Is Accepting the Vedas not Blind Faith?

Sometimes people argue, "Who knows whether what the Vedas say is all true or not? Better to depend on Science." Those who are unaware of the limitations of the senses are often proud of scientific advancement. Many examples show how even in the field of Science many things, which have no experimental proof are accepted as axiomatic truths. Some of them are:

When an Astronomy book says, "This is the sun", you accept. When it talks of cosmic distances based on calculations, you accept because it is 'scientific'. When it says there are 10 billion stars in the sky, you accept it, although there is no foolproof method to verify it. You agree blindly because you've developed faith in what they spoke previously. After some time, whatever the Astronomy book says you accept (even those things which cannot be proved or perceived through senses). This is due to the credibility of the book. Because the book has gained some credibility in the eyes of the reader, the reader becomes ready to believe everything that the book says even without verifying it.

Everyone in the scientific community knows that mathematicians work with an imaginary number called 'i', which is the square root of minus one. This number does not figure among the natural numbers (1,2,3 etc.). However, important branches of mathematics - for example, the theory of analytical functions - are based on this imaginary unit. Thus the existence of this number cannot be denied, yet there is no experiment to prove it.

•Another scientific theory that is beyond the limit of experimental science is Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. The statement of this principle is that it is impossible to simultaneously determine the position and momentum of any object. No experimental technique can prove this principle. However, scientists all over the world accept this

statement as a fact, knowing that the experimental proof is beyond their ability.

• There is no scientific experiment to prove the Third Law of Thermodynamics. This law, as formulated by Plank, states that the entropy of a perfect crystal at absolute zero degrees is equal to zero. Factually, there is no means available for measuring degree Kelvin or for measuring directly the .absolute entropies. Therefore the proof of this law is beyond the realm of experimental science.

All these examples show that, in every field of material science - be it Mathematics or Physics, there are axioms, which are impossible to verify experimentally, yet which must be accepted to progress in studying that field. If this is the case with Material Science, what then to speak of Spiritual Science, which deals with subjects entirely beyond sense-perception?

The Vedas also present the truth as Axiomatic Truth, which if accepted and practiced, can gradually bring a faithful practitioner to the platform of realization. So the acceptance of Vedas is not blind faith. In fact, it is the safest method of knowing the truth because the Vedas present the Absolute Truth, which never changes. Accepting the so-called truth based on scientific discovery is risky because the scientific truths are standing on a tottering platform; they are seen to be revised, updated, and modified moment after moment, day after day and year after year.