East meets west: cosmology then and now

Symbolism is a common feature in all religious traditions. Bread and wine symbolize the flesh and blood of Jesus in the Christian Eucharist. Jesus himself spoke in parables. The ancient Hindu and Greek mythologies personify stars, planets and the elements. While this may seem strange now, a quick look around will show you that science and technology does the same thing.

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are said to be the creator, sustainer and the destroyer respectively of the universe in Hinduism. Setting aside the personified symbolism here, the idea can be seen as an extrapolation of what is observed on earth to the universe at large: birth, growth, decay and recycling are central to everything we observe in the world within us and around us. Extrapolation from the particular to the general is commonly done in science, especially physics.

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