Truth About the Origin of Man

It is of the highest importance for humans to know how man came into existence on planet earth. Without basic knowledge of where man came from, what he is, how he now stands and where he is headed for, man cannot solve his problems or arrive at a true picture of his destiny. The Human Genome Project unfortunately has not shed any fresh light on man's origin. Three explanations are currently available on the origin of Homo sapiens, one from science and two from religion. Though a definite conclusion on the age-old question of human origin cannot be drawn from these three accounts, it may be worthwhile to examine critically the strong and weak points of these versions to know which version may be the closest approximation to truth.

The version propounded by science is available in the work of Charles Darwin. His only mission in life was to prove his point that species arose out of evolution by descent and not by creation. His thesis was that creatures evolved through the long and arduous process of slow variations accumulated over millions of years. He says that he has nothing to do with the origin of mental powers any more than with that of life itself. He observes: 'It is no valid objection that science as yet throws no light on the far higher problem of the essence or origin of life' and adds: 'There is grandeur in this view of life with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one.' Referring to the views of several eminent naturalists he, however, says: ' But they do not really believe that at immeasurable periods in the earth's history, certain elemental atoms have been commanded suddenly to flash into living tissues.'

Scientists hold the view that a chance assembling of inorganic molecules apparently gave birth to a living organism with ability to feed, grow and reproduce itself. From this unicellular, asexual microorganism more complex forms evolved through natural selection and sudden genetic mutations culminating in man. Natural laws are eternal and immutable and what happened in remotest past cannot be a one-time exception and must happen in the present and also in the future. The view that life developed accidentally out of chemical soup just at the right temperatures and radiations is highly improbable and even impossible, as the positive, negative and neutral electric charges in sub-atomic particles have no inherent potentials to generate life. In fact, Darwin himself did not approve of emergence of life from inert matter, which was only a modified version of the discarded theory of spontaneous creation. Pasteur was at pains to defend Divine creation as the only possible initiator of life.

With regard to mental faculties, there is an unbridgeable gulf that separates man from the intelligent chimpanzee. Man's brain is almost treble the size of the brain of ape. Available fossil evidence does not reveal any slow evolution of brain and the appearance of human brain with moral awareness and spiritual consciousness is so sudden that many believe it to be a new creation and not a product of slow evolution. Unlike animals, man has the mental ability to learn any number of new skills and add endlessly to his vast fund of knowledge. The conspicuous absence of all intermediate and transit forms between ape and man raises doubts about their very existence and many think that the so-called pre-historic men may be a mental creation of scientists to fill the gap between ape and man, as this hypothesis is not supported by hard evidence.

The scientific version of biological evolution is fallacious and flawed, as neither the beginning i.e. origin of life nor the end i.e. goal of man's evolution are known. Though evolution is an undeniable fact of life, what impels it and what promise it holds for the future is unclear. Evolution means finding ways to improve and better oneself. Knowledge of the past process of biological evolution holds no lesson for the future evolution of man, with which he is primarily concerned. Furthermore, a perusal of ancient literature reveals that early man was not as primitive as he is made out to be and subsequent generations have not been able to add or improve the ancient morals or spirituality. Nearly one and a half centuries after Darwin, the two dark areas of biological evolution namely origin of life and growth of mental faculties in animals and man continue to remain dark only.

The Semitic version of the origin of man is available in the opening chapter of Bible called Genesis. According to this version, God created man and all kinds of living forms over a period of six days. Empirically, it is observed that human beings are not born equal and the impartial and just Creator cannot be held responsible for the differences and inequalities or for the physical deformities and mental retardations at birth. Furthermore, the sinful tendencies and proneness of man to evil and wickedness are attributed to the original sin committed by the first ancestors. The animal instincts in human sub-conscious arise from inheritance of genes and Darwin says that instincts are habits developed during the process of evolution. In fact the presence of animal instincts in man testifies the fact of evolution. It is preposterous to presume that the whole of mankind irrespective of their religious faiths should suffer for the fault of a single couple.

The Semitic version does not satisfactorily explain why the All Powerful Creator should create man as an imperfect being with differences, inequalities and evil inclinations right from birth.

Eminent medieval philosopher Sri Ramanuja succinctly brings out the Indian version of the origin of man in the following words:

'The individual self is subject to beginningless ignorance which has brought about an accumulation of karma (actions) of the nature of good and bad. The accumulation of such karma (actions) causes his entry into four kinds of bodies namely heavenly, human, animal and plants, beginning with the first-born downwards. This migration into bodies produces the delusion of identification with those bodies with consequent attachments and aversions. This delusion inevitably brings about all the fears inherent in the state of worldly existence.'

The Indian version combines biological evolution with the account of creation in Semitic version to present an evolution through fresh creation, proving that the scientific and Semitic versions are true partly. According to Indian version, ape does not physically evolve into man but on the death of ape, its life and consciousness incarnate in human form. This creative evolution satisfactorily accounts for the birth of only full-fledged forms and total absence of all intermediary forms between plants, fishes, insects, birds, animals and man.

In reproduction, the male and female cells unite to form a single fertilised egg that carries in its DNA the blue-print of the marvellously intricate but orderly living form to be erected within the short time interval between conception and delivery. Scientists are unable to account for the swift intelligent direction and organisation of cells into blood, bones, muscles and organs in the body, as more than chemical or physical processes are involved in this deft operation. In the Indian version, life and consciousness enter the fertilised egg on conception to kick-start the morphogenesis or body construction with the help of cells and they depart from the body on death. The decomposition of the inert body starts once life and consciousness leave it. The arrival of life and consciousness on conception and their departure on death are not within human control. The key role played by life and consciousness in the growth of body and evolution of mind cannot be studied through the scientific methods of observation and inference, as the subtle process is beyond the perception of senses.

What cannot be perceived by the senses cannot be understood by the rational intellect but mind craves for comprehension of nature's mysteries. Intellect attempts to simplify the complex processes by breaking it into parts but in the process the perception about the whole is completely lost. Furthermore, the preconceived notions serve as mental blocks that refuse to accept realities beyond the physical and tangible. The mystery of evolution does not lie in outer physical forms but in the inner realities of life and consciousness. By giving primacy to physical appearances and outer forms, and deliberately ignoring the origin of life and growth of consciousness Darwin oversimplified the complex process of evolution of mind through bodies thereby dethroning the Creator and His moral governance and reducing evolution into a physical process of nature without direction, purpose or goal.

The Indian version avoids all the pitfalls and imperfections of the other two versions by logically explaining the basic causes for the inequalities at birth and presence of animal instincts in sub-conscious. The Indian version is thoroughly comprehensive and exhaustive covering all aspects of evolution of body and mind and it is wholly based on the scientific methods of critical observation and truthful inference using valid reasoning and sound judgement. Darwin diluted the study of evolution by not concerning himself with origin of life and evolution of mind through expansion of consciousness. Man cannot be at the mercy of random drift of accidental genetic mutations to leave his future to blind chance. Impartial and unbiased scientists interested in the truth about origin of man and his future evolution should keep aside their religious prejudices and personal bias and study the Indian version with open mind, as the future destiny of mankind and their own personal destiny are inextricably linked to the correct understanding of evolution in all its aspects.