Is the big bang theory contradictory to or harmonious with the Vedic account of creation?

Transcript

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thank you question is the Big Bang Theory compatible with the Vedic account of creation or do the two contradict each other answer there are some features of the Big Bang Theory that are compatible and some features that are incompatible firstly the idea that the universe began from one point and expanded that is compatible secondly the idea that the universe in some versions of the Big Bang Theory there is the idea that from the Big Bang there will eventually be a big crunch that means the universe will keep expanding for a particular period of time and afterwards it will start contracting so that also is the Vedic understanding the Vedic understanding is that the universe has emerged from the body of Mahavishnu and from the body pores of Mahavishnu when they emerge they start expanding and they expand to become bigger, bigger, bigger so as long as Mahavishnu is exhaling the universes are expanding and when Mahavishnu starts inhaling the universes start contracting and as he keeps inhaling the universes contract and get drawn into him and then there is a situation of near total pralay when the universes lie in the body of Mahavishnu and the whole material cosmic manifestation becomes unmanifest so this could be roughly said to be the idea of the big crunch so apart from that in some models of the universe Big Bang Theory and its extensions there is the idea that there are many parallel universes and there are in fact innumerable universes now this idea in and of itself is also compatible with the Vedic understanding because from the body pores of Mahavishnu innumerable universes come out Anantakoti Brahmandanayak Lord Vishnu is known as so Anantakoti means innumerable millions or crores of universes come out so these three features the universe starts from point and expands then it contracts and that there are many universes these three are compatible with the Vedic understanding and the remaining are not just incompatible with the Vedic understanding but they are also incompatible with the observations that we come across in the cosmos also that means that according to the Big Bang Theory there was just some some thing, some entity they call it a quantum mechanical vacuum but this quantum mechanical vacuum is not vacuum in the sense that we know it as something that contains nothing because this quantum mechanical vacuum requires pages of complex intricate mathematics to describe so it is certainly something and not just something, it is a lot it is a mindful and a brainful for a lot of people so therefore there is certainly the point that this whole idea that something entirely came from nothing is quite incompatible with our everyday experience as well as with scientific sense so in some religious traditions there is the idea that God creates means out of nothing God creates this world however that also leads to the idea that something comes out of nothing because God is spiritual and then how does the material world come into existence so God brings matter into existence from nothing that is the idea of creation but that leads to several philosophical problems including the problem that again something is coming out of nothing so of course we can say that God is the creator who creates something out of nothing but still that leads to the problem that that means there was something which was not existing earlier and now it came into existence out of nothing so in the Vedic there are complex problems with this theory of creation and that is not the Vedic understanding actually it is not that God creates matter even matter is eternal even matter exists constantly only matter undergoes phases in one phase it is manifested in another phase it becomes unmanifested and by this process of cyclic manifestation then unmanifestation, then manifestation, then unmanifestation that is how individual existence goes on so what is God’s role? God’s role is not creation per se it is manifestation so ultimately matter is also an energy of God so we don’t say that matter is created by God out of nothing matter is the energy of God and it exists with God forever being one of His energies just as the energy exists with the energetic always just as sunlight exists with the sun or heat and light exists with the fire so what does God do? by His action, by His glance He triggers the creation by His glance He energizes the material substratum and then the process of creation begins so the first point which is different between the Big Bang theory and the Vedic understanding is that it is not that something is created out of nothing but there is a material substratum and that material substratum in some form or the other manifested or unmanifested is also existing forever from which the universe manifests secondly, according to the Big Bang theory there is just a sudden and gigantic explosion which sets off the process of creation so modern science is still at its wits end to explain what causes that explosion what triggers that explosion so actually speaking if matter is in one particular stage we see that matter itself does not have any creative potential matter needs to be moved by some higher agency matter is unconscious so that’s why what causes the Big Bang to start off is something which science finds quite baffling so the Vedic scripture explains that the creation or the manifestation of matter is started off by the supreme being who exists as an agent separate from matter who energizes with his glance so that glance contains a huge amount of energy so both the Big Bang theory and the Vedic understanding of creation cause a huge discharge of energy that starts off creation but in modern science the discharge of energy the source of the Big Bang is not known whereas in the Vedic creation the source of the expansion is known then going beyond that according to modern science according to specifically the Big Bang theory after the explosion happens matter just in its own way often chaotic, often unorganized starts getting thrown apart and while it is being thrown apart certain of the shards the fragments of that Big Bang of the material that exploded they coalesce together and then they form some atomic particles and then they form atoms and eventually planets are formed and eventually the universe as we know it gets formed over millennia and all this happens according to the Big Bang theory by just chance and the forces of nature however the Vedic understanding is that this whole process of creation happens under the vision of the Supreme Lord mayadhyakshinaprakruti lord krishnasis the whole material nature manifests under my direction acts under my direction and then also according to modern science there are many parallel universes and in each universe the laws are entirely different and in each of these universes the laws are ultimately independent entities which are shaped by certain factors and the very person who is and these various laws are by chance arranged differently in different universes and somehow in our universes the laws have come out to be right but the Vedic understanding is that the laws may be different in different universes but that difference is not a product of chance all the universes are under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and all the universes have their laws being moulded by the will of the Lord so in this way actually speaking scientists have found that the extent of the intricacy, delicacy and the complexity that is involved in getting the universe from its starting point to where it exists right now is so great that its probability is almost vanishingly low it’s so low that it’s not a scientifically viable probability so that also indicates that if it’s not happening by chance it has to be happening by plan so the observations of the universe as they are done by modern science using the assumptions of the Big Bang cosmology are still nonetheless requiring something that exists beyond the Big Bang cosmology that means there has to be an organizing principle there has to be a supervising agent who ensures that the universe as we observe it around us emanates from the original explosion and that supervision is done by the Supreme Lord according to the Bhagavad Gita so the assumptions of no divine agencies being involved in the process of creation are the things that contradict the Vedic literature and these assumptions are contradicted or at least challenged even by the findings of the science within the universe itself therefore the Big Bang theory gives us some understanding of what is happening from the beginning of manifestation of this world but whatever factors are missing within it they are actually supplemented and completed to a large extent by the insights from the Vedic literature Thank you