CHAPTER II

General understanding of the Cosmology:

Cosmology etymologically means ‘the methodical study of the order’ as the

Greek noun kosmos means “order” or “good arrangement” and the Greek word logos
means “word” or “speech.” In the earlier days it was known by the other name as
natural philosophy. In other words the cosmology signifies the science of the
Universe. The cosmology deals with the Universe of mobile beings in sensible matter
and motion, the organic and inorganic world, and the atoms in the heavenly bodies.
According to NASA, the definition of cosmology is "the scientific study of the large
scale properties of the universe as a whole." 1 It is a Philosophical Science or in simple
words, it is a department of philosophy as it deals with the quest for the ultimate
causes and reasons of the cosmos. The cosmology shares its subject with the
experimental sciences of nature like physics, chemistry, geology, biology, astronomy
etc. It also finds itself being studied in scientific studies, Indian Philosophy, Christian
Philosophy and Tribal Philosophy. It is different from the metaphysics for
metaphysics deals with real being. In this chapter there four descriptions about the
origin of the universe from Scientific Cosmology, Indian Cosmology, Christian
Cosmology and Tribal Cosmology.

The Scientific cosmology:

Physical or scientific cosmology studies “the structures and development of

the universe and the physics that created them. It uses a mix of theory and
experiments to construct and research cosmological models sometimes called as
‘cosmologies.’ They incorporate theories and information collected by observational
cosmology.”2 This cosmology draws advanced data or information from many

1
What is cosmology? Definition & history By Nola Taylor Tillman, Ailsa Harvey published February 21,
2022
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scientific disciplines namely astrophysics, plasma physics, nuclear physics, particle
physics, relativity, and quantum mechanics.

According to the scientific cosmology there are a number of cosmological

theories which explain about the universe’s origin and functions. They are ‘the Big
bang Theory’, ‘the Steady Theory’, ‘the eternal inflation’, ‘the oscillating universe’
etc. among them the Big Bang Theory is the most accepted cosmology in the present
day.

The Big Bang Theory: The name of the theory itself indicates about some type
of explosion. It suggests that the entire universe was in a state of infinitely hot, dense,
and compact scientifically called as the singularity. Suddenly there was an explosion
and since then the time and space came into the existence. This was an explosive
expansion ballooning the universe outwards faster than the speed of light. This was a
period of cosmic inflation that lasted mere fraction of a second about 10 -32 of a second.
This inflation is said to have occurred due to the splitting of stronger forces like
Gravitational force and nuclear force from the electroweak. After this mysterious
cosmic inflation occurred, a flood of matter and radiation known as ‘reheating’ began
to populate the universe with the raw material like quarks, electron, proton, and
neutron which would later on serve as the building blocks for the billions of stars and
galaxies etc. This event occurred in the first second of the universe while the
temperature of the universe was at about 10 billion Fahrenheit.

In the very initial stage of the origin of the universe, the quarks was created
while the temperature began to come down and from it photons came in to existence.
The photons started creating matter-antimatter. From the quarks the sub atomic
particles like protons, neutrons and free electrons started forming and scattering
photons back and forth. It is estimated that “after 380,000 years, the universe cools
below a few thousand Kelvin. Electrons get snatched by the proton-neutron things to
make atoms: predominantly Hydrogen and Helium, with a tiny bit of Lithium.
Photons are now free! The universe lights up. This is the Cosmic Background
radiation.”1 Over the next few billion years, gravity stared creating large structures
which would become galactic filaments, sheets and clusters. Galaxies would form and
stars would be born. There are sufficient scientific evidences to support the

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occurrences of the Big Bang. They are namely; the Expansion of the universe, the
Cosmic Background Radiation, and the Primordial Abundance of Elements.

The Expansion of the Universe:

The universe has been proven to be expanding at a constant velocity. From the
Hubble constant it is estimated that on the average, galaxies at a distance of 100
million light years move away from each other with 1500 km/s. The universe is
uniformly expanding in all the directions. If the expanding universe is big now, surely
in the past it might have been smaller. From this it can be concluded that as now there
is uniform expansion, there must have been a point when the galaxies were closer
than today. So, also in some point of time they must have been close enough to form a
singularity.

