From: Ramesh Chitnis
A thought provoking Article.
Recently I came across a quote by Albert Einstein, “We owe a lot to the Indians who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.” It struck me how a simple concept can become a foundation of a profound future. There were other systems besides our decimal system. Roman way of counting is one of them. This system had no symbol for zero. A symbol represented a number. When a number exceeded a certain figure another symbol is introduced. As the numbers grew larger the system ran out of symbols. Ancient Hindus devised a counting system with ten symbols- hence the decimal system- Zero is one of these symbols which represents nothing. They overcame the limitation of the symbols by separating the symbol from its value. The same symbol has a different value at different places. Thus the symbol 5 has a value of 5 in units place, 50 in tens place, 500 in hundreds place and so on. This ensured that no new symbol is required however large the number be.
This system also enables to form simple rules for the arithmetical functions of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. So simple that it can be taught to kindergarten children. Mathematics provided an easy and concise way to express logical data. Soon from whole numbers we proceeded to fractions, rational and irrational numbers, imaginary and complex numbers. Algebra. calculus, vectors, matrices followed. Quantification of the parameters paved the way for progress and scientific discovery in physics, chemistry, biology etc. The world adopted the decimal system with open arms. All other systems of counting were discarded as museum pieces. No wonder a great scientist like Einstein paid high tributes to this system of counting.
About the same time, Hindus formulated another important concept-that of infinity-Ananta. Ananta means endless-limitless. It is not a number. It can not be expressed by the powerful decimal system. It requires a special symbol. Infinity is immune to arithmetical operations. Infinity remains infinity after adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing by any number. The outside world got confused in understanding this concept. We are so much accustomed to find the limits to most objects and observations that we imagine non-existing limits for infinity. For an uninformed person, horizon may appear as a limit of the sky. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan gives an apt simile to describe this illusion. Suppose there is an all-round viewing chamber atop a hill to view the panorama and it can be seen through a peephole. The peephole represents the limit of the finite observer. The observer believes the view from the peephole is all that exists. This observer forgets or overlooks the existence of other peepholes from which totally different views can be seen and significantly these also form the part of the panorama.
Jesus Christ was born and preached in an area which was a part of Roman Empire. People at this time did not know the concept of zero let alone infinity. Jesus Christ did not write the Bible. It was written much later by his followers- a group of scholars as they understood him. They declared that God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. Everywhere has no limits. It excludes nothing. It means infinity. They also declared that their God is only the true God. Others are false Gods. So according to this assertion God has a limit beyond which false God starts. Where this limit comes from? It is not the limit of the observed. It is the limit of the observer. It refers to the peephole as described by Radhakrishnan. It definitely ignores existence of other peepholes. If the scholars understood infinity correctly this assertion would not have crept in. They would have reached the same conclusion as the Hindus reached. There is one God seen in many different ways. “ekam vipra bahuda vadanti”
Implication of this conclusion would have a profound effect comparable to the effect on future as the decimal counting did. It would have substantially altered the character of Christianity but also of Islam which borrowed the concept of false Gods. There would have been no need to force people to see through a particular peephole. In other words, there would have been no need to proselytize. One would view another religion as a view from a different peephole. The world would have been a more peaceful and more colourful place.
How would the world be without proselytisation. A microcosm in India is available. Hindus do not go for proselytisation. People in Mumbai celebrate Ganapati bappa on a grand scale. About a month later Kolkata celebrates Durga ma on equally grand scale. Bengalis in Mumbai and maharashtrians in Kolkata – in fact Hindus from all other parts join these celebrations without reservations. There is no thought that Ganapati is better than Durga or vice versa. The so called secularism of neo-liberals is an age-old conviction of Hindus. Those who benefitted by adopting the decimal counting system faltered in understanding infinity. It could have saved many wars, ill will, and now the terror. Why the craze to make people see through a particular peephole? Why?
One may ask a legitimate question. Why this thought did not occur earlier even after infinity got better understood? The spirit of enquiry is after all a human trait. I can only guess the answer. The scholars assigned to write the Bible must have realized the internal contradiction of what they put in. So they devised a clever way to fend off inconvenient questions. They declared whatever they wrote was God’s own messenger’s words. Questioning them would constitute a sin of blasphemy. The spirit of enquiry was subdued. Faith was given importance and reasoning a back seat. Gallileo was punished for publishing his discovery that earth revolved around the sun.
On the other hand, Hindus considered those full of doubts and questions as jigyasus- the seekers of knowledge and not sinners of blasphemy. They were welcome to seek appropriate gurus to solve their particular doubts. The spirit of enquiry was encouraged. Knowledge and reasoning were given prominence and faith a back seat. It was realized that every individual is evolved by upbringing, environment, ability to grasp, knowledge level. Based on their own temperament and inclination one could choose their own path to salvation including faith (Bhakti Yoga), sincere work (Karma Yoga), knowledge (Gyana Yoga) and many more. One could invent if one can. Each persons limitations can differ. Peepholes can differ for different people or for the same person at different phases of life. Knowledge is not limited to any instant in time. It is infinite. Go on adding.