The Science of the Rishis

January 19, 2015
It’s not often that you read about Newton’s third law of motion and karma in the same book. But for Hindu contemplative Vanamali (Shiva: Stories and Teachings from the Shiva Mahapurana), the two are intimately related. The rishis, keepers of Vedic knowledge, says Vanamali, were also keepers of great scientific secrets and understood concepts that modern science is only now rediscovering, such as quantum physics. While she makes a passionate, and sometimes lyrical, case for the connections between ancient Indian wisdom and contemporary scholarship, Vanamali’s ardent arguments offer little rigorous proof. Nearly half of the book covers the Hindu pantheon of gods that Vanamali has written about at length in previous books, and specific entries on scientific discoveries are relatively brief. Vanamali explains some concepts in detail (she includes 14th-century scholar Sayana’s speed-of-light calculations, for instance), but others come with few supporting details (such as Sridaracharya’s 11th-century description of quadratic equations, which is mentioned but undocumented). Vanamali’s intriguing ideas function more like opening arguments in a court case than a final verdict on the connection between Eastern and Western scientific thought.