What do we do for you ?
Mr. N. Kumar, Chennai.
Q: Are Vedas scientific?
A: The Vedas as a whole is looked upon
as a means of knowledge, in the Vedic tradition of learning. Being
an independent means of knowledge, the subject matter of the Vedas
has got to be one, which is beyond the scope of other means of
knowledge, and it has to be meaningful as well. It talks about a
heaven, punya, papa, duties, rituals with their results to be
experienced here or hereafter. This subject matter is certainly
beyond the scope of the means of knowledge like perception,
inference and so on, which a human being commands. It does not
expect any corroboration from other sources of knowledge, much
less the subject matter revealed by the Vedas is subject to
contention on the basis of other means of knowledge.
Science is a body of knowledge gained by ones perception and
inference. Any scientific theory is, therefore, subject to
contention. Any contention is only with reference to a subject
matter within the domain of perception, inference etc. An error is
committed when one makes a statement that the Vedas are
scientific. Neither a scientist can accept the declaration nor one
who knows the tradition can stand it. Proper it would be to say,
that the Vedas are not illogical in as much as their area is
independent of perception and inference.
Here, in Vedanta, the subjectmatter being 'Self', the knowledge
unfolded by its sentences has got to be immediate. If any
intellect raises any objection to the way in which the
Advaita-sampradaya presents the meaning of the sentences, like
tat tvam asi (that you are), we employ reason along with the
texts of the Sruti and Smrti, to see the fallacy in the arguments
raised by the one who objects or differs. If the non-dual vision
is contented on the grounds of a given form of reasoning and
experience, again the fallacy is shown in the arguments advanced.
Thus, 'reason' and 'experience' are meaningfully employed by the
teaching tradition.
When the doubts and errors are cleared, the vision of Vedanta
that I am Brahman, the Absolute Truth stays without any blemish,
proving that Vedanta is a means of knowledge, independent of
perception and inference. So the subject matter of the Vedas is
not within the domain of science. Ofcourse, there are a lot of
statements about things empirically true. They can be scrutinized
by the scientists, to find out how far they are true.
Vedas are not illogical in as much as their area is independent
of perception and inference. The subject matter of the whole Vedas
is not within the domain of science.