By
Dr. Sachidananda Shastri
September 27, 2014 at 02:00 PM
The Gold Room, Memorial Union, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
!! Light refreshments will be served !!
(Co-sponsored by the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Iowa)
Rigveda is the oldest book in Indian Civilization. The Näsadiya Sukta in Rigveda, commonly known as the Hymn of Creation, is a Hymn about Cosmogony that describes the state of universe on the eve and during its creation. Vedäs are considered revelations and this hymn is an illustration of such revelation. The Hymn is based on deep intuition and is not a result of an ordinary thought process.
The essence of the Hymn is that this universe is an emergent process. It states that our Universe is a bottom-up process arising out of the chaos. It is not a top-down process with a creator at the top who directs the Universe and its elements. For a Rishi (a scholar) meditating several thousand years ago, to come up with this Hymn is revolutionary indeed. Following the revolution in physics and astronomy in the beginning of last century, scholars have tried and continue to try to find parallels between this Hymn and the modern theories of Cosmogony.
Dr. Sachinanda Shastri is a retired physician in Chicago. He has a keen interest in ancient Indian scriptures. He will present this Hymn in its original form in Sanskrit and its translation. The original words have many shades of meaning. Although the exact meaning is open to interpretation – the speaker will present his own thoughts about the meaning. Those who are curious about the Hymn would read and meditate on this Hymn of seven Shlokäs (mantras) and discover how it affects them in their personal lives as well as in their view of the Universe they inhabit.
Event Timeline:
After a brief introduction, Dr. Shastri will present his talk on Näsadiya Sukta – the main feature of the event. Then, he will take questions from the audience. This will be followed by refreshments. Those interested only in Näsadiya Sukta may choose to leave at this point.
The discussion on the Näsadiya Sukta may continue depending upon the interest of audience. Time permitting, Dr. Shastri may present his views on Karma-Yoga in the Bhagavad-Gita.