REFUTATION TO THE INDIAN PHILOSOPHY…
– by Ahmad Ali (A reverted Muslim from Hinduism)
[Note: When we are uttering the phrase “Indian Philosophy”, we are not insulting India, rather we are just pointing to the place where the Vedic thought or Vedic Philosophy was invented and influenced mainly. This philosophy can not be expressed perfectly by the word “Hinduism” (as the word “Hindu” is given by the non-indian people) which is not present in Hindu scriptures.
Besides, in Hindu thought, there are different sects who are defined by different ways. There are Mayavadi, Vaishnava, Shiva devotee, Arya Samajis and so on.
Their main Gods are different and demigods are also defined differently.
Moreover, there are some atheistic groups like the followers of Samkhya philosophy, Mimangsha Sashtra, teaching of Buddha and so on. Among them, some reject the divinity of vedas, some reject the existence of the Maker of the universe, some become silent about the existence of God etc.
So here, there are combination of different groups who are invented in Indian sub-continent and today’s Hinduism is the combination of all these groups. But as the word ‘Hinduism’ is a word given by the foreign people compared to India, and even the semetic faith like Christianity, Islam etc. are found out of india according to historical point of view, so the perfect word to represent the thought of indian sub-continent’s root philosophy should be “Indian Philosophy.” Here, our presentation may hurt some people. But the point should be noted that our aim is neither to hurt nor to insult somebody, but only to show the truth. So, we will request the readers to read our article from a neutral point of view. May peace be on you all.]
In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful. We testify that there is no god but Allah and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the servant and last messenger of Almighty Allah.
- Are the Modern Hindus logical or blind followers of their ancestors???:
Indian Philosophy is based on the concept of divinity of soul. According to this philosophy, God is the supreme soul and souls coming from the divine body of God, enter the mortal bodies.
So, we are actually eternal souls, not the mortal bodies. But we are in ignorance thinking that we are the bodies, not the eternal souls. That is called ‘Maya’ or illusion due to our ignorance.
Now, if we accept the theory that the soul is eternal, there remains a question. Why the eternal soul enters the mortal body?? Why the perfect entity suddenly discovers itself in the bondage of illusion and starts to assume itself as imperfect???
But if you look at the Indian Philosophy deeply, you can not find any valid explanation or answer to this question which means, there is no proof that the soul is eternal and part of the Supreme Soul.
This issue can be made clear from the writings of Indian Scholar Swami Vivekananda below:
**”Why should the free, perfect, and pure being be thus under the thraldom of matter, is the next question.**
**How can the perfect soul be deluded into the belief that it is imperfect?**
We have been told that the Hindus shirk the question and say that no such question can be there. Some thinkers want to answer it by positing one or more quasi-perfect beings, and use big scientific names to fill up the gap. But naming is not explaining. The question remains the same. How can the perfect become the quasi-perfect; how can the pure, the absolute, change even a microscopic particle of its nature? But the Hindu is sincere. He does not want to take shelter under sophistry.
**He is brave enough to face the question in a manly fashion; and his answer is: “I do not know.**
**I do not know how the perfect being, the soul, came to think of itself as imperfect, as joined to and conditioned by matter.“**
But the fact is a fact for all that. It is a fact in everybody’s consciousness that one thinks of oneself as the body.
The Hindu does not attempt to explain why one thinks one is the body. The answer that it is the will of God is **no explanation.**
**This is nothing more than what the Hindu says, “I do not know.””**[1]
So, it is a blind following of theology of the Indian ancestors. If you have no valid proof, answer or explanation, why will you believe in a theory???
Ask yourself !!!
If the eternal soul is the part of God, then God will not be the Creator at all, because He will then just transform His own portion, but will have no power to create out of nothing.
That’s why it is mentioned in the glorious Quran:
“Yet have they taken, besides Him, gods that can create nothing but are themselves created; that have no control of hurt or good to themselves; nor can they control death nor life nor resurrection.”[2]
(The Noble Quran, 25:3)
“Is then He Who creates like one that creates not? Will ye not receive admonition?”[3]
(The Noble Quran, 16:17)
So, about the issues that the soul is not immortal, is just a creation of the Creator and even can be destroyed if Almighty wishes, are responded clearly by the one and only True Creator Almighty Allah with the expression stated below:
“All that exists on the earth shall perish. Only your Lord, possessed of majesty and honor, shall endure forever.
