10 January 2002, 01:42am IST
K R MANOHARA.
Philosophy of science and science of philosophy are one and the same, for in a deeper sense science and philosophy are the two faces of the same coin. in both is involved one common aspect - ‘profound thinking’. while science takes the physical path, philosophy takes the metaphysical one. both are aimed at gaining knowledge. but science perceived at the mundane level is far removed from the outlook of philosophy. while science at the ground level recognises the materialistic achievements as the progress of mankind, philosophy accords recognition to peace found within oneself. at an exalted level, the insight of both is same, i.e. to seek the ‘ultimate truth’. the lone difference here again is that whereas science is yet to know this truth, our vedic philosophy has it known already. even in hindu philosophy we find different schools of thinking. the dvaitha school of philosophy asserts ‘duality’ as reality. it dwells upon the difference between man and man, tree and tree, leaf and leaf, and affirms that two leaves of the same branch of a tree are not same. whereas ‘advaitha’ asserts ‘oneness’ in all i.e., ‘atman’. the whole of existence or no existence is perceived as ‘atman’ or ‘brahman’. anything and everything, including nothing, is the manifestation of this ‘one-thing’ called ‘brahman’. the cognition of everything as non-different from oneself is jnana (wisdom). scientists say that the present universe is the outcome of a big explosion of a single atom, when time and space were not born. with this explosion was born this universe with space and time. even today the universe is expanding. but when scientists are questioned about how this atom ab initio came into existence and what existed before it, they cannot answer it. at the micro level, too, scientists are working to find out the building blocks of this universe, which means finding the minutest particle which is the constituent of all sub-atomic particles. this search appears to be heading towards finding the ultimate ‘one thing’ which is every thing of today. but our vedic philosophy has already deciphered it with full knowledge as ‘brahman’. ‘satyam gnyanam anantham brahma’ of taittereya upanishad explains, that brahma is unchanging (satya), it is the knowledge (gnyana) and is also one having no beginning and end (anantha). in yoga vasishtha, the sage vasishtha explains to lord rama that the supreme being is illimitable infinite consciousness and is also known as the supreme self. this is brahman and dwells in all bodies and undergoes experiences - eats, drinks, speaks, gathers and destroys - but is free from the division of consciousness and its awareness. that which is omnipresent and which is without beginning and end, and which is pure, unmodified, undifferentiated being - that is known as existence (vastu-tattvam) or reality. it rises as chitta or mind in the mind. it is tree in tree. it is immobility in the immovable and mobility in moving beings. it is insentience in the insentient and intelligence in the sentient. it is the divinity of gods and humanity in human beings. in animals it is bestial nature and in worms it is wormhood. it is the very essence of time and the seasons. it is dynamism in action and order in order. it is the existence in the existent and death in the perishable. it is childhood, youth, age and also death. it is free from the three periods (of past, present and future). it is the supreme of the supreme. it is undivided and indivisible, for it is the very essence of all things. diversity is unreal, though it is real in the above sense (that the diversity is conceived of and pervaded by the infinite consciousness). realise: "all this is pervaded by me for i am omnipresent and devoid of body and such other limitation" and dwell in peace and supreme happiness. in the self which is infinite consciousness, this creation appears but momentarily. during that moment itself, the illusion that it is of a very long duration arises. the creation then appears to be solidly real. in other words, this creation is the manifestation of our true self, which is nirguna, nirakara poorna pragnya, atma. atma alone is truth. it is the same atma in everyone and everywhere. hari om tatsat.
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