BLOG No. 3
Today, we continue our exploration of the contemporary thought
on the Creation of the Universe, building on our earlier discussions of the
creation narratives found in the Vishnu Purana
and the Rig Veda.
The origin of the universe has fascinated thinkers for millennia. Ancient
Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 to 322 BCE) believed in an eternal,
unchanging cosmos. He rejected the idea of a beginning or end, proposing that
the universe had always existed in a state of motion governed by a "Prime
Mover"—an unmoved source of all movement.
Centuries later, Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) challenged
Aristotelian cosmology through observation. Using his telescope, Galileo
confirmed that celestial bodies were not perfect or immutable, and that Earth
was not the centre of the universe. His work laid the foundation for a
scientific approach to cosmology. When Galileo publicly supported this
heliocentric view, he provoked the ire of the Catholic Church. In 1633, he was
tried by the Roman Inquisition for heresy. Found guilty of contradicting Church
doctrine, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, which was later commuted to
house arrest. He spent the rest of his life under house arrest and died in 1642
at the age of 77. After about 200 years the Catholic Church officially allowed
the publication of books supporting heliocentrism in 1822 and apologised to
Galileo Galilei.
Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727) revolutionized our understanding of
motion and gravity. His laws described how objects move and interact, both on
Earth and in the heavens. Newton’s universe was vast and mechanical, governed
by predictable laws—but still assumed to be eternal and static. Newton’s Laws
of Motion and Gravity are used till date in engineering of structures, machines
and even missiles and rockets and satellites.
The idea of a dynamic universe emerged with Albert Einstein (14 March
1879 – 18 April 1955), whose theory of General Relativity (1915)
showed that space and time are interwoven and can bend under the influence of
mass and energy. Initially, Einstein resisted the implication that the universe
could be expanding, even introducing a "cosmological constant" to
preserve a static model.
However, observations by Edwin Hubble in the 1920s revealed that
galaxies are moving away from each other, suggesting the universe is expanding.
This led to the formulation of the Big Bang theory, which posits that
the universe began as an extremely hot, dense point around 13.8 billion
years ago and has been expanding ever since. For the first time The Big
Bang Theory was proposed by Georges Lemaître, a Belgian Catholic
priest, physicist, and astronomer, in 1927.
The custom-made diagram above is
prepared by Copilot which shows the infographic-style timeline that
traces the universe’s evolution from the Big Bang to the present day,
with distinct phases, particle transitions, and cosmic milestones. The timeline
below the funnel shows how temperature, energy, and time scale across billions
of years, reminding us that even the tiniest fractions of a second can shape
eternity.
From the fiery birth of time to the quiet hum of galaxies, the
universe has unfolded like a grand symphony—each epoch a movement, each
particle a note. This visual timeline traces the story of everything: from the
explosive moment of the Big Bang to the starlit present we now inhabit.
From Aristotle’s eternal cosmos to Einstein’s curved spacetime, our
understanding of the universe’s origin has evolved dramatically—culminating in
the Big Bang, a theory that continues to be refined through modern astrophysics
and cosmology.
Comparison: Vedic Wisdom vs. Big Bang Science
The Big Bang theory suggests that the universe began around 13.8 billion
years ago from an infinitely dense point—a singularity. From this
moment, space, time, matter, and energy expanded rapidly, giving birth to the
cosmos we observe today. It’s a linear model rooted in physics, backed by
cosmic microwave background radiation and the redshift of galaxies.
In contrast, Vedic cosmology offers a poetic and metaphysical view. The Nasadiya
Sukta of the Rigveda speaks of a time “when neither existence nor
non-existence was,” echoing the mystery of pre-Big Bang conditions. The concept
of Hiranyagarbha—the “golden womb”—describes the universe emerging from
a luminous cosmic egg, a metaphor that intriguingly parallels the Singularity.
While the Big Bang is a one-time event (at least in current models), Vedic
thought embraces cyclical creation. The universe undergoes endless cycles of
Srishti (creation) and Pralaya (dissolution), much like modern theories of
oscillating or bouncing universes.
Both perspectives agree on key points:
• Time and space begin with
creation
• The origin is mysterious,
beyond full comprehension
• The universe evolves, from
formless energy to structured matter
Science seeks measurable truths; Vedic philosophy explores eternal
principles. Together, they offer two lenses—one empirical, one
spiritual—through which we glimpse the profound mystery of existence.
From the above narrative, it is clear that the Vedic philosophy of Hiranyagarbha
and Singularity are almost the same.
This raises a compelling question:
How did the ancient seers of the Vedas, thousands of years ago, conceive
such a sophisticated vision of cosmic creation—one that modern science only
began to grasp in the 20th and 21st centuries?
Who were these enlightened minds? What kind of civilization nurtured such
deep metaphysical insight, capable of visualizing the birth of time, space, and
matter?
The Vedic sages did not merely speculate—they contemplated existence with
poetic precision and philosophical depth. Their verses, preserved across
millennia, hint at a civilization not only rich in spiritual wisdom but also
astonishingly attuned to the mysteries of the cosmos.
TO BE CONTUNED …
In the next blog we will try to understand creation of our Planet the
EARTH.
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