Darwin's theory of evolution was influenced by interpretations of Hindu philosophy, especially reincarnation and human development. Hindus have found support for, or ideas foreshadowing evolutionary ideas, in scriptures, such as the

mytheme In structuralism-influenced studies of mythology, a mytheme is a fundamental generic unit of narrative structure (typically involving a relationship between a character, an event, and a theme) from which myths are thought to be constructed—a mi ...

Dashavatara The Dashavatara ( sa, दशावतार, ) are the ten primary avatars of Vishnu, a principal Hindus, Hindu god. Vishnu is said to descend in the form of an avatar to restore cosmic order. The word ''Dashavatara'' derives from , meaning " ...

, the incarnations of Vishnu starting with a fish.

Reception in India

In India, there were minimal references to Darwinism in the 1800s. While elements of Victorian England opposed the idea of Darwinism, Hindus already had the present notion of common ancestry between humans and animals. While the

creation–evolution controversy Recurring cultural, political, and theological rejection of evolution by religious groups (sometimes termed the creation–evolution controversy, the creation vs. evolution debate or the origins debate) exists regarding the origins of the Eart ...

has seen much debate in US, Middle East and parts of Africa, it is an insignificant issue in India, because of its Hindu-majority population. Most Indian scientists accept biological evolution and it is taught in Indian universities.

Spiritual evolution

Many Hindu reformers compare the

Samkhya ''Samkhya'' or ''Sankya'' (; Sanskrit सांख्य), IAST: ') is a Dualism (Indian philosophy), dualistic Āstika and nāstika, school of Indian philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, ''purusha, puruṣa' ...

philosophy, specifically the term '' parinama'' and the concept of evolutes, with Darwinism.

David Lagourie Gosling David L. Gosling is an academic supervisor in the University of Cambridge. He trained in nuclear physics and has held positions in the universities of Hull, Delhi (St. Stephen’s College), the East-West Center in Hawaii, and at the World Council ...

has suggested that

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...

based most of his cosmological and biological ideas on

. Influenced by western thought and esotericism, Vivekananda and

Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...

developed a view on reincarnation in which an involution of the Divine into matter takes place, and the person has to evolve over multiple lives until the Divine gains recognition of its true nature and

liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

is attained.

Hindu creationism

Hindu creationism also known as Vedic creationism is a type of religious old earth creationism. According to Hindu creationists all species on earth including humans have "devolved" or come down from a high state of pure consciousness ( Brahman). Hindu creationists claim that species of plants and animals are material forms adopted by pure consciousness which live an endless cycle of births and rebirths. Historian of science Ronald Numbers has commented that "Hindu Creationists have insisted on the antiquity of humans, who they believe appeared fully formed as long, perhaps, as trillions of years ago." The views of Hindu creationism are based on the Vedas, which depict an extreme antiquity of the universe and history of the earth. The emergence of modern Vedic creationism has been linked to

Dayananda Saraswati Dayanand Saraswati () (born Mool Shankar Tiwari; 2 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) also known as Maharshi Dayanand is an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement. His Magnum Opus is the bo ...

, the founder of

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj ( hi, आर्य समाज, lit=Noble Society, ) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the sanny ...

.Brown, Cheever. (2020). ''Asian Religious Responses to Darwinism Evolutionary Theories in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and East Asian Cultural Contexts''. Springer. pp. 121-122. In his '' Satyarth Prakash'', Saraswati promoted anti-evolutionary views and took a literal reading of the Vedas. He argued that God designed the physical bodies of all species 1.96 billions years ago on earth and on other planets at the beginning of the present cosmic cycle. He stated that God conjoined the bodies with pre-existing souls and that different species were created and distributed to souls in accord to their karma from the previous cosmic cycle. Saraswati in a public lecture condemned Darwinian evolution but misunderstood

common descent Common descent is a concept in evolutionary biology applicable when one species is the ancestor of two or more species later in time. All living beings are in fact descendants of a unique ancestor commonly referred to as the last universal comm ...

by questioning why monkeys no longer evolve into men. Vedic creationism holds a view of the world derived largely from the ''

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...

