The Vedic View of Evolution

Darwin's error was to minimize his own human frailty. Overlooking the limitations of his own senses and mind, and ignoring the inevitable human tendency to become illusioned and make mistakes, he cheated the public by claiming as fact that which could only be tentative hypothesis. To find the conclusive explanation of the origin of species, we must approach a source of knowledge which is beyond the imperfections of our tiny brains. This infallible source of knowledge is the Vedic scriptures which, unlike the speculative postulates of empirical scientists, are spoken directly by the Supreme Lord Himself.

In the Vedic literature, we find a well-substantiated explanation of the origin of the many species from a theistic, yet thoroughly scientific, point of view. The theists of Darwin's time had no scientifically viable arguments with which to defend and explain divine creation. For instance, why does life display such a varied gradation of organisms, from the most simple amoeba to the complex human being? What is the relationship between animal and human life? The answers to these questions are given in the Vedas.

According to the Vedic information, the material body is only a temporary covering of the eternal soul-a puppet that dances for some time until the soul passes on to the next life form. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, a manual for spiritual life spoken by Lord Krsna (God) Himself: "As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death." (Bg. 2.13)

The soul, the vital spiritual spark in each material body, is thus understood to be the active principle in the cycle of birth and death. The nature of the soul is described as follows: "Know that which pervades the entire body to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy the imperishable soul. Only the material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is subject to destruction." (Bg, 2.17-18) Scientists have no access to knowledge of the soul through their methods of empirical observation and experimentation, because the soul is described as being beyond the purview of the mundane world, immeasurable by the blunt instruments of our senses.

Modern Darwinists postulate a common ancestor for all species-a single-celled organism with minimal life functions. The Vedas also specify one origin for all living entities, but the Vedic conclusion is that the origin of all species is God. As Lord Krsna explains in the Bhagavad-gita: "It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunti, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father." (Bg. 14.4) "I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me." (Bg. 10.8) Many present-day followers of Darwin maintain that life originated by accident in a primeval chemical soup, but when the Vedic scientist asks to know where the soup came from-or the universe for that matter-Darwinists cannot reply. The theory of accidental creation of the universe is based simply on unproved assumptions and an unwillingness to admit ignorance.

Darwin theorized that the varieties of life forms gradually evolved from one another over a great span of time. The Vedas, however, explicitly describe the process by which all species were created at the beginning of the universe. The Vedas categorize 900,000 species of aquatic life, 2,000,000 species of plant and tree life, 1,100,000 species of insects, 1,000,000 species of birds, 3,000,000 species of beasts and 400,000 species of human beings. The Vedas do not say that all 8,400,000 species of life must exist simultaneously on any one planet. There are countless millions of planets within God's creation, each with life forms suitable for its environment. Simply because a particular species-such as the dinosaur-is no longer visible on earth is no proof that it does not exist somewhere else.

The material world is created for the small minority of souls who rebel against the supremacy of God. The Lord provides a place for them where they may act out their fantasies as tiny gods of the mundane sphere. At the same time, however, God provides the means by which the fallen souls may revive their God consciousness and return to the spiritual world.