According to a 2010 study done by the Pew research institute, 28% of Indian American (51% whom are Hindu) work in science and engineering fields, compared to 5% of the general US population. Indeed, Hindus are over represented in the sciences, holding more positions by percentage in the field than almost any other group. [1] While most Westerners are accustom to religion and science being in conflict, in the Hindu world they are one and the same. Hindu philosophy at its base is naturalistic in nature, and Vedic creationism is not supernatural. But of course the skeptic sees all the deities worshiped in Hinduism and wonders how we could make such a claim. Let’s take a look at the concept of Rta in Hinduism and its relationship to the gods.
Rta (ऋतं), The Natural Law of Hinduism
Rta is nothing more or less than natural law, an examples of which are the laws of physic. Throughout the Vedas we find the Sanskrit word Ṛta (Sanskrit ऋतं ṛtaṃ). Ṛta is derived from the Sanskrit verb root ṛ- “to go, move, rise, tend upwards”, and the derivative noun ṛtam is defined as “fixed or settled order, rule, divine law or truth”. The term can just as easily be translated literally as “that which has moved in a fitting manner”, abstractly as “universal law” or “cosmic order”, or simply as “truth” It is often translated as “Law” or “Holy Law”. Rta is the principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it; this includes not only natural phenomenon but also society and human interactions. Scientific laws and theories are a good example of Rta, so are human and animal behavior. The term Rta is closely aligned with the concepts of Dharma (duty) and Karma (cause and effect). Ṛta has been compared to similar ideas in other cultures, such as Ma’at in Ancient Egyptian religion, Moira and the Logos in Greek paganism, and the Tao.
Rta and the Devas
]In Hinduism, gods are not the creative force but servants of it. In the Rigveda, the term Ṛta appears as many as 390 times, and has been characterized as “the one concept which pervades the whole of Ṛgvedic thought”. In keeping with its association with natural and physical law, Ṛta appears most frequently as representing abstract concepts such as “law”, “commandment”, “order”, “sacrifice”, “truth”, and “regularity”, but also occasionally as concrete objects such as the waters, the heavens or the sun as manifestations of the operation of Ṛta in the physical universe. However, Ṛta is also frequently used in reference to various Vedic deities. Bṛhaspati (lord of prayer and devotion) is referred to as possessing a powerful bow with “Ṛta as its string” and as one prepared to “mount the chariot of Ṛta”; Agni (lord of fire and messages) is described as one who is “desirous of Ṛta”, one who is “Ṛta-minded” and as he who “spread Heaven and Earth by Ṛta”; the Maruts (warrior gods) are referred to as “rejoicing in the house of Ṛta” and as “knowers of Ṛta”; Ushas (goddess of dawn) is described as having been “placed at the root of Ṛta”; Varuna (god of waters and law) is praised as “having the form of Ṛta” and, along with Mitra as Mitra-Varuna, as “destroying the foes by Ṛta” and as “professing Ṛta by Ṛta”. Epithets such as “born of Ṛta” and “protector of Ṛta” are frequently applied to numerous divinities, as well as to the sacrificial fire and the sacrifice itself.
Despite the abundance of such references, the gods are never portrayed as having command over Ṛta. Instead, the gods, like all created beings, remain subject to Ṛta, and their divinity largely resides in their serving it in the role of executors, agents or instruments of its manifestation. The gods do not govern Ṛta so much as immanentalize it through their particularities of divine ordinances and retributions concerning both rewards and punishments. In this sense they do not “govern” Ṛta; they serve it as agents and ministers. In other words, each god represents a certain aspect of Rta, whether it is the physical properties of water, light, communication or war strategy. Since Rta is not a “supernatural” power but a natural one, the gods themselves are natural beings or concepts. When the gods perform feats that seem to be supernatural, they are indeed simply practicing levels of science that we as humans cannot understand. Think of it this way, if a human of today were transported to the distant past in a ship containing every form of modern technology, his or her abilities would seem “supernatural” to the humans they encountered. However, as we know, these abilities are no supernatural but simply a more complex implementation of Rta or the natural laws of the universe. When understood in this context, Hinduism loses its stigma as a religion of superstition and is recognized for what it really is, a search for higher levels of science, keeping in mind that people can make mistakes or get temporarily lost along the way, thus the presence of irrational and retrograde behaviors and interpretations.
Vedic Creation Follows The Logical Conclusion of Rta And Makes Scientific Sense
Most scientists take exception with the idea that a supernatural sentient being created the universe, and Hinduism is in agreement with them. Keeping with the concept of Rta being the creative force and the Devas as nothing more than its servant, according to both the Rig Veda and the Atharva Veda, the gods were not responsible for the creation of the universe, indeed they are themselves creations who must follow the same natural law as humans, granted only on a more complex level. The scientific minded student of Hinduism will be pleased to note that according to our Vedas the force that created this universe is ultimately unknown, it is even beyond the ability of the gods to understand it. However, we do know that this ultimate force (Rta itself) could only be understood on natural terms.
Creation.
Rig Veda 10.129
1. THEN was not non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it. What covered in, and where? and what gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed depth of water?
2 Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal: no sign was there, the day’s and night’s divider. That One Thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature: apart from it was nothing whatsoever.
3 Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness this All was indiscriminated chaos. All that existed then was void and form less: by the great power of Warmth was born that Unit.
4 Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit. Sages who searched with their heart’s thought discovered the existent’s kinship in the non-existent.
5 Transversely was their severing line extended: what was above it then, and what below it? There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder
6 Who verily knows and who can here declare it, whence it was born and whence comes this creation? The Gods are later than this world’s production. Who knows then whence it first came into being?
7 He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not form it, Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.
Glorification of the prime cause of all things
Atharva Veda Book 2 Hymn 1
Atharva Veda Book 2 Hymn 1
1 Vena beholds That Highest which lies hidden, wherein this All resumes one form and fashion. Thence Prisni milked all life that had existence: the hosts that know the light with songs extolled her.
2 Knowing Eternity, may the Gandharva declare to us that highest secret station. Three steps thereof lie hidden in the darkness: he who knows these shall be the father’s father.
3He is our kinsman, father, and begetter: he knows all beings and all Ordinances. He only gave the Gods their appellations: all creatures go to him to ask direction.
4 I have gone forth around the earth and heaven, I have approached the first-born Son of Order. He, putting voice, as ’twere, within the speaker, stands in the world, he, verily is Agni.
5 I round the circumjacent worlds have travelled to see the far-extended thread of Order. Wherein the Gods, obtaining life eternal, have risen upward to one common birthplace.
Conclusion
The Hindu religion professes belief in an ultimately unknown force called Rta which contains and maintains the natural order of the world. This universe was not created by deities, indeed the deities were created by the natural force and are subject to its laws. Seemingly supernatural manifestations on the part of the Devas are not supernatural at all but simply higher levels of natural ability. The scientist who can profess belief in other dimensions or even “aliens” could easily accept these Hindu teachings.
FOOTNOTES
[1] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/30/5-facts-about-indian-americans/
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