So, O jinn and men, which of your Lord’s excellences will you deny?”[4]
(The Noble Quran, 55:26-28)
Some people of other Hindu sect rather than the follower of Mayavadi sect, may argue that Krishna is the Ultimate Creator or Siva is the Ultimate Creator and so on and Maya comes from this Ultimate God. Whether we take Krishna or Siva or Vishnu or simply God, the issue will remain almost the same.
Here for the sake of argument, we are taking Krishna as the Ultimate Lord as for example.
Now to make the issue clear, let us first look at a verse from the Bhagavad Gita below:
“And when you have thus learned the truth, you will know that **all living beings are but part of Me—and that they are in Me**, and are Mine.”[5]
(Bhagavad Gita, 4:35)
In the Purport of Bhagavad Gita, 4:35, Swami Prabhupada has explained that the real nature of the creature is that they are the individual immortal souls who are the part and parcel of God. He uses the name “Krsna”(i.e Krishna) for indicating the “Supreme Lord.”
“The result of receiving knowledge from a self-realized soul, or one who knows things as they are, is learning that **all living beings are parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna**. The sense of a separated existence from Krsna is called maya (ma—not, ya—this)…..
…….
**Although we are separated parts of Krsna, we are nevertheless not different from Him.** The bodily difference of the living entities is maya, or not actual fact. We are all meant to satisfy Krsna…..
………..
The living entities, as separate parts and parcels of the Supreme, have a purpose to fulfill. Having forgotten that purpose, since time immemorial they are situated in different bodies, as men, animals, demigods, etc. Such bodily differences arise from forgetfulness of the transcendental service of the Lord. But when one is engaged in transcendental service through Krsna consciousness, one becomes at once liberated from this illusion….”[6]
So, the real issue is that everything is the part and parcel of God and for example, if we take Krishna as the Ultimate God, then all the living creatures will be inside the divine or spiritual body of Krishna; or in other words, we can easily say that nothing is seperate from Krishna and so everything is inside Krishna. For this, Maya is also inside Krishna or the part and parcel of Krishna as Krishna himself says in Bhagavad Gita:
“…Supreme Personality of Godhead from whom everything has begun and **in whom** everything is abiding since time immemorial.”[7]
(Bhagavad Gita, 15:4)
It can be more evident that Maya is the part and parcel of Krishna from the explanation of a Vaishnava website where they define Maya as the energy of Krishna:
“About Maya
Krishna’s illusory energy
Maya is Sanskrit for “illusion” as well as “energy.”
**The ultimate source of all energies is the Absolute Truth, God, or Krishna,** and maya commonly refers to His external, material energy, under whose illusion we accept the body as the self, and this material world as the all in all…”[8]
Now a point should be realized that when immortal souls enter material objects, the creation comes into existence; but already all the creations are inside the divine body of Krishna.
So, the material objects should also be inside Krishna before the existence of the creation. If it is so, then the seperation of souls from Krishna’s body is nothing but a changing of position of souls, maya and material objects. If it is argued that material objects are actually false because our senses give us the idea of material objects’ existence, then only souls and maya will remain. So, whatever it may be, souls and maya or, souls, maya and material objects; the entering of the souls into the material objects is supposed to be the moment when maya is affecting the souls and souls are finding themselves into the misery and bondage of the world.
But if both Maya and the souls are already inside Krishna, then souls should be affected by Maya before the existence of the creation. But we see that souls are affected by Maya after the existence of the creation when the souls are supposed to be entered into the material objects.
So, how can it be logical to say that souls are not affected one time, but after the change of the position of (souls and maya), souls are affected and souls discover them in the misery and bondage – when souls are of the same nature of Krishna (as souls are immortal being the part and parcel of Krishna) and both time (before and after the existence of the creation) souls are surrounded by Maya???
