धर्म और विज्ञान : कैसे पटेगी बीच की खाई

Summary

The article presents a philosophical argument for the unity of science and religion, using a parable about a neem tree and a mango tree. In the story, both trees are struck by lightning and their souls go to Yama's court. The mango soul expects reward for its sweet fruit, while the neem soul fears punishment for its bitterness. Yama judges that the mango soul is guilty of pride, as its sweetness was a gift of nature, not its own doing, and sends it to hell. The neem soul, humble and repentant, is sent to heaven because its bitterness was also nature's doing. Yama explains that bitterness was the neem's inherent nature (swadharma) and sweetness was the mango's inherent nature. The author argues that science is merely the investigation of this inherent nature, or dharma, present in all things. Science discovers the properties of objects—the bitterness of neem, the sweetness of mango, the attraction of a magnet, the expansion of matter with heat, the seven colors in sunlight, the force of gravity. These are all explorations of the intrinsic dharma of each entity. The author contends that the water cycle—evaporation, cloud formation, rain, and rivers returning to the sea—is a demonstration of the dharma of water, heat, and earth. The article suggests that when a scientist observes these phenomena and a philosopher or poet perceives a plan or a planner behind them, there is no conflict. The scientist should not object to this human tendency toward imagination and faith, as it is part of human nature. The author asserts that religion is not the invention of prophets or avatars but is the self-born cosmic law inherent in creation. Science, in studying the fundamental nature of things, is studying this same dharma. The perceived conflict between science and religion arises from a misunderstanding of the original meaning of dharma, which in ancient India was synonymous with the natural law that science investigates.