yojana is a unit of distance and Nimisha is a unit of time.

Unit of Time: Nimesa.

The Moksha dharma parva of Shanti Parva in Mahabharata describes Nimisha as follows: 15 Nimisha = 1 Kastha.

30 Kashta = 1 Kala,

30.3 Kala = 1 Muhurta,

30 Muhurtas = 1 Diva-Ratri (Day-Night),

We know Day-Night is 24 hours So we get 24 hours = 30 x 30.3 x 30 x 15 nimisha, in other words 409050 nimisha.

We know 1 hour = 60 x 60 = 3600 seconds.

So 24 hours = 24 x 3600 seconds = 409050 nimisha.

409050 nimesa = 86,400 seconds,

1 nimesa = 0.2112 seconds (This is a recursive decimal! Wink of an eye=.2112 seconds!).

½ nimesa = 0.1056 seconds.

Unit of Distance:

Yojana Yojana is defined in Chapter 6 of Book 1 of the ancient vedic text “Vishnu Purana” as follows:-

10 ParamAnus = 1 Parasúkshma,

10 Parasúkshmas = 1 Trasarenu,

10 Trasarenus = 1 Mahírajas (particle of dust),

10 Mahírajas= 1 Bálágra (hair’s point),

10 Bálágra = 1 Likhsha,

10 Likhsha= 1 Yuka,

10 Yukas = 1 Yavodara (heart of barley),

10 Yavodaras = 1 Yava (barley grain of middle size),

10 Yava = 1 Angula (1.89 cm or approx ¾ inch),

6 fingers = 1 Pada (the breadth of it),

2 Padas = 1 Vitasti (span),

2 Vitasti = 1 Hasta (cubit),

4 Hastas = a Dhanu,

1 Danda, or paurusa (a man’s height),

or 2 Nárikás = 6 feet,

2000 Dhanus = 1 Gavyuti (distance to which a cow’s call or lowing can be heard) = 12000 feet 4 Gavyutis = 1 Yojana = 9.09 miles

Calculation: So now we can calculate what is the value of the speed of light in modern units based on the value given as 2202 Yojanas in ½ Nimesa = 2202 x 9.09 miles per 0.1056 seconds = 20016.18 miles per 0.1056 seconds = 189547 miles per second !! 

First of all, they contradicted their own title. The speed of light is NOT mentioned in the Vedas but the attempt of indicating it is done by Sayana who was a courtier in 14th century while commenting on the RigVeda.. Then, the source of "nimisharda" is questionable. One myth takes value from ArthaShastra and another like this takes from Mahabharata. BOTH are NOT mathematical textbooks. Plus, the value of the unit "Nimesha" is questionable. I literally spent 3 hours straight trying to figure out the mathematical values they derived from the scratch and found out that it gives out contradicting values. Also the blink of an eye is not 0.2112 s, it is around 300 milliseconds but ofcourse this value which is calculated by "modern science" will not be used because the desired result will not be obtained. They just knew the final value and then inserted back the units to as to come to "close enough" answer. Also, the value of "Nimesha" arrived through the system of Vedic units, the value is 0.43 s. Funny, because they are not using the value which is mentioned in Vedas(and Wikipedia) to derive at the conclusion of what Vedas say!

Then again, why on earth would Sayana state a fact of such high importance in a so casual manner? The whole context of the phrase also is not presented. Plus, the verse is about Sun, and not light. And Science have to declare what are the methods which were used to come at the value, rather than just dabbling with figures.


                                        

Distance between Sun and Earth is Mentioned in “Hanuman Chalisa”- An Ancient Prayer

This is just a crazy one. Even Amitabh Bachchan tweeted about it once.

Two lines of Hindu Prayer ” Hanuman Chalisa” computes this distance with great simplicity.

“! जुग सहस्त्र योजन पर भानु, लील्यो ताहिमधुर फल जानू !”

This means that Sun (भानु) is at a distance of  Juug Sahastra Yojans (जुग सहस्त्र योजन- Distance Unit in Hindi)

According to following conversion practices that are in use as per Hindu Vedic Literature-

1 Juug = 12000

1 Sahastra= 1000

1 Yojan = 8 Miles

Thus

12000 X 1000 X 8 =  96,000,000  miles

1 mile = 1.6 kms

This further implies that distance is  96,000,000 * 1.6 kms = 153,600,000 Kms

 Before, my readers go further, I would like to go back and read the statement again. If you cannot point out the mitake, then either you are blind or didn't study Physics well. They multiplied time with distance to get distance! Jug is a unit of time(Also, the value 12000 is questionable because we don't know if it's Deva's years or human years) and Yojan is a unit of distance. They just multiplied them together because OH Why Not?

