Sage with a scientific vision
Kuldip Singh Dhir
The very fact that we are celebrating the 550th birthday of Guru Nanak underlines that he is part of recent history. Recount 20 generations back and you are with him. His life span (1469-1539 AD) is age of renaissance. History mentions two renowned scientists as his contemporaries. These are Leonardo da Vinci (1453-1519 AD) from Italy and Nikolaus Copernicus (1473-1543 AD) from Poland. Inventor and engineer Vinci is known more as a sculptor and painter. Copernicus unravelled cosmological mysteries and proposed heliocentric theory. His universe was, however, restricted to the Sun and the six known planets of his times. History makes no mention of the Guru having visited Italy and Poland or having a dialogue with either of the two scientists. Yet scientific insights, which dot his hymns frequently, long before Bruno, Galileo, Copernicus or Vinci, are mind boggling. This is what makes it imperative to look seriously into his relationship with new science.
Of unending diversities
Guru Nanak does not stake any claim to being a scientist. He claims to be a humble minstrel singing paeans of God. He is wonderstruck by the infinite expanse of the universe, astounding variety of creatures, meticulous design all around and orderly working of the whole network. The unending diversities emanating from the One and merging into it exhilarate him. Colours, scents, forms, rivers, oceans, mountains, forests, stars — the whole creation fills him with ecstasy.
Guru Nanak presented his concept of creator with alphanumeric Ek Onkar, which appears in wondrous colours, forms, forces, particles and equations working in the limits of eternal laws of His order i.e. Hukam. This order has been inscribed and prescribed by him right from the start. We discover these laws but have no option except working within their constraints. Hukam razai chalna Nanak likhiya naal… Guru Nanak asserts that it is not possible to fathom the frontiers of the universe because there are myriads of earths, skies, stars and galaxies. Khand patal asankh main ganat na hoi… Eh ant na jamai koi, patala patal lakh akasha akash.
Creation of universe
Guru Nanak proclaims that God himself creates and dissolves such universes ad infinitum. Dhahe dhah usare appe. Nobody can vouchsafe when He created this universe of ours except Him… Ja karta sirthi ko saje appe jaane soi. He is the only truth surviving beyond our categories of present past and future. He was there even before creation of time. Time and space are not eternal but his creations are: Keeye raat dinnaut choj vridanaya. Universe popped up from the primal void (suun). In his hymn, Maru Solhe, he proclaims that universe, man, moon, sun, earth, all elements and all gods were created by the lord from sunn. He is emphatic about the endless spread of the universe with countless continents, solar systems and underworlds: Tithe khand mandal varbhand. Je ko kathe ta ant na ant. Hubble and many modern cosmologists have endorsed it.
Guru Nanak postulates that universe was created from a singularity of zero space and infinite density. Sunno dharat akash upaye. His views have been explained theoretically on the basis of quantum theory. His pronouncement about the creation of the universe at his call is in sync with the Big Bang Theory, which has been validated by the discovery of remnants of cosmic background radiation in 1964.
Life on earth
Guru Nanak informs that there is no difference between the formless Nirguna and manifest Sargun, God. It is his dual nature as if He were energy and matter both simultaneously. The observer can visualise Him in whichever form He chooses. This concept is consistent with the dual behaviour of matter in the quantum world. It is particle as well as wave. Guru’s statements about the origin of life on Earth are equally scientific. Chronologically there were gases at the start. These formed water and water gave birth to life: Sache te pawna bhaya pawne te jal hoe. Jal te tribhawan sajiya ghat ghat jot samoi. He believes in the development of life on Earth through evolution. He asserts that the homosapiens have been lifeless stones for ages. Guru Arjan elucidated these views saying: For aeons we’ve been worms and insects. For aeons we’ve been fish, horse and elephants.
Guru Nanak says no two individuals are alike though all have emanated from him: Ikat roop phire parchhana koi na kis hi jeha. This uniqueness of individuals has been ratified by the DNA theorists. Guru Nanak remarks that the male contains the seeds of female and the female that of male both sharing the responsibility for the gender of the child. This fact finds veracity at chromosomal level today where we see that the female has XX chromosomes and the male has XY chromosomes in their reproductory kitty.
Guru Nanak makes a remarkable observation about the innumerably large numbers of subtle elements in our body: Is kaya andar vast asankha. Three billion neucleotides in genome of each of our fifty trillion cells confirms it. Genetic research indicates that the process of ageing and shortening of telomeres i.e. knots at the ends of chromosomes go hand in hand. Guru Nanak points it out saying: Chhije deh khule ik gundh.
It is significant to note that Guru Nanak is conscious of continuous movement at the micro and macro levels. He asserts that the Sun, moon, earth, sky and galaxies are in non-stop motion: Bhai vich suraj bhai vich chand. Koh karori chalt na ant. Galaxies, stars and universes are spread without any solid pillars. The formless sky is just an invisible canopy of space-time again without any solid support or strings: Bin thamma jagat rahaye…. Bajh kala adan rahaya. General theory of relativity, concept of gravity and gravitational waves are often explained with this metaphor. He points out further that the moon has no light of its own. Sunlight falling on it makes it shine: Sas ghar sur vase mite andhyara.
The many myths
Guru Nanak questions the orthodox belief of an ox supporting the earth. He asks if the ox supports the earth, what supports the ox and where does this unending chain stop. He is emphatic about all the forces emerging out of the One, lending support to some sort of grand unified theory: Jeh dekho teh eko eka… Scientists, right from the times of Einstein, Salam and Feynmann, are making frantic efforts to develop such a theory of everything. The holistic organic unity of nature has been underlined by Guru Nanak and vindicated by new science.
Guru Nanak dismisses the impurity called sutak attached to women due to menstruation and childbirth. He also ridicules the impurity called patak attached with death. He argues: Jamn marna hukam hai bhane ave jaye and sabho sutak bharm hai. He contends that there is life in every grain of crop. If water gives life to every creature, why not call it as the primal creature. He attaches great significance to air, water and soil as prime ingredients of life equating these with Guru, father and mother respectively. This shows his seriousness regarding environmental concerns about which we are still not conscious enough.
Our universe has been designed with constants, laws and equations fixed so precisely that even the slightest change in any of these would result in collapse of our universe. The true Lord himself is perfect and complete. The universe created by Him is also true and perfect: Ih jag sache ki hai kothri sache ka vich vas…. And Sache tere khand sache brahmand. Stephen Hawking appreciates the elaborate design of universe but stops short of accepting the existence of a designer behind it. Guru Nanak, however, is emphatic about the grand design being the handiwork of a perfect designer.
Fighting superstitions
Guru Nanak was unorthodox in his approach to natural phenomena. Reference could be made here about two historical events which occurred in his lifetime. The first concerns the solar eclipse of January 13, 1507. He was in Kurukshetra that day. Throwing all orthodoxy to winds, he made fire and cooked food publically, convincing the crowds about the futility of such beliefs. The second one concerns the appearance of Halley’s Comet in 1531. He ridiculed the fear attributed to this long-tailed star. He transformed it into an omen of good fortune which flashes in our mind when we live a life devoid of ego following the advice of Guru: Nanak haumain maar patine tara charhya lamma.
Guru Nanak’s life, teachings and bani are all in compatibility with the latest in new science. It is sad that we are still mired in indiscriminate blind faith and Babas of various hues are befooling us all around.
— The writer is former Dean, Faculty of Languages, Punjabi University