The Cosmic Background Radiation:

The Cosmic Background Radiation is the first confirmation and the most
satisfying theory of the origin and evolution of the universe. This phenomenon is also
called as the ‘afterglow’ of the Big Bang because this is the light which has shone
after 380,000 years of Big Bang. This light were not visible then as the free electrons
did not scatter the photon or light, but at recent times the electrons have been
neutralized by turning into neutral atoms when they met with nuclei. In simple words
the Cosmic Background Radiation is the weak remnant of the radiation of Big bang
coming from all the regions of the universe at low level. They origin from the objects
which are natural emitters of radio waves. They are also called as quasi-stellar objects
or quasars which are highly concentrated regions of thousands of normal galaxies.

The properties of the cosmic microwave background radiation show that “the
universe went through a transition from an ionized gas (a plasma) and a neutral gas.
Such a transition implies a hot, dense early universe that cooled as it expanded. This
transition happened after about 400,000 years following the Big Bang.” 1 This theory
supports the expansion of the universe as it has the largest amount of red shift.

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What is the Big Bang Theory? By Andrew May, Elizabeth Howell
 The Relative Abundances of Light Elements:

During the Big Bang there were abundance light elements like Hydrogen and
Helium. “Out of every 100 atoms, approximately 93 are Hydrogen and 7 are Helium.
By mass this amounts to approximately 76% Hydrogen and 24% Helium.” 1 The same
ratio of Hydrogen and Helium are found in stars.

These three theories are explained by the Big Bang Theory and in turn, they
support that the universe came into existence through the explosion of the singularity.

Indian Cosmology:

Hinduism is not a unified system of beliefs and practices; “Rather it is a

multifaceted matrix of beliefs, philosophies, practices, myths and epics.” 2 In this
system there are many accounts of Cosmos or cosmologies which are not the product
of the direct observation and experimentation, they are the beliefs or insights attained
through the meditation and Samadhi by the great sages. Either those are revealed to
them directly or they have been taught by the Avatars of the Lord Vishnu.

The Indian systems are more of theistic orientation. All the theistic views
come from the Sacred Scriptures like Vedas, Upanishads, epics and Bhagavad Gita.
God element or Supreme Being or Brahman or a natural force or Divine is believed
and acknowledged to be the responsible factor for the creation and existence of the
universe.

Cosmology in the Vedic thought:

The Vedas do not present the unified view of the Cosmos, as they were not
written by a single author but were formed gradually and circulated orally by many.
At last those texts were compiled by one or many intellectuals. There are an ample of
texts describing about the comos.

Purusha Sukta

The Puruṣasūkta of the Ṛg Veda explains that “a Puruṣa possessed of thousand

heads, thousand eyes, and thousand feet…he exists pervading the whole
universe.”3The universe, therefore, is his physical body, but immediately after this

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description, it further states that he extends beyond the universe or space. The sage
shows his conception of the transcendental and immanent natures of the ultimate
reality in this hymn. This describes the cosmic sacrifice where the primordial being
Purusha is sacrificed to create the universe. The different parts of Purusha’s body are
associated with various elements of the cosmos. The Purusha is the source of all
living creatures, plants, sun, moon, and everything in the universe. The sūkta
essentially tells about the knowledge of monism or monotheism but in a narrow sense
pantheism, and polytheism as well.

Nāsadīyasūkta

“Existence was not, nor its opposite, nor earth, nor heaven’s blue vault or
aught beyond…as are the heavens, above, that alone knows the truth of what itself
hath made, none else.”1The hymn asks that who has seen the first born, when he that
had no bones bore him that had bones. Where is the life, the blood, the self of the
Universe? Who went to ask of any who knew? The Nāsadīyasūkta states that the
Supreme Being is both the Unmanifest and the Manifest, Existence as well as Non-
existence, the Supreme Indeterminable. This famous hymn provides the basis for
great deal of philosophical speculation for in it. God is represented as both material
and the efficient cause of the universe.