Also, funny that Yojana now became 8 miles. When they had to prove about the speed of light, Yojana was 9 miles.

Throwing coins in rivers

There is a tradition to throw coins in order to get your wish fullfilled. But may be these proponents have a rather brilliant wish- May people believe my nonsense.

The general reasoning given for this act is that it brings Good Luck. However, scientifically speaking, in the ancient times, most of the currency used was made of copper unlike the stainless steel coins of today. Copper is a vital metal very useful to the human body. Throwing coins in the river was one way our fore-fathers ensured we intake sufficient copper as part of the water as rivers were the only source of drinking water. Making it a custom ensured that all of us follow the practice.

Simple chemistry will tell you that Copper, like most metals undergo oxidation and it will form a protective layer over it so the coin won't let release copper for long time and it is a waste of- MONEY!. Also, I think drinking water in a copper vessel would be a lot useful method rather than making this stupid custom and wait for the lineages to realize the 'actual importance' of this years later!

Wait a second! They said river! River! River! River! How on Earth will throwing coins in the river which flows will make you intake the metal? Bad science as well as Bad logic Booooo........!

And this is just not it. They have all kinds of woo laden "Science" behind the namaskaram(acupressure for removing germs and also you can stay away from the germs of others ) , and by touching feet, how you can "transfer" the "energy" from one man to another(shaking hands gives germs but touching feet doesn't. Because "circuits" and "cosmic waves"), or whether kumkum is a sniper target for all the "peaceful energies" of the cosmos, and how we it turns out the plants and trees we worship like Tulsi and Peepal(Sorry, Neem bruh I feel for you!) are extremely important for their medicinal purposes(I thought ancient Hindus did it the other way around) and so on. Ayurveda propounders have practically convinced the public that everything which is natural is good for health and everything which is made through "western"(yeah in India we divide Science too!) science is bad and is a conspiracy to rob off the India from its wealth. In a lot of research conducted Ayurveda does not seems to be so effective anything more than a placebo. Yes, the herbs are of certain value and the credit seriously goes to the one who discovered them but Science actually works on them to tune up their qualities so that they are more beneficial. Although I don't see much harm in Ayurveda(and it is not as silly as Homeopathy) but blindly believing it will not take you anywhere. As I always point out, Hinduism is great, only if you care enough to understand it. It is vast and deep and magical. But I like to separate spiritual treasures like Upanishads and Geeta as Dharmic and  Vedanta literature to not club them up with some nonsense like this.

Since the New Age people are more popular with their crap like The Secret and quantum woo, you probably won't find these myths in the Internet you use. But, due to some past life "Karma" if you happen to come across things like Vyamanika Shastra(inspite of being proven wrong again and again) you are aware. 

No, I am not ridiculing any tradition nor undermining it. I consider that the tradition should be preserved through honest means and for it is, rather than being guided by magical thinking. One more thing, my dear friend has started a technical blog where he is writing about his projects and he will be sharing the Arduino cookbook by Jeremy Blum if you subscribe him here-  The Free Electron

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Hindu arguments against God

Hinduism is not only a religion, it's a philosophy, Supreme Court have already declared it to be a way of life, and not religion. We have freedom to choose our own God- whether a tree, monkey, or anything. This is a secular worldview in itself. You can see Hindu practices being immensely different at two places at the same time. This is its beauty, this is its color.

The Samkhya philosophy as quoted in Wikipedia, they are not my own thought but deserves to be mentioned. 

"Mimamsas argued that there was no need to postulate a maker for the world, just as there was no need for an author to compose the Vedas or a God to validate the rituals. They further thought that the Gods named in the Vedas had no physical existence apart from the mantras that speak their names. In this regard, the power of the mantras was what was seen as the power of Gods. Mimamsas reasoned that an incorporeal God could not author the Vedas, for he would not have the organs of speech to utter words. An embodied God could not author the Vedas either because such a God would be subject to the natural limitations of sensory knowledge and therefore, would not be able to produce supernatural revelations like the Vedas.

Samkhya gave the following arguments against the idea of an eternal, self-caused, creator God:

• If the existence of karma is assumed, the proposition of God as a moral governor of the universe is unnecessary. For, if God enforces the consequences of actions then he can do so without karma. If however, he is assumed to be within the law of karma, then karma itself would be the giver of consequences and there would be no need of a God.

