The Uncertainty of Upanishadic Wisdom

No, the Uncertainty Principle does not come from the Upanishads. But there is a very strong case for integrating Indic philosophical traditions with modern science in our educational curricula. It is an unenviable task, but it must be done.

When the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh made an offhand remark regarding Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle being based on the Vedas and Upanishads, he drew sharp criticism from various quarters.

Rajnath Singh has actually mentioned physicist-author Fritjof Capra as his source. This is what Capra had actually stated regarding the Indic connection to Heisenberg:

In  1929, Heisenberg  spent  some  time  in  India  as  the  guest of  the  celebrated  Indian  poet  Rabindranath  Tagore,  with  whom he  had  long  conversations  about  science  and  Indian  philosophy. This  introduction  to  Indian  thought  brought  Heisenberg  great comfort,  he  told  me.  He  began to  see  that  the  recognition  of  relativity,  interconnectedness,  and  impermanence  as  fundamental aspects  of  physical  reality,  which  had  been  so  difficult  for  himself  and  his  fellow  physicists,  was  the  very  basis  of  the  Indian spiritual  traditions. “After  these  conversations  with  Tagore,” he said, “some  of  the  ideas  that  had  seemed  so  crazy  suddenly made much more sense. That was a great help for me.” (Capra, Uncommon Wisdom, 1988, p.43)

Clearly neither Capra nor Heisenberg anywhere had mentioned that the celebrated uncertainty principle was based on Vedas and Upanishads. So with no uncertainty, one can say that the minister is in the wrong, if he claimed that the Uncertainty Principle was based on Vedic or Upanishadic wisdom. But the name Heisenberg should bring more serious issues into the concern of people who frame the science curriculum. The way pre-Christian Greek philosophical traditions have influenced the development of modern physics in the West cannot be overstated. It was Werner Heisenberg who pointed out this continuity:

With regard to this question, modern physics takes a definite stand against the materialism of Democritus and for Plato and the Pythagoreans…But the resemblance of the modern views to those of Plato and the Pythagoreans can be carried somewhat further. The elementary particles in Plato’s Timaeus are finally not substances but mathematical forms.  (Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy, p.71)

Consider the situation. It is impossible for a serious student of modern physics in the West to get her PhD without knowing Plato, Pythagoras, Aristotle and Democritus. It is perfectly natural in India for a physics research scholar to be blissfully ignorant of Ganatha and Kapila, as well as Sankhya and Nyaya.

A few months ago, Manjul Bhargava at 40 became one of the youngest mathematicians ever to have won the Fields Medal, the Nobel equivalent for Mathematics. His work extends the work of classical mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. His parents, especially his mother Mira Bhargava, herself a mathematician, and grandparents interested him in Sanskrit literature. Bhargava sees his work as a continuation of the legacy of Brahmagupta. The young cheerful professor of mathematics said thus in a recent interview:

Growing up, I had a chance to read some of the works of the masters: the great linguists/poets such as Panini, Pingala, and Hemachandra, as well as the great mathematicians Aryabhata, Bhaskara, and of course Brahmagupta.  Their works contain incredible mathematical discoveries, and were very inspirational to me as a young mathematician. The classic works of Pingala, Hemachandra, and Brahmagupta have been particularly influential in my own work…

While growing up, I learned from my grandfather how much incredible mathematics was discovered in ancient times by scholars who considered themselves not mathematicians, but poets (or linguists). Linguists such as Panini, Pingala, Hemachandra, and Narayana discovered some wonderful and deep mathematical concepts while studying poetry. The stories that my grandfather told me about them were very inspirational to me.  (India Today, August 19, 2014)

Interestingly, the interviewer asks him how ‘Vedic Mathematics’ helped the mathematician in his pursuit of knowledge. As the young professor’s answer shows, the inspiration and continuity, though rooted in Indian mathematical tradition, has nothing to do with ‘Vedic Mathematics’.

To what shall we attribute the overenthusiastic statement of Rajnath Singh claiming that Upanishads and Vedas as the source of Uncertainty Principle or the confusion of Vedic Mathematics with the Indian mathematical tradition exhibited by the India Today journalist?

What these show is that with the artificial removal of Indian metaphysics from the curriculum, the educational system has created a misunderstanding of science as well as the Indic knowledge systems.

This artificial divorce between Indic tradition and educational curriculum effected during the Nehruvian regime has cost us heavily. It has alienated the Indian mind from the pursuit of science. The result is that though India produces the highest number of science graduates in the world, the same graduates are among the least innovative. Pride in the Indic often becomes statements bordering on the pseudo-scientific.

However, all is not lost. There is indeed a golden mine in the Indic knowledge system and only we need to know how to put it to use.

It is not only the Heisenberg-Tagore interaction or the influence of Indic mathematics on Manjul Bhargava. Eminent neurologist V.S. Ramachandran has provided neurological basis for Advaitic experiences and their relation to the formulation of ethics. Theoretical physicist E.C. George Sudarshan has pointed out how the Vaishesika conceptualization of the atom is closer to the modern quantum mechanics than the Greek model of atom developed by Democritus. Prof. G.N. Ramachandran employed Syaad Nyaaya of the Jain tradition to evolve a new formulation of sentential logic. He created a matrix for the identification of possible molecular structures of complicated bio-molecules.

Prof. Subash Kak works on integrating some basic aspects of quantum phenomena and the problem of consciousness. He acknowledges the influence and guidance of the Indic knowledge tradition. The understanding of the philosophical heritage of Indic knowledge systems came to each of these individuals either through their family milieu or through their individual efforts. There is no system in Indian education to familiarize students familiarize with the approaches of Indic systems to the basic questions of Existence. The relevance of Panini to linguistics and that of Patanjali to the neurology of religion remain largely untouched by Indian researchers. The West has already started systematizing these knowledge realms.

The urgent need is then to integrate the philosophical systems of India with the modern curriculum. It should be neither false glorification of the past nor inventing science in ancient scriptures. In fact, it is not about beliefs but about inducing the human mind to fearlessly explore the mysteries of existence while rooted in the Indic.

This should not definitely be the juvenile attempt to read the new discoveries of science in religious scriptures as done by fundamentalists. On the contrary, this demands hard work on the part of the curriculum framers. They have to thoroughly grasp the Indic philosophical traditions, their relevance in providing epistemological tools in exploring the deeper questions of science (e.g. the hard problem of consciousness).

The curriculum framers then have to design modules to suit the different grades in schools and different streams in the colleges. Workshops on consciousness studies by both scientists and scholars of Indian philosophy conducted by Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Culture is a welcome step in this direction at the level of research.

Another opportunity is provided by Fritjof Capra himself. In the textbook The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision by Capra and biochemist Pier Luigi Luisi (Cambridge University Press, 2014), the autopoietic networks of cognition replace the mechanistic deterministic models defining life at the basic level.

Again, Eastern wisdom traditions from Vedanta to Buddhism have much to offer in providing a philosophical substratum for such scientific explorations. This has implications for biological, ecological, psychological and social sciences, particularly for developing societies like India.

The Government of India today claims to be committed to the rejuvenation of the nation. For this, pedagogic systems integrating Indic philosophical traditions with modern education need to be created.  It is an unenviable task.

But if the Modi government can create such a framework that integrates the Indic knowledge system with a modern science curriculum, such extravagant claims as made by some overenthusiastic ministers now can be forgiven.