Hiranyagarbha Sukta

“In the beginning rose Hiranyagarbha, born Only Lord of all created beings.
He fixed and holdeth up this earth and heaven. What God shall we adore with our
oblation?”2 In the conception of a metaphysical genesis of creation, the seer first
caught a glimpse of Hiranyagarva (cosmic mind, Golden Embryo), the great
progenitor of the entire universe. The Hiranyagarbha-Sūkta brings out the unity
of everything into one reality/source. It is a monotheistic view of reality.

Christian Cosmology:

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 Creation may be defined as “the production by God of a reality that did not
exist before either in itself or in its materials or any of its elements.”

Tribal Cosmology:

Tribal cosmology refers to the belief systems and cosmological frameworks of

indigenous or tribal societies. These cosmologies often involve myths, stories, and
rituals that explain the creation of the world, the origins of the tribe, the relationship
between humans and nature, and the spiritual connections between various elements
of the universe. Tribal cosmologies can vary widely among different cultures and are
deeply tied to their specific histories, environments, and ways of life.

There are many different accounts of creation stories in the Khadia tribe. But
there is a famous narration of the creation which throws light .

There was only water in the beginning. A crab raised a pillar of clay on the surface of the water to
enjoy sunshine. A man (figure representing the Supreme Being) began to play with the pillar. Seeing
this, the crab extended its pillar into a huge island, the earth. The man used to make 2- clay figures
every day and leave them to dry there. A horse came flying and kicked those figures to pieces every
day. Man-God cut off the wings of the horse. He asked his 2-dogs to guard the clay figures. The dogs
hid themselves under an akwan shrub to bark at the horse. The clay figures were thus saved from the
horse. Man-God put the dry clay figures inside the hollow of a banian tree. The milk of the tree dripped
into their mouths and they became alive - one male and one female. Human beings increased and fruits
and vegetables were not enough. They prayed to God for more food. God caused a big whirlwind with
dry leaves flying. They became birds. Human beings began to kill and eat them. Still food was not
enough. Human beings became proud and arrogant and began to cut down fruit trees senselessly. God
became angry and sent flood first to destroy the human beings. Some clever ones climbed the top of the
mountains covering themselves with gungu (leaf cover). Flood subsided and human beings came down
from the mountain but behaved the same way as before. God sent rain of fire to wipe out all human
beings. Only a brother and a sister were saved who ran away towards the marshy land where king
Shembhu and queen Dakai pulled them inside the marsh and hid them. After the Rain of Fire, God felt
lonely. He appointed the king crow as sardar (Leader), koel as kotwar (Assistant), crow as bhandari
(grain store keeper, lipi as susrai (Care taker) and sent them to different directions in search of human
beings. With hard work, birds grew thinner but the crow grew stouter. It had discovered human beings
and was having food from their left-overs. God sent the birds to fetch them but queen Dakai refused to
let them go. God Himself went to fetch them and made an agreement with Dakai that 7-parts of the
human beings would belong to her and only 1- part to Him. God asked them to clear forests for fields.
He gave them a seed of gourd to plant. The creeper bore 3-fruits. They offered the head of one of the
fruits to God. They found the gourd full of gundli (millet). They roasted and powdered it and ate it.
From the second fruit they discovered gora (coarse paddy) and made flat rice. Similarly, they found the
third fruit full of low land paddy grains. They boiled, dried, husked, cooked and ate them. They kept a
big wooden log between them while sleeping. God taught them how to make rice beer. They drank it
and the boy crossed the log the other side. Thus, children were born: 9-sons and 9-daughters. The sons
used to go hunting. One day they killed a big deer. They were thirsty and began to look for water from
trees. They managed to locate one water pool. The eldest brother went and saw a snakelike fish. The
second one saw a big tortoise….all of them thus met one thing or the other. Taking the equal share of
deer meat, they departed. Opening the bundle at home, each one of 5 them found what he had seen on
the way to the pool of water. Accordingly, each one of them was called, Dungdung (Eel), Kullu
(Tortoise), Kerketta (Hedge sparrow), Tete (a bird), Kiro (tiger), Soreng (rock), Ba’a (paddy), Bilung
(Salt), Toopo (one kind of bird).