May 17
Dear Devotees and Friends:
Please accept our humble dandavats.
Hare Krsna.
–Satsanga MP3– Satanga: May 11, 2008 is now uploaded.
In the Satsanga a scientific understanding of the Origin of Universe is discussed.
The term Big Bang was coined by Fred Hoyle. He implied it as a derisory statement seeking to belittle the credibility of the theory that he, himself, did not believe to be true. However, the discovery of cosmic microwave background in 1964 was taken by many scientists as almost undeniable evidence for the validity of the Big Bang theory. Thus Big Bang became a prominent cosmological model for describing the origin of the universe among the majority of modern scientists.
Research on Big Bang cosmology intensified further due to major advances in telescopic technology as much as from the analysis of abundant data produced by satellite observatories, such as the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), the Hubble Space Telescope and Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). Cosmologists now believe that they have fairly precise measurements of many of the parameters of the Big Bang model. Furthermore, they have made the discovery that the expansion of the universe appears to be accelerating (inflationary model), an assumption that needs to be made in order to correct some problems in the original Big Bang theory.
Using the general theory of relativity to exptrapolate the expansion of the universe backwards in time yields an infinite density and temrpature at a finite time in the past. This singularity signals the breakdown of the general theory of relativity. According to the Big Bang theory, our universe sprang into existence as this “singularity” around 13.7 billion years ago.
We should have some idea about the term ’singularity’ in order to understand what the Big Bang theory is all about. Singularities are zones which defy our current understanding of physics. They are believed by scientists to exist at the core of black holes, which are areas of intense gravitational pressure. Cosmologists believe that the pressure is so extreme that finite matter is actually squished into infinite density within the black hole. It is these zones of infinite density that are known as singularities. Thus our universe is believed by the scientists to have begun as a singularity - an infinitesimally small as well as infinitely hot and dense indefinite something.
If this is the case, a genuine question that spontaneously comes to mind is: “What caused the Big Bang?” More clearly, we can ask:
(1) What caused the initial point (singularity) to expand?
(2) Where did the initial point (singularity) come from?
(3) What was there before the initial point (singularity)?
Science approaches its limits in trying to answer these questions. Yet, in order for anyone to really accept the Big Bang as a satisfying rational theory of the universe’s origin, it must provide some comprehensible idea about the actual beginning and not merely postulate a vague, arbitrary and inexplicable point, and then refer to data from a presumed consequent stage.
In the Satsanga, HH Bhakti Madhava Puri Swami of Bhaktivedanta Institute contrasted this explanation with the contribution of Vedic cosmology in answering questions about origins. Vedic cosmology doesn’t stop at an abstract indeterminate point or singularity. To explain this, Maharaja discussed a sloka from the Rig Veda (10:129),
Nasadasinno sadaseettadanim naseedrajo no vyoma paro yat
Kimahvariva kuh kasya sharmannambhah kimaseedgaahanam gabhiram [1]
“Then there 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?”
Here we can see that Rig Veda presents a very penetrating inquiry into origins. In the beginning there was absolutely nothing (nothing existent or non existent), not even the expanse of space (air, sky). It then questions: was it contained (covered) in something greater than itself, and if so, where or how was it related to or grounded (sheltered) in that? The mention of water is generally made in reference to the idea of the unconscious abyss, the unknown that lies in the depths beneath the surface knowledge of appearances available to our sensuous inspection. It also represents the unactualized or unmanifest realm of possibility. The ancients (including Aristotle) had the concept of modal types of being: possible (or potential), actual, and necessary. Necessity is what connects the possible to the actual, i.e. it is the actualizing principle. Today, philosophers refer to these terms in what is known as modal logic. These modes may also be related to the trigunas that are found in Samkhya philosophy.
The last question concerning water (the unknown or unconscious) is interesting because a distinction is implied between the material reality (ontological state of indeterminate being) and the consciousness or knowledge of material reality (epistemological determination of being). In the primordial stage before the creation of the material universe, if there were only unconsciousness, then an indeterminate material potency could exist that becomes actual in conjunction with the awakening of consciousness. We will explain in more detail the difference and relation between ontological being and the epistemological determination of being. The significant point is that the Vedas present a very broad and open minded inquiry into actuality, unrestrained by any dogmatic doctrines such as scientific materialism, subjective idealism, etc.
In order to understand the origin of the universe (where everything came from) we must know what we are left with when we abstract from or take away everything that belongs to our physical experience of what we call the universe. What results from such abstraction is a kind of pure undetermined being we may call ‘nirguna‘ or a state that is devoid of all material qualities. When something is indeterminate, we mean that it has no specific determinations. For example, a dark blob seen far off in the distance may be indeterminate (undetermined) until it comes closer to us, when we can then determine what it is, — say, an elephant.
When we make judgments like, “It is an elephant,” or, “It is a cow,” we first refer to the subject as an indeterminate “it.” Then we predicate it by a determinate identity such as elephant, cow, etc. The indeterminate “it” simply refers to the fact that something “is,” or something “is there,” i.e. something exists, without specifying or determining exactly what it is. Once it is established ‘that’ something is there, we can then determine ‘what’ it is. So two distinct but united aspects of the thing have to be considered: ‘that’ it is (its indeterminate being), and ‘what’ it is (its determinate qualities).
Scientists have concluded from the Big Bang theory that there is an indeterminate singularity out of which the universe is manifested. They arrive at this conclusion by abstracting or thinking away all determinate qualities of the manifest universe. What they are left with is a pure mathematical abstraction they call a singularity. Therefore, what is actually arrived at by such abstract thinking can only be an abstract thought, and that is exactly what a singularity is. Thus the origin of the universe, although the scientists would like us to believe it is merely a physical or material point, is in reality only an abstract thought. But this implies that Mind must pre-exist the origin of the universe if we insist the origin is simply a singularity, which can only be an abstract thought.
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All Glories all Sadhus, Guru and Vaisnavas.
Thanking you.
Your humble servants
Purushottama Jagannatha Das &
Sushen Das
In 2005, Science magazine published in the 125th Anniversary Issue 125 questions for which modern science has no tangible clue. These questions are presented under a special title 
