Blogs >> Miscellaneous >>
Hinduism and Evolutionism; Darwinism came later
Hinduism is considered to be one of the oldest religions (2000 BC) from
one of the oldest civilizations in the world (Indus Valley). So, you
must be wondering why the concept of evolution was accepted by Hinduism
then and was built into one of the oldest Sanskrit Epics, Ramayana and
in texts such as Garuda Purana. Wasn't the concept of evolution
proposed by Darwin in the late 19th Century? Let us dig a bit.
The Ramayana is an ancient Hindu epic in Sanskrit that's thought to have been compiled in the 400BC time frame by a Hindu Sage Valmiki. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king. What's most important about Ramayana to our discussion are the main characters in the story; Rama the dark skinned king of Ayodhya, Lakshmana the fair skinned brother of Lord Rama, Sita the queen and Hanuman the mighty ape who assisted Lord Rama in winning over Ravana the demon king. So, what's any of this got to do with the theory of evolution?
Ramayana is probably the oldest epic that depicted a dark skinned king as a ruler of a nation with a variety of subjects who were both dark and light, working side by side with monkeys who were both dark skinned and light skinned to win against a nasty 10 headed villain. What's most surprising to me is the concept of monkeys who walk on 2 legs vertical to the ground, just like humans, co-existing with men and women that we are familiar with. Isn't that the last stage of evolution to the existing human form?
Also, in Garuda purana, written eons ago in India, depicts the 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu, the dark skinned Indian god. The 10 avatars are the following:
I wonder if sages from the those years in India, who composed Ramayana and the texts of Garuda Purana knew and believed about the concept of evolution of humans from the seas to land and in land from 4 legged animals to free standing monkeys and finally to the humans that we are.
And here we are after centuries and centuries questioning the concept of evolution........
The Ramayana is an ancient Hindu epic in Sanskrit that's thought to have been compiled in the 400BC time frame by a Hindu Sage Valmiki. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king. What's most important about Ramayana to our discussion are the main characters in the story; Rama the dark skinned king of Ayodhya, Lakshmana the fair skinned brother of Lord Rama, Sita the queen and Hanuman the mighty ape who assisted Lord Rama in winning over Ravana the demon king. So, what's any of this got to do with the theory of evolution?
Ramayana is probably the oldest epic that depicted a dark skinned king as a ruler of a nation with a variety of subjects who were both dark and light, working side by side with monkeys who were both dark skinned and light skinned to win against a nasty 10 headed villain. What's most surprising to me is the concept of monkeys who walk on 2 legs vertical to the ground, just like humans, co-existing with men and women that we are familiar with. Isn't that the last stage of evolution to the existing human form?
Also, in Garuda purana, written eons ago in India, depicts the 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu, the dark skinned Indian god. The 10 avatars are the following:
- Matsya, the fish
- Kurma, the tortoise
- Varaha, the boar
- Narasimha, the half-man/half-lion
- Vamana, the dwarf
- Parashurama, Rama with the axe
- Rama, Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya
- Krishna (meaning "dark coloured" or "all attractive")
- Gautama Buddha (meaning "the enlightened one") appeared in the Kali Yuga (specifically as Siddhartha Gautama).
- Kalki ("Eternity", or "time", or "The Destroyer of foulness"), who is expected to appear at the end
I wonder if sages from the those years in India, who composed Ramayana and the texts of Garuda Purana knew and believed about the concept of evolution of humans from the seas to land and in land from 4 legged animals to free standing monkeys and finally to the humans that we are.
And here we are after centuries and centuries questioning the concept of evolution........
|
|
