evolution

The highest perfection of the evolutionary process, as described by the Vaisnava poet Jayadeva Gosvami, is given herein. Pralaya-payodhi jale dhrtavan asi vedam. The evolutionary process begins from the point of devastation (pralaya) when the whole universe is filled with water. At that time there are many fishes and other aquatics, and from these aquatics evolve creepers, trees, etc. From these, insects and reptiles evolve, and from them birds, beasts, and then human beings. Finally civilized human beings evolve, and at present these civilized human beings are at a junction where they can make further evolutionary progress in spiritual life. Here it is stated (sva-dharma-nisthah) that when a living entity comes to a civilized form of life, there must be sva-dharma, social divisions according to one's work and qualifications. This is indicated in Bhagavad-gita: (More...)

In this verse we can understand that the various types of living entities were created simultaneously at the very beginning of the creation. The nonsensical Darwinian theory of evolution is not applicable here. It is not that intelligent human beings did not exist millions of years ago. On the contrary, it is understood that the most intelligent creature, Lord Brahma, was first created. Then Lord Brahma created other saintly sages like Marici, Bhrgu, Atreya, Vasistha, Lord Siva and others. They in their turn created different types of bodies according to karma. In Srimad-Bhagavatam Lord Kapiladeva told His mother that the living entity gets a particular type of body in accordance to his work and that this body is decided upon by higher authorities. The higher authorities, as appointed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are Lord Brahma and all other Prajapatis and Manus. Thus from the beginning of creation it can be seen that the first creature is the most intelligent. It is not that so-called modern intelligence has developed by the gradual process of evolution. As stated in Brahma-vaivarta , there is a gradual evolutionary process, but it is not the body that is evolving. All the bodily forms are already there. It is the spiritual entity or spiritual spark within the body that is being promoted by the laws of nature under the supervision of superior authority. We can understand from this verse that from the very beginning of creation different varieties of living entities were existing. It is not that some of them have become extinct. Everything is there; it is due to our lack of knowledge that we cannot see things in their proper perspective. (More...)

In this verse the word dhvasta-tamasah is very important, for without being free of ignorance one cannot control the creation of different types of living entities. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam, daiva-netrena-bodies are awarded under the supervision of superior powers. How can these superior powers control the evolutionary process of the living entity if they are not free from all imperfection? The followers of the Vedic instructions cannot accept the Darwinian theory of evolution, for it is marred by imperfect knowledge. (More...)

The words itihasam (history) and puratanam (old) indicate that although a living entity lives within the material body, the history of the living entity within the material body is very old. In this regard, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has sung: anadi karama-phale, padi' bhavarnava jale, taribare na dekhi upaya. "Due to my past fruitive activities I have fallen into the water of material existence, and I cannot find any way to get out of it." Every living entity is suffering in this material existence from past activities; therefore everyone has a very old history. Foolish material scientists have manufactured their own theories of evolution, which are simply concerned with the material body. But actually this is not the real evolution. The real evolution is the history of the living entity, who is puranjana, living within the body. Sri Narada Muni will explain this evolutionary theory in a different way for the understanding of sane persons. (More...)

According to the foolish Darwinian theory of the anthropologists, it is said that 40,000 years ago Homo sapiens had not appeared on this planet because the process of evolution had not reached that point. However, the Vedic histories-the Puranas and Mahabharata-relate human histories that extend millions and millions of years into the past. In the beginning of creation, there was a very intelligent personality, Lord Brahma, and from him emanated all the Manus, and the brahmacaris like Sanaka and Sanatana, as well as Lord Siva, the great sages and Narada. All these personalities underwent great austerities and penances and thus became authorities in Vedic knowledge. Perfect knowledge for human beings, as well as all living entities, is contained in the Vedas. All the above-mentioned great personalities are not only powerful-being cognizant of past, present and future-but are also devotees. Still, in spite of their great education in knowledge, and despite their meeting the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu, they cannot actually understand the perfection of the living entity's relationship with Lord Visnu. This means that these personalities are still limited as far as their knowledge of the unlimited is concerned. The conclusion is that simply by advancing one's knowledge, one cannot be accepted as an expert in understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead can be understood not by advanced knowledge, but by pure devotional service, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita: (More...)