Were the souls and maya remain at different sides and surrounded by each other later? But it is also illogical, because Maya is considered as the energy of Krishna, souls are the part and parcel of Krishna and Krishna Himself is the Supreme Soul. So, all the souls must be surrounded by Maya inside Krishna!!
So, if Maya is inside Krishna and souls are also inside Krishna, then it is illogical to say that the souls discovered them as seperate existence and in misery and bondage due to Maya when they are departed from the body of Krishna; or in other words, the reply that “Maya has come from Krishna” – can not give proper logical reply of the reason or origin of the existence of Maya.
That’s why Vivekananda comments correctly that “…naming is not explaining. The question remains the same…”[9]; so, naming the God as Krishna or Siva and so on can not reply correctly the reason of the existence of Maya.
- How much ‘Indian Philosophy’ is compatible to ‘Modern Science’???:
The Renowned Mathematician, the Lucasian Professor ‘Stephen Hawking’ and Physicist ‘Leonard Mlodinow’ have commented on philosophy in their book “The Grand Design“ like this way:
“….philosophy is dead. Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics.”[10]
Let us see, either this comment is suited to Indian Philosophy or not !
Now let’s see a commentary of Swami Sivananda on Brahma Sutra 1.1.21 first where it is presented an example with the explanation that the sun is the part of the Supreme Lord though the Lord is different from the sun.
“…The distinction between the Lord and the individual souls is declared in the following passage of the Srutis, **“He who dwells in the Sun and is within the Sun**, whom the Sun does not know, whose body the Sun is and who rules the Sun from within, is thy Self, the ruler within, the immortal (Bri. Up. III-7-9).
Here the expression “He within the Sun whom the Sun does not know” clearly shows that the Ruler within is distinct from that cognising in dividual soul whose body is the sun.
The text clearly indicates that the Supreme Lord is within the Sun and yet different from the individual soul identifying itself with the Sun…..”[11]
Here the difference between the Supreme Lord and the creation what is stated above is actually Maya or illusion. So, as per Indian Philosophy, there is not much difference between God and the creation except Maya or illusion. The issue can be made more clear from an explanation of Swami Vivekananda below where he uses the word “Brahman” instead of “God”:
“According to the Advaita philosophy, there is only one thing real in the universe, which it calls Brahman; everything else is unreal, manifested and manufactured out of Brahman by the power of Mâyâ. To reach back to that Brahman is our goal.
**We are, each one of us, that Brahman, that Reality, plus this Maya.**
If we can get rid of this Maya or ignorance, then we become what we really are…..” [12]
So, from here, we can say that God and the Creation are actually the same except the difference of Maya for which the eternal souls (coming from God) consider themselves falsely as seperate creations.
That’s why, as there is no actual difference between God and the creation except “Maya” or “illusion” or “ignorance”, the Indian Philosophy or Hinduism concludes that the creation is actually eternal and it is without beginning and without end.
Swami Vivekananda further comments on this issue like this way:
“**The Vedas teach us that creation is without beginning or end.**
Science is said to have proved that the sum total of cosmic energy is always the same. Then, if there was a time when nothing existed, where was all this manifested energy? Some say it was in a potential form in God. In that case God is sometimes potential and sometimes kinetic, which would make Him mutable. Everything mutable is a compound, and everything compound must undergo that change which is called destruction. So God would die, which is absurd.
**Therefore there never was a time when there was no creation.**
If I may be allowed to use a simile, creation and creator are two lines, without beginning and without end, running parallel to each other. God is the ever active providence, by whose power systems after systems are being evolved out of chaos, made to run for a time and again destroyed….” [13]
Now let us turn the point from philosophy to science.
According to Modern Science, it is now proved today that the creation is not eternal, it had an absolute beginning called “Big Bang”.
So, the Creation is eternal, we are in “Maya” or “illusion” and so, we should meditate to know our eternal nature, is just an imaginary tale and also a false and baseless backward concept.
