Chapter 1.12 - Origin of sciences

Man is naturally curious. He wants to find out things about the world he lives in, the sky above him, the sun and the moon who give him light, the stars that twinkle in the night and the flora and fauna that give him his nourishment and enjoyment. He wants to make thorough studies about them. It was this curiosity, this desire to know about the things near and far, that was the root cause for acquiring knowledge and wisdom.

The knowledge that was brought by wisdom has been mainly divided into two kinds:

1. Social Sciences,
2. Natural Sciences.

Natural Sciences have been further divided into (a) Biology, (b) Physical Sciences. Biology is again subdivided into: (i) Botany and (ii) Zoology.

In Botany there is the taxonomy about trees, plants, creepers, grass and so on describing their shape and nature. From the knowledge of their shape and nature they are categorized into studies of their origin, development, and how they are useful in areas of nutrition and even medical treatment.

The area of study of Zoology is the structure of animals, birds and man, their characteristics and behavioural patterns. Knowledge about insect’s right from their conception to their death, their physical features, their nature etc. comes under the purview of Zoology. Therefore embryology, anatomy, physiology, genetics and all the matters related to the body, like respiration, digestion, excretion etc. are included in the realm of Zoology.

Physical Sciences, however, study the Earth, Sky, Planets and Stars and the minerals and other materials inside the earth. Thus Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, Meteorology, Climatology, Metallurgy etc. are branches of Physical Sciences. In Sociology, Architecture, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Warfare Science, etc. are studied.

In Mahabharata, all the above branches and sub-branches of science can be seen in a significant way. Many of the things we see in the modern science can be seen in Mahabharata. It is really surprising that ancient India had such knowledge. The first and foremost scientific branch that is dealt with extensively in the Mahabharata is Zoology. This study focuses mainly on that.

From ancient times man had domesticated animals and made them do many of his difficult tasks. Because animals were so useful to him, he had very closely observed and studied them. The zoological knowledge of man was not compiled in a single book of the past as is seen in the modern days in books of Zoology, but such knowledge can be seen scattered in many of the ancient books.

In the ancient books like Rigveda, Atharvaveda, Taittiriya Samhita, Chandogyopanishad, Caraka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Kautilya’s Arthashastra Etc... We can see various descriptions on the zoological knowledge our ancestors had. The Mahabharata period represents the highest reality of our culture, morality and development. There are many wonderful descriptions by different observers in Mahabharata showing us clearly how keen they were in the observance of zoological facts. In Mahabharata the knowledge about the animals and birds is deep and very wide. They have been classified and sub-classified and their peculiar features, behaviour and nature are very elaborately described. Comparing the knowledge of the ancient people with the facts of the modern scientific writings is quite interesting and at the sametime a very hard task.

In Mahabharata creatures have been categorized into different types according to their main features. Depending on their speed of movement, they have been classified into stationary and mobile. On the basis of their birth they are classified as Andaja (which come from eggs), Shvetaja (that grow from sweat like liquids, i.e. germs etc) and Jarayuja (mammals). Based on their legs they were divided into four legged and two legged. Based on their habitat they care categorized into Gramavasi and Vanavasi. Gramavasi animals are cow, sheep, horse, donkey etc... Vanavasi animals are Lion, Wolf, Elephant and Monkey etc... This kind of classification of animals is very close to the modern classification. Modern science classifies creatures as two groups.

They are

1. Invertebrates, and
2. Vertebrates.

In Mahabharata, all the flora and fauna are classified basically into two: a) Stationary, b) Mobile. Mobile things are those which move from place to place whereas the stationary ones stay at one place without moving away. Trees and plants come under the stationary things, but all the animals or creatures that can move about come under the mobile group. The mobile groups is further classified into Andaja, Shvetaja and Jarayuja

In the Mahabharata, we can see elaborate descriptions of all the animals that come in this group. When the earth and water come together certain life-forms are created. From the contact of heat and cold shvetaja creatures are produced. Through the egg and semen combination andaja creatures are made. With the combination of “Rajas” and “Vira” jarayuja creatures are born.

Compared the stationary creations, the mobile ones are nobler. In them we can notice different kinds of gestures to suit the situation. But Mahabharata never says that any creature is mean or useless. It is believed that the entire animal kingdom originated from Parabrahma. The bodies of all the animals are made from the five elements. Some creatures are better than the others. This difference among creatures is caused by Brahma because he has given each creature features that would suit its function. Naturally some creatures have greater capabilities and gifts than others.

Although elephants are considered wild animals, they were included in the Elephant Army (Gajasena) and they were given appropriate training. In the Mahabharata there are many references about the various Gajasenas and the warriors who rode on these elephants during the battles. From this it is quite obvious that during the Mahabharata times, people had noticed that some creatures were useful to them and so they were domesticated and trained to do the things people wanted them to do. The Aryans had a thorough knowledge about different animals and birds and they domesticated a number of these creatures for serving their needs. The main reason was that many animals proved to be extremely useful for man’s life and enjoyment. The most important of all the animals was the cow. Its milk and other milk products, skin and dung were useful in many ways. Therefore the cow was called ‘gomata’ with great respect. It is believed that many deities dwelt in the various parts of a cow and therefore it was considered a holy animal.

Since horses offered speedy means of transport, there was the custom of growing and training horses. In the 23^rd part of Dronaparvan, different categories of horses are mentioned. There were very strict laws regarding the care given to horses. So they were taken care of properly by the people. In the Battle of Mahabharata we see ShriKrishna himself serving the horses.

In those days the science dealing with horses was fully developed. All kinds of knowledge about horses were known at that time. It was from Mahabharata that the discussion regarding “Ashvahridayam” or “Horse training”. Some people were experts in this specialty training.

In the Nala -Damayanti story, there is the character of Bahukan, who was in fact Nala in disguise. He was an expert in horse skills. The promised that he would teach King Rituparna the horse skills in return for teaching the game of dice. There was an ‘ashvahridaya mantra’ which was used to make horses happy and to energise them. There were also methods for dealing with elephants. Something called “Anjalikavedha’ was used for controlling elephants. It consisted of massaging the elephant on its lower side. Bhima is supposed to have an expert knowledge of this elephant controlling skill as we read it in the 26^th chapter of Dronaparvan.

In Mahabharata we see people, birds and animals had close contacts and very often they worked together. Because of that the natural behaviour and instincts of the birds and animals are described in Mahabharata. The intense and comprehensive eye of Veda Vyasa could also diagnose the various diseases that pestered and animal and bird varieties. He considered the pain or heat in the head of the elephant as a disease. Similarly the afflictions to the hoofs of cows and oxen, the lack of proper sight in some animals, the flesh growing on the necks of the horses, eye problems of the cuckoo, the paleness in goats, the throat trouble in parrots and the heavy breathing in lions were considered sicknesses by him. He calls them the plague of these animals. Such diseases were considered symptoms of their weaknesses.