Since the living entities are never annihilated, they simply transmigrate from one life form to another. Thus there is an evolution of forms according to the degree of developed consciousness. One experiences different degrees of consciousness in different forms. A dog's consciousness is different from a man's. Even within a species we find that a father's consciousness is different from his son's and that a child's consciousness is different from a youth's. Just as we find different forms, we find different states of consciousness. When we see different states of consciousness, we may take it for granted that the bodies are different. In other words, different types of bodies depend on different states of consciousness. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (8.6): yam yam vapi smaran bhavam. One's consciousness at the time of death determines a type of body of the living entity. This is the process of transmigration of the soul. A variety of bodies is already there; we change from one body to another in terms of our consciousness. (More...)

You say that you have met people who claim that by evolution we are approaching a higher stage of existence. That is true in one sense, that anyone who takes to Krishna Consciousness may elevate himself to the highest status of life. Krishna mentions many types of higher beings in Bhagavad-gita, such as demigods and those who dwell on higher planets. We have information that there are 8,400,000 species of life. Out of these, 400,000 species are considered human life. Of these 400,000, how many species do we find in our experience? Not many, probably less than 1,000, so we must conclude that there are hundreds of thousands of higher and lower types of human forms. But this does not mean that automatically one body evolves into a higher body. No. It is described by Krishna how the soul becomes embodied according to his desire. So there are 8,400,000 types of bodies eternally existing. Not that the appearance of a new form in this world means that form has never existed previously. No, as conditions change on this earth planet, the living entities here desire to enjoy in a different way, so they take a different type of body. Even that body may be new here, it has always existed also somewhere else. So if a man qualifies for that body, he may be rewarded the body of superman, as he desires. So if someone wants such body, he must learn the process for acquiring it, that is Bhagavad-gita. (More...)

Mundane archeologists are mistaken because they say from monkey the human beings have come into existence, but at the present moment both the human being and the monkey are existing. The monkey is not extinct. So these theories are not correct. Nobody has seen a monkey giving birth to a human being. As the monkey and the human being are existing side by side at present, so for millions of years they were existing like this. That is our theory. The modern material archeology has no meaning for us. Our realization is depending on the spiritual platform. Transmigration of the soul does not depend on history. (More...)

Prabhupada: You do not find. This is only... You simply repeat Darwin, that's all. You do not find. You do not see anything. You simply hear from Darwin. You have taken Darwin as your authority. But you don't take authority Vedas. That is your fault. (More...)

[break] ...within water. So where is the difference? We also admit the forms of life begins from the ocean. Then plants. As soon as the water is dried, there are plants, trees. Sthavara laksa-vimsati. Sthavara means the life which cannot move. So the trees, plants, grass, they cannot move. Then insects, then reptiles, then birds, then beast, then human being. In this way the living entity is changing body. So what is the difficulty? (More...)

There is a spiritual sky where there are innumerable spiritual planets and innumerable spiritual living entities, but those who are not fit to live in that spiritual world are sent to this material world. The same idea is expressed in Milton's Paradise Lost. Voluntarily we have accepted this material body, but actually we are spirit souls who should not have accepted it. When and how we accepted it cannot be traced. No one can trace the history of when the conditioned soul first accepted the material body. There are 8,400,000 forms of living entities-900,000 species of living entities are within the water, and 2,000,000 species of life are among the plants and vegetables. Unfortunately, this Vedic knowledge is not instructed by any university. But these are facts. Let the botanist and anthropologist research into the Vedic conclusion. Darwin's theory of the evolution of organic matter is, of course, very prominent in the learning institutions. But the Bhagavata Purana and other authoritative scriptures of scientific magnitude describe how the living entities in different forms of body evolve one after another. It is not a new idea. But educators are giving stress only to Darwin's theory, although in Vedic literature we have immense information of the living conditions in this material world. (More...)