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Scientific Perspective of Guru Nanak's Teachings Journal of Critical Reviews ISSN- 2394-5125 Vol 7, Issue 9, 2020 SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE OF GURU NANAK’S TEACHINGS A. B. Bhattacharya Pro Vice Chancellor, JIS University, Agarpara, Kolkata 700109, West Bengal, India [email protected] Received: 25.03.2020 Revised: 16.04.2020 Accepted: 24.05.2020 Abstract The seeds of modern cosmology, the so called Big-Bang theory of the universe and the future science and technology in a broad sense are visible in the writings of Guru Nanak. All these thoughts are compiled during 1604 in the form of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book. Guru Nanak moved from place to place enlightening the people about the truth of universe and human life. Astronomers during the last century pointed out that universe is expanding and the distance between distant galaxies is increasing with time. In Guru Nanak’s thought, he had already said in his compositions that for countless ages, there was utter darkness; time originated from the sun and the Lord Himself was in a state of nothingness from where ‘He’ came into existence himself. Einstein’s special theory of relativity also showed that energy and mass are two sides of the same coin. According to Guru Nanak, before creation God existed all alone as ‘Nirgun’ form. It means energy (i.e. without material properties) and then got transformed into ‘Sargun form’ (Matter). He further pointed out that there are billions of stars, solar systems and galaxies in the universe and it is almost impossible to account for the whole system as there is no limit, no end. The spread of the universe being limitless, no one knows how much the spread of universe is and so there is no possibility to know the end. The largest contribution of Guru Nanak to mankind was the teaching of "the science of the Word ‘Naam’ which in a true sense is dissimilar to other science disciplines. But it is a perfect science, covering the subject matter in 1430 pages of the Adi Granth, which were compiled and composed nicely by the Sikh prophets. Considering the universes and the big bang theory with an emphasis on oscillating and continuous creation, steady state theory and creation vs. evolution, Guru Nanak was able to balance spirituality and science and that is why the Sikh Scriptures or beliefs largely promoted the science and technology. Using emerging technologies NASA are working today for collecting information about the solar planetary system and have confirmed that there are billions of galaxies like ours in the universe. Much information to the line was mentioned in the Guru Granth Sahib, hundreds of years back. Keywords: Creation of the Universe, Modern Cosmology, Big-Bang Theory, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Special Theory of Relativity, Solar Planetary System © 2020 by Advance Scientific Research. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.09.117 INTRODUCTION GURU NANAK’S FIRST STATEMENT Prophets in the world have taught and propagated religion from On this earth, there are many human races, religions and ethnic time to time. In fifteenth century, Guru Nanak was one of them groups. Religions acted as a divisive force in India in the 15th who was not only founder of the Sikh Religion but also was a century when Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was born. He felt there great poet, humanist, philosopher and powerful social reformer could not be two separate Gods, Ram for Hindus and Allah for [1-3]. Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore once said him the teacher Muslims as claimed by the people, in general. He believed there is of mankind. only one God for all humanity, only we call Him by any name, Allah, Gobind, God and Ram. If we all believe in one God then Cosmology is a subject that essentially deals with the problem of the creation spiritual unity can be the result. Their way of worship may vary of the universe. Different religions on the earth have dealt with the problem of but unity among them is natural if their object is single. He was creation of the universe from time immemorial in their sacred texts. The basic able to turn people from violence to peace. He converted tyrants of modern cosmology including the Big-Bang theory of the universe and the into compassionate beings and thus changed painful societies future science and technology are broadly visible in the writings of Guru into blissful communities. People of different faiths listened to Nanak and his successors which are compiled during 1604 in Sri Guru Granth his message and gained from his wise and sacred words. Sahib, the Sikh holy book [4]. Those cosmological concepts available in this sacred text when compared with present day knowledge on astronomy and Guru Nanak declared very clearly his primary interest not in any astrophysics including the particle physics beyond the formation of the metaphysical doctrine but only for the human and his fate which universe it becomes most impressive to anyone about the oceanic depth of means love your neighbor as you love yourself. He preached philosophy and scientific vision of Guru Nanak. It is the purpose of writing the universal brotherhood, peace, harmony and selfless love to all present text to create 'Awareness' about Guru Nanak's Scientific human beings. One of the most important beliefs he propagated Vision to the scientific community in general and to the to the society is that it is always require helping the needy and University students in particular. It is said that in the 15th the poor. Guru Nanak often invited the needy and the poor century, Sir Nicholas Bacon, a member of Corpus Christi College, people into his house. Sweets and ‘langar’ or community lunches Cambridge, was the person who gave modern science its first are offered to everyone, irrespective of religious faith. born son, a time when Elizabethan England flourished at its peak [5]. When that son Francis Bacon (1561–1626), a member He always emphasized three rules all people should follow. of Trinity College, Cambridge, recognized as a philosopher with These are: (i) Naam Japo (recite the name of the Lord at all his wisdom of universal thought and went on to lay the times); (ii) Kirat Karo (do an honest day's work); and (iii) Wand foundation of modern science [6]. However, the great Shako (share your food with those around you). Guru Nanak Renaissance of learning began with Roger Bacon (1214–1294) in taught to the society that all human beings regardless of skin the 13th century [7]. The torch of genius was subsequently taken color, caste, wealth and gender are created equal. up [8] by Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519). The philosophy was thrown into the sky by Copernicus [9] (1473–1543) and Galileo TEACHINGS OF GURU NANAK AND THE GENESIS OF MODERN SCIENCE [10] (1564–1642). Christopher Columbus [11] (1451–1506) took During fifteen century the Sikh religion was founded by Guru Nanak in India. it into the far horizons of one of the world's mighty oceans. He was a great philosopher and social reformer and had a great vision. He did four long journeys in different directions over a period of two decades with a view to bring in a change. These were Tibet in the north, Sri Lanka in the south, Saudi Arabia in the west and Bangladesh in the east. He moved from Journal of critical reviews 591 SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE OF GURU NANAK’S TEACHINGS place to place enlightening the people about the truth of universe and human If we just consider the Big Bang theory in an elementary way, the most life. His teachings can be obtained in the holy scripture of the Sikhs called Sri accepted theory today for creation of universe there was nothing but utter Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS). It is a vast collection of verses recorded in darkness for billions of years. Then after the Big Bang, there were formed ‘Gurmukhi’ and it is unique in its explanation. Many of us though try to innumerable planets, solar systems and galaxies in our universe. According to consider him only from religious point of view but indeed if we read his the theory, the explosion from zero volume at zero time created the space and compositions from scientific point of view, it provides a tremendous amount time by conversion of matter into energy and vice versa. Figure 1 shows the of information regarding cosmology and of other branches of science and estimated ratio of dark matter and dark energy in the universe. According to engineering. He had not only a great vision but also a very scientific, the present day accepted theories, dark energy has now dominating role as systematic and analytic mind. His all the approaches to the study of the largest source of energy of the universe and this is in contrast to previous cosmology were perceptive and fully scientific. Guru Nanak answered many epochs when it was insignificant, as evident from the figure. Dark energy may scientific questions in a way which scientists are now agreeing to. be explained by a static cosmological constant or may be that this mysterious energy is not at all constant but has changed over time. Figure 1 Estimated ratio of dark matter and dark energy in the universe. Einstein’s special theory of relativity, published more than hundred years consider that Nature wants symmetry and everything in this universe follows back, also showed that energy and mass are two sides of the same coin. This is certain laws of Nature.
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