Science meets myth

Ancient Hindu scriptures considered Earth as a living entity. Now, science is discovering that mythology is actually rooted in fact.

Our scriptures considered the Earth a living entity. Now, science is discovering that ancient mythology is actually rooted in fact.

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On January 26, 2001, the Earth trembled and shattered Gujarat, in India. All that the hapless people could do was raise their hands and pray. No expert had foreseen this terrible earthquake.

In the Indian tradition, the Earth is worshipped as the compassionate Mother Goddess. This belief may have had a scientific basis, now lost to us. Compelling new scientific evidence points out that the Earth is a living being. An increasingly popular scientific hypothesis, Gaia, says that the Earth manifests characteristics common to all living systems—in fact, processes that occur within the human body take place within the Earth as well.

In the West, when the early Greek philosophers declared that they could no longer interpret their ancient writings and symbols, their myths became dead knowledge. They searched outwards, researching the phenomena within the ambit of the senses, which only was accepted as real. Mythology was rejected as illogical. Luckily, in India, we have a living mythological tradition.

The story of Kunti from the Mahabharata illustrates the rich meaning behind our myths. Kunti, mother of the Pandavas, may be considered as a personification of the Earth.