Accurate ecological species numbering in Indian Puranas VS Late modern science discovery - 'SOSD' #2

Most people worldwide have an assumption and often an assertion that Indian literature is a work of fiction, Ramayana, Mahabharat, Puranas, and Vedas, are works of fiction and stories made for entertainment purposes; which is why, I present to you today a fact that will make you rethink the history of human civilization on Earth and also make you question the advanced knowledge of people in ancient India.

Ecological species count in Padma Puran and Garuda Puran:

Padma Puran is an ancient Hindu literature, written by Ved Vyas, who also happens to be the author of Mahabharat. Padma Puran was written about 5000 years ago. In the Padma Puran, there is a line that mentions as follows:

‘Jalaja nava lakshani, Sthavara laksha-vimshati, Krimayo rudra-sankhyakah, Pakshinam dasha-lakshanam, Trinshal-lakshani pashavah, Chatur lakshani manavah’.

The translation of the above-mentioned sentence is that there are 8.4 million types of different species living on Earth. 9,00,000 in the ocean, 20,00,000 plants and trees, 11,00,000 microbes, insects and reptiles, 30,00,000 four-legged animals, and 4,00,000 humans.

Whereas in the Garuda Puran, which also happens to be written by Ved Vyas, there is a similar text that classifies the presence of 8.4 million species as per the species being oviparous, seed born, sweat born or viviparous, which are known as andajas, udbhijas, svedajas, and pindaja respectively.

Now relating the text from Padma Puran to the discovery by modern scientists, who have discovered and counted about 1.3 million types of species currently living on Earth. But they also estimate that there could be about 8 - 8.7 million species inhabiting our planet Earth. Research cited : Camilo Mora et al., How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean?; PLOS Biology, August 23, 2011, Volume 9, Issue 8, Pg no. 1-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127.

Description of 8.4 million species as per Vedas:

According to Vedas, 8.4 million species always exist, on all planets, and if they are not on a particular planet, that does not mean that they have gone extinct. It is just that they have become invisible to our vision, as Bhagavad Gita 2;22 explains that the body is like a dress for the soul, so the dress is given to the soul according to its karma. At the same time, certain dresses are suitable for specific environments. and certain are unsuitable for the same environment. Similarly, the soul in a polar bear’s body, which exists on the poles, and an ordinary bear which exists in tropical and temperate areas are of similar nature, but the polar bear cannot survive in tropical areas very easily, nor does the ordinary bear survives in the polar area very easily. Another example is dinosaurs. The body of the dinosaur is the dress for the soul, so when the earth’s atmospheric environment and its conditions became unsuitable for the dress of the dinosaur, the material nature temporarily retired that dress in that particular cosmic age. So that’s how in that sense they have not become extinct, they have just become invisible to our vision. As the soul is always existing, and so is the dressing, and in another place beyond our current human vision, the dinosaurs may well be existing. Even if you consider the ocean, it is known that only 5% of the ocean is explored due to various reasons.

Now coming back to the mention of 8.4 million species in the Padma Puran and Garuda Puran written 5000 years ago, and the recent discovery of scientists in 2011 that mentions the same, don’t you think that Indian literature was far more advanced than how it is interpreted? If we are more advanced than we were before, why the above ecological species count discovery was made in 2011?

Worth thinking about the advancements of science now, Vs then…

- Rachna Jadhav

@theresilientresearcher