The peril of science and wisdom of Shastra
Nature is the mother of all knowledge, the source of all wisdom and the bed of watertight logic. It is the space for Shastra. Science may fail and kill the apostle of science but Shastra will not harm the one who has harmony with it because Shastra itself is nature. A short drive through the falsely ‘comparative’ terms.
Sometimes language does not give you the meaning of the exact word-equivalent of what you have in your mind. Modern language has a limited bandwidth to deal with the logical minds of humans. For that reason, a translation from oriental to western does not save the inner core of your thinking.
Some words carry the peripheral and superficial meaning of exact notions, especially if the language is modern. ‘Science’ is one of the words to have a parochial meaning, if not defined in a longer sentence. The Oxford dictionary defines science as, “the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.” The word science did not exist until the 14th century though the concept has existed in the practical realm of every living being. Like humans, other living beings, including birds, animals and plants, practise science.
Science has a wider meaning than discoveries and inventions. That is the reason the Sanskrit term Shastra finds frequent references in scriptures and classics. This term is indefinable and as infinitive as the universe but has unarguable perfection. It is the Sutra of nature that human minds could channel for a harmonious life from time to time. Shastra is the infallible wisdom of nature. However, foreign lexicons give a twisted meaning to it as if it is a religious treaty. Shastra is eternal truth and flawless reasoning, but today’s science called discoveries, inventions and innovations may become wrong or incorrect tomorrow. There are many examples of scientific discoveries proving to be devoid of wisdom in the modern world. There is no scientific discovery or invention without a side-effect. Though humans can fail, Shastra having an embedded meaning of wisdom upon the logic of nature can never fail.
So how exactly do you define science and Shastra in your sense? Most often, both are misconstrued as the same. Both should not fall in the same basket, though they share some similarities in terms of logical results. “Shastra” is the equation for all universal existence. It is an enigma as big as the universe itself and far above the spectrum of human intellect. Human beings could scratch only the surface of Shastra. We call it science. No encyclopaedia will tell you the difference between science and Shastra beyond telling that Shastra is the Sanskrit term for the English word, science. Thus we get carried away by the curtailed meaning of Shastra.
Science is what we conceived from the Shastra of nature that is vulnerable to constant changes. It is an evolving discovery because discoveries are the result of exploration. The invention is the result of spinning a product of an object out of a rare combination of opposing or consistent elements which humans haven’t seen before. The discoveries may be harmful or helpful. Even those ‘helpful’ findings are harmful in the long run. Whatever the nature of the product, let us say humans have built more forbidden products by deploying scientific sense. When we compare scientific discoveries with the wisdom of nature, we understand the fact that nature teaches everything born on earth the practical science for sustainable living. What occurs naturally meets our basic needs.
A newborn doesn’t need any support to grab his mother’s breast to feed him. It is a Shastra of nature; no change in it ever. An infant feeding with an alternative needs extra care. Such food supplements may change after 10 years from now, according to the nutrition requirements of the time. It is science. It is only provisional knowledge for provisional use.
We all have learned this science for years, which fluctuates with the analysis and updates of the human brain. I would say science lacks wisdom, maybe a hilarious truth. Our senses have limitations. However, sophisticated machines compensate for many of the limitations. The best example is the ultrasound reading diagnostic machines which read extremely low-frequency sounds within our bodies not audible to humans. But the wisdom of nature works differently.
Any living body has its own mechanism to heal and cure itself. Here we see how nature takes care of us. The fabulous immune system configured in humans is still a puzzle for scholars. Nature takes care of our body functions too. It is the mother of all knowledge, the source of all wisdom and the bed of watertight logic. Shastra itself is of absolute nature.