While stepping on the Moon, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, made the famous remark “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Now Indians can proudly say “One small imprint on the Moon, but an awesome impression on the minds of 1.408 billion Indians.” People rejoiced simultaneously on August 23, 2023, at 12:33 PM UTC, as India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission’s robotic lander, named Vikram, touched down gently on the Moon near its south pole. Tense moments of anxiety erupted into exhilarating joy for millions of Indians across the globe. The West watched with awesome astonishment, the performance of India — the rising star; for the East, it was a moment of wondrous enchantment to witness India’s scientific prowess to achieve a soft landing on the Moon.
Another astounding discovery was the reconfirmation of water on the Moon, by the Pragyan rover. The definitive discovery of Moon water came in 2008 when India’s space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), launched the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft into lunar orbit. Chandrayaan-1 carried with it a NASA-provided science instrument called the Moon Mineralogical Mapper (M3), which observed how the surface absorbed infrared light, that hinted at the presence of water. In 2020, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced the discovery of water on the Moon. Data from the Strategic Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) revealed that in the Clavius crater, water exists in concentrations roughly equivalent to a 12-ounce bottle of water within a cubic meter of soil across the lunar surface.
On the Moon, water is found all over the surface, but it is mainly in the form of ice and not pools of liquid water. Chandrayaan-3 has also found sulphur, aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon, and oxygen. Orbiting probes crossing over the Moon’s south pole had never previously detected sulphur, nor did they have the feasibility to do so. Chandrayaan-3’s great discovery means that the water ice present near the south pole region was exposed to lunar radiation due to which it broke down and released sulphur. But, what is most intriguing is how the ancient Hindu Rishis and sages know about the presence of water on the Moon.
The Vedas and Hindu astrology has from aeons ago emphasised that the Moon signifies the mind and its element is water. When scientists were airing their ‘scientific opinion’ that the Moon was dry and arid, Hindu scriptures emphasised the connection between the Moon and water! All Hindu festivals are celebrated based on the lunar calendar, hence the importance of “snaan” (taking a dip in river waters or bathing) is there in most of the festivals celebrated in Hinduism. Worshipping Lord Shiva on Mondays and offering water to the Shivling is stipulated as a pious offering. Monday is called somavāsaraḥ in Sanskrit and somwar in Hindi, and it means the day of the moon. In simple words, Monday is controlled or governed by the moon. The Hindu festival Kartik Purnima is celebrated when the Moon is closest to the Earth. It is observed as ‘Tripurari Purnima’ and Lord Shiva is worshipped on this day and a ‘Snaan’ is taken as part of the religious rites. Among the celebrated names of Lord Shiva is ‘Chandra Shekhar’ because the crescent moon adorns his matted locks.
Lord Shiva is also symbolised as an embodiment of immense energy and is of paramount importance in the holy Indian Trinity, comprising Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva, that controls the Universe. The high-energy cosmic dance of Lord Shiva, referred to as Shiv Tandav has a lot of physics behind it. Physicist Fritjof Capra explains in his book ‘The Tao of Physics’ that “the dance of Shiva symbolises the basis of all existence. At the same time, Shiva reminds us that the manifold forms in the world are not fundamental, but illusory and ever-changing. Modern physics has shown that the rhythm of creation and destruction is not only manifest in the turn of the seasons and in the birth and death of all living creatures, but is also the very essence of inorganic matter. According to quantum field theory, the dance of creation and destruction is the basis of the very existence of matter. Modern physics has thus revealed that every subatomic particle not only performs an energy dance, but also is an energy dance; a pulsating process of creation and destruction. For the modern physicists then, Shiva’s dance is the dance of subatomic matter, the basis of all existence and of all natural phenomena.”
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, has likened the cosmic dance of Shiva as the dance of subatomic particles. It is a depiction of the birth and death of matter, which is the continuous cycle of life between creation and destruction.
A planet that is being studied very keenly is Mars. No planet beyond Earth has been studied as intensely as Mars. Today, NASA has a fleet of robotic spacecraft to study Mars from all angles. What NASA scientists tell about the similarity between Earth and Mars is interesting – “When the solar system settled into its current layout over four billion years ago, Mars and Earth formed from the same materials and looked very similar. Both are terrestrial planets, with a central core, a rocky mantle, and a solid crust. Early on, we know that Mars once had lakes, streams, and perhaps even a northern ocean. The two worlds diverged, and we have two very different planets today. Despite the fact that Mars may once have been warm and wet, it is now a cold, dry place. As the Earth progressed with plate tectonics and the development of life, Mars’ geologic activity subsided, lost water, and it became a much drier planet. This shared history is part of why it’s so fascinating to study the Red Planet.”
Compare this with what our great Vedic rishis have affirmatively said thousands of years ago. A visit to any Hindu temple is enlightening. Where the Navagrahas are propitiated, the priest chants the prayer dedicated to Mars –
धरणीगर्भसंभूतं विद्युत्कान्तिसमप्रभम् ।
कुमारं शक्तिहस्तं तं मङ्गलं प्रणमाम्यहम् ॥
The meaning of “Dharani-garbha sambhutam” is the one who is born to the Earth.
Mars is also called
- Raktavarna(रक्तवर्ण) – Whose colour is like blood
- Bhauma(भौम) – Son of Bhumi meaning Earth
- Lohitānga(लोहिताङ्ग) – Red-bodied (loha, also means iron, so could also mean iron-bodied)
- Kuja(कुज) – He who is born from Earth.
The precision with which our rishis have described Mars is simply amazing. No wonder that Hinduism has been called the ‘Religion of Science’.
The proselytising religions that came to India were brought by illiterate soldiers, despots and virulent preachers. In their zeal to propagate their religions, every other religion was dubbed and condemned as ‘mythology’. Thus, there are Roman, Greek, Norse, Etruscan, Celtic, Slavic, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Mayan, Babylonian, Buddhist, Jain and Chinese mythologies. Every religion and civilisation was debunked as mythology and systematically and barbarically destroyed, and supplanted with the proselytising faiths. The same modus operandi was employed in Hinduism by declaring it as mythology. Yet, when other religions and civilisations crumbled, our Hindu ancestors boldly resisted the foreign invaders. Though these ignorant foreigners characterised Hinduism as mythology, our ancestors upheld the religion, culture, traditions and rituals, steadfast in their belief that Hinduism is a religion of science and the religion of scientists.
The greatest gift that the Government of India can bequeath to humanity is to make it illegal to affix or prefix the foreign term ‘mythology’ to Hinduism. As scientists unravel the mysteries of the Universe, there is a parallel body of knowledge called Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma, that reminds humanity that our ancient rishis and rishikas had discovered this aeons ago.
Dr G Shreekumar Menon IRS (Rtd), PhD (Narcotics), is Former Director General, National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
Comments
0 comment