''.Nanda, Meera. (2003). ''Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India''. Rutgers University Press. pp. 119-122. It was promoted by

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami (; 1 September 1896 – 14 November 1977) was an Indian Gaudiya Vaishnava guru who founded ISKCON, commonly known as the "Hare Krishna movement". Members of ISKCON view Bhaktivedanta Swami as a repr ...

the founder of ISKCON who referred to Charles Darwin and his followers as "rascals". Vedic creationism was also promoted by ISKCON devotees Michael Cremo and

Richard L. Thompson Richard Leslie Thompson, also known as Sadaputa Dasa (; February 4, 1947 – September 18, 2008), was an American mathematician,. Readable online aWorldwisdom.com/ref> author and Gaudiya Vaishnava religious figure. Historian Meera Nanda des ...

, authors of the 1993 book ''

Forbidden Archeology ''Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race'' is a 1993 pseudoarchaeological book by Michael A. Cremo and Richard L. Thompson, written in association with the Bhaktivedanta Institute of ISKCON. Cremo states that the book has " ...

''. They argue that human beings are distinct species that have existed for billions of years. Vedic creationists are known to search for anomalies and reinterpret the fossil record to make it fit with their metaphysical assumptions.

Vanara

The Sanskrit epics of the Hindus mention several exotic creatures including ape-like humanoids. The Ramayana speaks of the Vanaras, an ape-like species (

ape-men The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the ea ...

) with human intelligence, that existed millions of years ago alongside

modern humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

. Michael Cremo, a Hindu creationist, states:

Dashavatara

The order of the

(ten principal avatars of the god Vishnu) is interpreted to convey Darwin's evolution. British geneticist and evolutionary biologist

J. B. S. Haldane John Burdon Sanderson Haldane (; 5 November 18921 December 1964), nicknamed "Jack" or "JBS", was a British-Indian scientist who worked in physiology, genetics, evolutionary biology, and mathematics. With innovative use of statistics in biolog ...

opined that they are a true sequential depiction of the great unfolding of evolution. According to them, like the evolutionary process itself, the first avatar of God is a fish - Matsya, which depicts aquatic life, then comes the aquatic reptile turtle,

Kurma Kurma ( sa, कूर्म; , 'Turtle', 'Tortoise'), is the second avatar of the Hindu preserver deity, Vishnu. Originating in Vedic literature such as the Yajurveda as being synonymous with the Saptarishi called Kashyapa, Kurma is most comm ...

, which depicts creatures moving to land, then a mammal - the boar Varaha, then Narasimha, a man-lion being, which is sometimes taken to mean creatures like Okapi,

Archaeopteryx ''Archaeopteryx'' (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "" ( ''Primeval Bird''), is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek (''archaīos''), meaning "ancient", and (''ptéryx''), meaning "feather" ...

, and others, then comes Vamana, the dwarf hominid. Then Parashurama depicts humans when they were in the caveman stage. And then, Rama depicts the rise of civilization and kingdoms. (Sometimes, when Balarama is taken into account, he is taken to represent the growth of agriculture.) Krishna is taken to symbolize the growth of art and crafts. 9th avatar & Kalki is not yet born. Hinduism mentioned kalki born in kaliyug end period & 9th Avatar coming in half suvarna kaliyug end period.

References

Sources

* *

External links

Hinduism and Science *: Editorial in

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

, April 20, 2004.
''Dharma vs. Darwin?'' Swami B.V. Tripurari
: Beliefnet article describing Hindu perspectives on evolution

Beliefnet article on Hindu science and evolutionary theories.
''The Secret Diary of Charles Darwin, Sivasiva Palani''
Discussion of contradictions between Hinduism and evolution in ''Hinduism Today''. Hare Krishna
Michael Cremo Human Devolution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hindu Views On Evolution Evolution Point of view Hindu creation myths