It is mentioned in the book “The Grand Design“:
**“The first actual scientific evidence that the universe had a beginning came in the 1920s.**
As we said in Chapter 3, **that was a time when most scientists believed in a static universe that had always existed.**
The evidence to the contrary was indirect, based upon the observations Edwin Hubble made with the 100-inch telescope on Mount Wilson, in the hills above Pasadena, California. By analyzing the spectrum of light they emit, Hubble determined that nearly all galaxies are moving away from us, and the farther away they are, the faster they are moving. In 1929 he published a law relating their rate of recession to their distance from us, and concluded that the universe is expanding. If that is true, then the universe must have been smaller in the past. In fact, if we
extrapolate to the distant past, all the matter and energy in the universe would have been concentrated in a very tiny region of unimaginable density and temperature, and **if we go back far enough, there would be a time when it all began—the event we now call the big bang….”**[14]
Some people like the group of Arya Samaj may raise their voice against all such philosophies and may also argue that God is the only Creator and they do not believe in all such Mayavadi concepts. But if you look deeply, they can not even ignore that their main scripture Veda also support the view that everything is inside God or, in other word, everything is the part and parcel of God which can be evident from the translation of a verse of Rig Veda by Swami Dayananda Saraswati (the founder of Arya Samaj) below:
“He who has created this multiform universe, and is the cause of its sustenance as well as dissolution, the Lord of the universe **in whom the whole world exists,** is sustained and then resolved into elementary condition, is the Supreme Spirit. Know Him, O man, to be your God and believe in no other as the Creator of the Universe.” (RIG VEDA 10:126:8; tr. Swami Dayananda Saraswati)[15]
Again the same thing is mentioned in Manu Samhita too:
“He(the divine Self-existence or God), desiring to produce beings of many kinds **from his own body….”**[16]
(Manusmriti or Manu-Samhita, 1:08)
Now look at the new scientific discovery again. We have now discovered that the Creation has come out of nothing (not from God’s part) which proves Ancient Indian Philosophy or Aryan thought of God as contradicted to Modern Science from its root.
In the book “The Grand Design”, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow have said on this issue like this way:
“..Because gravity shapes space and time, it allows space-time to be locally stable but globally unstable. On the scale of the entire universe, the positive energy of the matter can be balanced by the negative gravitational energy, and so there is no restriction on the creation of whole universes.
Because there is a law like gravity, **the universe can and will create itself from nothing** in the manner described in Chapter 6. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than
nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist…”[17]
The same issue of creation from nothing can also be seen from the scientific explanation of various online websites too. Let’s have a look from the explanation of an online website below:
“..Many scientists assume that the universe came from nothing, which is an idea that can only be true in light of quantum theory. Ultimately, quantum fluctuations could allow a universe to spontaneously form from nothing. However, without a mathematical proof, the idea that the universe spontaneously popped into existence has no real substance. And therein was the problem. We didn’t have the math to support the “universe from nothing” hypothesis.
This is where Dongshan He and his team from the Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics (WIPM) comes in.
**They have managed to develop the first mathematical proof** that the big bang could have been the result of quantum fluctuations.
**The Wheeler-Dewitt equation and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle are at the heart of this new proof.**….”[18]
Now let us remind again that if the creation is the part of God, then God will not be the Creator at all, because He will then just transform His own body, but will have no power to create out of nothing.
Islam says that Allah is the only true Creator Who does not tranform His body to make the Creation but He creates out of nothing. And so, the Creation is not comparable to the Ultimate One True Creator and is completely seperated from Almighty Allah in real sense.
“But does not man call to mind that We created him before out of nothing?”[19]
(The Noble Quran, 19:67)
“(He is the) Originator of the heavens and the earth. When He decides a matter, He simply says to it: “Be”, and it comes to be.”[20]
(The Noble Quran, 2:117)
“And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.”[21]
(The Noble Quran, 112:04)
[Note: From the correct Islamic theology, Allah is seperated from the whole Creation and that’s why Allah is not any soul or Supreme Soul, but Creator of all souls and everything. For this reason, Islam does not say that Allah or the part of Allah stays inside creatures in the form of Atma or Soul.
To get more explanation, read the fatwa from here – https://islamqa.info/en/50774 ]
The Creation had an absolute beginning called “Big Bang” is mentioned in the Quran almost 1400 years ago.
