Today was my second class at eYogi Gurukul’s Hinduism Intermediate 201 course.
First, we started off by reciting a mantra which spread a positive atmosphere through the room. We then started off by learning about the ancient scientists of Hinduism.
We learned about five amazing scientists. I was amazed to learn that Pathanjali was the father of yoga. Varahamirha wrote a book called “Brhat Samhita.” The 32nd Chapter of his book is devoted to signs of earthquakes. He stated that you can predict when earthquakes are going to occur just by paying attention to clouds, weather and animal behaviour. He also discovered that there was water on Mars. It is truly amazing how he discovered all this in the 1st century BC! We also learned about Nagarjhuna who discovered how to extract gold.
I was amazed by the two Hindu scientists, Mahavicharya and Bhaskaracharya, who have made great contributions to modern maths. Mahavicharya, an extraordinary Jain, discovered LCM (Lowest Common Multiple). Bhaskaracharya wrote a book, Siddhanta Shiromani, which is divided into four main parts; arithmetic, algebra, geometry and maths of the planet. It’s incredible how scientists discovered all this thousands of years ago! We also learned how to do Vedic Math which is extremely unbelievable!
Then we had a small 20-minute break and we got a bag of delicious sweets. The break was refreshing, and we were ready to engage in another session of learning about our fascinating roots.
We discussed about science and Hinduism. Hinduism is in fact really scientific. We found that our science is 10,000 years old while modern science is only 400 years old. Our Guru taught us that Sanskrit is a scientific language. We learned about the statue of “The Cosmic Dance of Shiva” known as “Natraja”. This cosmic dance unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics. We heard about the 5 qualities that a student should have as well.
Next we recited a few mantras. I really enjoyed this class. I really appreciate all the effort everyone puts into these classes to make sure we enjoy and have fun learning about our religion and culture. I can’t wait to go back and learn even more about our Hindu religion.