| The whole
structure of this remarkably well-attested theory rests on two pillars and seems to do
away with design or a conscious cause: first, the spontaneous biogenesis of the first form
of organic matter; secondly, the occurrence of mutations by accident and the survival
value of the mutations in the struggle for existence. This explanation of the almost infinite varieties of life on earth amounts only
to a pushing of the mystery away from the field into an inaccessible corner. The secret
remains still unsolved. If we take into account these two postulates on which the theory
of evolution by natural selection rests, we see that the solution does not take us away
from the causeless Sat of Chhandogya. It is the Sat that brought about the first
biogenesis, and it is the Sat that brings into action the yet undiscovered laws which
govern what the evolutionists consider to be accidental mutations and causes some of them
to survive and become new species.
Vedanta has no quarrel with this investigation and the
induction therefrom. Neither chemistry nor biology explains anything. Chemical and other
‘laws’ are only classifications of observed phenomena and nothing more. Neither
familiarity nor classification can itself be an explanation. The unexplained factor is the
Sat of Chhandogya. |