It is mentioned in the glorious Quran:
“Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and **the earth were a joined entity (i.e Super Atom indicates “Gravitational Singularity”[22]),** and **We separated them (i.e causing “Big Bang”)** and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?”[23]
(The Noble Quran, 21:30)
The words of the Quran has come into existence almost 1400 years ago in Arabia when people were in superstition; when people used to bury their female child alive; when people believed that the rainfall happens for the wish of god or goddess. People of Arabia did not know about science; even historically, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) could neither read nor write anything as he was a ummi or an illiterate person! Then who give this idea that creation has come out of nothing by Big Bang in the Quran which today after various scientific research we can be able to know before a few years ago???
There is only one sane minded answer – it is from the Ultimate Controller of the universe – the Almighty Creator, Who is mentioned in the Quran with the arabic name “Allah” and He has revealed the divine words on the last and final messenger prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) for the people of the whole world.
وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَٰكَ إِلَّا كَآفَّةً لِّلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
“We have not sent thee but as a universal (Messenger) to men, giving them glad tidings, and warning them (against sin), but most men understand not.”[24]
(The Noble Quran, 34:28)
_________________
Reference:
[1] Complete Works of Vivekananda, Volume 1/Addresses at The Parliament of Religions/Paper on Hinduism;
source: http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_1/addresses_at_the_parliament/v1_c1_paper_on_hinduism.htm
[2] Translation of ‘The Holy Qur’an’ by Abdullah Yusuf Ali
[3] Translation of ‘The Holy Qur’an’ by Abdullah Yusuf Ali
[4] English translation of Al-Quran, 55:26-28; taken from “Tafhim al-Qur’an – The Meaning of the Qur’an” by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi
[5] ‘Bhagavad Gita As It Is’ by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON
[6] Purport of Bhagabat Gita, 4:35 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON;
source: https://asitis.com/4/35.html
[7] Purport of Bhagabat Gita, 15:4 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON;
source: https://asitis.com/15/3-4.html
[8] http://www.krishna.com/about-maya
[9] Complete Works of Vivekananda, Volume 1/Addresses at The Parliament of Religions/Paper on Hinduism;
source: http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_1/addresses_at_the_parliament/v1_c1_paper_on_hinduism.htm
[10] “The Grand Design” by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow/Chapter 1: The Mystery of Being
[11] “BRAHMA SUTRAS”, TEXT, WORD-TO-WORD MEANING, TRASLATION AND COMMENTARY BY Sri Swami Sivananda
[12] Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 2/Jnana-Yoga/The Atman: Its Bondage and Freedom;
Source – https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_2/Jnana-Yoga/The_Atman:_Its_Bondage_and_Freedom
[13] Complete Works of Vivekananda, Volume 1/Addresses at The Parliament of Religions/Paper on Hinduism;
source: http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_1/addresses_at_the_parliament/v1_c1_paper_on_hinduism.htm
[14] “The Grand Design” by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow/Chapter 6: Choosing Our Universe
[15] source – http://www.aryasamajjamnagar.org/chaptereight.htm
[16] The Laws of Manu, translated by George Bühler;
source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu/manu01.htm
[17] “The Grand Design” by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow/Chapter 8: The Grand Design
[18] source – https://futurism.com/proof-that-the-universe-could-have-come-from-nothing/
[19] Translation of ‘The Holy Qur’an’ by Abdullah Yusuf Ali
[20] Translation of Quran by Shaykh Mufti Taqi Usmani
[21] The Noble Qur’an English Translation by Hilali and Khan
[22] “A gravitational singularity or space-time singularity is a location in space-time where the gravitational field of a celestial body becomes infinite in a way that does not depend on the coordinate system……..
……….
Gravitational singularities are mainly considered within general relativity, where density apparently becomes infinite at the center of a black hole, and within astrophysics and cosmology as **the earliest state of the universe during the Big Bang**….”
(Source – Wikipedia
Link – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_singularity)
[23] Saheeh International Translation of Al-Quran
[24] Translation of ‘The Holy Qur’an’ by Abdullah Yusuf Ali