• Even if karma is denied, God still cannot be the enforcer of consequences. Because the motives of an enforcer God would be either egoistic or altruistic. Now, God's motives cannot be assumed to be altruistic because an altruistic God would not create a world so full of suffering. If his motives are assumed to be egoistic, then God must be thought to have desire, as agency or authority cannot be established in the absence of desire. However, assuming that God has desire would contradict God's eternal freedom which necessitates no compulsion in actions. Moreover, desire, according to Samkhya, is an attribute of prakriti and cannot be thought to grow in God. The testimony of the Vedas, according to Samkhya, also confirms this notion.

• Despite arguments to the contrary, if God is still assumed to contain unfulfilled desires, this would cause him to suffer pain and other similar human experiences. Such a worldly God would be no better than Samkhya's notion of higher self.

• Furthermore, there is no proof of the existence of God. He is not the object of perception, there exists no general proposition that can prove him by inference and the testimony of the Vedas speak of prakriti as the origin of the world, not God.

Therefore, Samkhya maintained that the various cosmological, ontological and teleological arguments could not prove God." 

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Aurangzeb- Man of terror or man of error?

The Mughals invaded India in 16^th century and ruled for about 2 centuries. Aurangzeb is considered to be the primary reason of their downfall, maybe that’s why he should be considered “good” but I will try to talk about him in general.

This is a general belief that he was one of the worst and the most brutal “tyrant”, who ever ruled our country. Facts? Let’s unravel them and testify.

 He is believed to be anti-Hindus or anti-Indian because of some of the reasons below,

      1)      He killed his own father and all his brothers- No, You are wrong. He never killed his father and all his brothers, but actually took over his father's throne forcefully. That's it. Aurangzeb worried too much about the economy of the system. His father, Shah Jahan had got probably really high, building structures and structures! Shah Jahan actually diverted the income for army and protective measures to build Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, etc. He destroyed millions of rupees and actually depleted the “shahi khazana”. Aurangzeb acted.  But Aurangzeb wasn’t the first one to rebel against his own father. Jahangir had done that already, even Hindu Rajkumars did that, so he wasn’t the progenitor of this practice. Now Shah Jahan had many sons. Aurangzeb defeated the important princes like Dara(his son, Sulaiman too), Shuja, Murad, etc, by either deceiving them, imprisoning them or both. He captured Shah Jahan by blocking the water supply to the fort thereby forcing him to relinquish, but held him in respectable way. Shah Jahan was confined in female apartments and was taken care of by his own favourite daughter Jahanara which Shah Jahan himself wished for. And when he died due to illness, Shah Jahan was buried gracefully. After getting the throne, he even released many of his brothers whom he held as his prisoners and to make the relationship better, Aurangzeb married off his daughters to them.

     2)      He hated Hindus- Aurangzeb’s regressive policies actually give us a hint that they were anti to any Non-Muslim beliefs. The most important one being- jijyah. The tax which every non-Muslim had to pay and also it was the type of tax which would only be accepted when paid in person which used to be sometimes humiliating. But again, the purpose of jijyah wasn’t only to load financial burden on the Non-Muslims(read ‘Hindus’) or to even promote conversion to Islam. Jijyah was collected in return to the Muslim security the citizens enjoyed. It wasn’t collected from crippled, old men and women. Only healthy male individuals were supposed to pay jizyah if they didn’t join the army. If they do, without converting to Islam, they would get rebate on it. But there was hardly any instance when anyone joined the army or converted to Islam in order to escape jizyah which suggests that the amount was something which could be easily afforded amongst the middle-class men. Furthermore, the very own security was against Hindu rulers themselves. There are several instances of "Veer" Shivaji attacking the established Mughal towns and acquiring the wealth. In case if Mughal army fails to save the citizens from the attack, the full amount of jizyah paid by the citizens until then, was returned. Furthermore, it is logical to conclude that since Aurangzeb ruled for half a century, if he had wanted the Hindus to convert to Muslims, we wouldn’t be living in a Hindu-dominated country.

      3)      He hated Hindus(again)- Aurangzeb is believed to be highly bias towards the Muslims and he never allowed any Hindu in higher ranked positions. Nope, again. Few historians are of the opinion that the Hindu officials had become disloyal due to the laxity of Aurangzeb’s predecessors such that Aurangzeb actually had to adopt harsh methods to keep them on the track. Interestingly, the number of Hindu nobles employed in the court rose to a much higher value during his reign.

His policies had been very economical in nature which is sometimes why, they are highly questioned. I tried to present some points which may have been till now, misinterpreted about him. Though I cannot deny that he sent out orders to destroy temples including the famous Jagannath temple. Fact is that history is mystery, we can never know what made a god-fearing Muslim, whose religion teaches that all religions are equal, to do that. We can just contemplate the facts and rationally draw conclusions out of them.

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