Re: human cloning and srimad bhAgavatam

From the Bhakti List Archives

• March 6, 2000


Hi
 Can someone post the Original Question agian 
(Please), coz i have someone who fits the discription
as Mr SampathKumar Discribed here,visiting our temple
and also i have a sister, who has a Phd under
genetics, and also working as a Sr,Scientist
specialized under Genetics, and i am sure i can make
them sit and certainly put thier brains together, and
come up  with  an answer for the question.  !!!! 

Thanks folks
Krishna




--- sampath kumar  wrote:
> Dear friends,
> While in Madras recently, adiyen took the
> opportunity
> to meet with a well-known holy man of orthodox Vedic
> tradtion. (It is not necessary to name him here on
> the
> bhakti-list). Adiyen has the greatest regard for
> this
> particular 'veda-vith' since he is not only a devout
> and uncompromising Vedic practitioner but also a
> person with astute knowledge of worldly matters too
> ("loukeekam"). 
> 
> Adiyen took the liberty to put to the holy man the
> same set of questions on "human cloning" that had
> been
> put out on the bhakti-list a few weeks ago. Adiyen
> was
> not sure if the holy man would welcome such queer
> questions on genetics and religion. But adiyen was
> so
> surprised when the "veda-vith" not only listened
> kindly to all of adiyen's questions with patience
> and
> understanding but also with a great deal of
> youthlike
> enthusiasm.
> 
> "My young friend", he said,"I am sure you do not
> expect me to provide you with technical answers to
> your questions. I am not a geneticist. Neither are
> you. I have a bit of Vedic learning having spent
> more
> than 40 years in Vedic pursuit. You have none. And
> yet
> you ask questions of such a nature as will require a
> respondent to have deep knowledge of not only the
> Vedic truth but also of the science of genetics. 
> 
> "Both of us have a little knowledge about clones. We
> probably picked it all up from newspapers and like
> publications. But our knowledge is incomplete.
> Because
> our knowledge of human cloning is incomplete it
> disturbs us deeply. 
> 
> "Why? We don't really know. We believe that in some
> future world where human clones will co-exist with
> normal human beings, there are bound to arise
> profound
> moral and ethical issues which will further
> complicate
> the already chaotic human society we live in today.
> The advent of human clones makes us extremely
> uneasy. 
> 
> " You are asking me now:  If the human soul can be
> said to be 'cloned' then isn't such cloning a bit
> like
> "srushti" or creation itself? Has Man finally become
> God?"
> 
> "I ask you now: if creation of a clone or "srushti"
> makes man God, then, by the same token, through
> "destruction" (or "sarvanAshanam") also Man may hope
> to become God? For, is Destruction not one of the
> principal functions of God too? Two atomic bombs
> were
> dropped in 1945. There was utter destruction in the
> world then. Are we  to conclude therefore that Man
> became God by the utter Destruction wrought in
> Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
> 
> "My friend, Man's claim to Godhead is made no
> stronger
> through human cloning... or "srushti"...  than it is
> 
> through the awesome destruction his atomic bombs
> wrought... "sarvanAshanam". 
> 
> "Human cloning is not unknown to Vedic tradition.
> The
> ancient 'sruti' has many references to clones. So
> what
> we call the science of genetics is not entirely
> alien
> to the Vedic system of thought. An entire chapter in
> the 'Srimad Bhagavata purAna' has references to
> clones, if only you cared to read it carefully".
> 
> Adiyen then asked the holy man,"Can you please
> explain
> what is there about human clones in "Srimad
> Bhagavatam?". The holy man smiled and said,"Ah, but
> that's a long story!".
> 
> "Swami, I'd nonetheless like to hear it", I said.
> 
> "My friend, it's time now to perform our
> 'sandhyAvandanam'. So please go now and return
> tomorrow if you are still interested in the quaint
> "purAnic" stories of the Vedic variety."
> 
> The holy man then dismissed adiyen rather abruptly.
> Adiyen suspected he secretly hoped I'd not bother
> him
> again if asked to go away and return again.Adiyen
> firmly decided I'd not oblige him. So I returned to
> him the followind day to hear about clones in the
> 'Srimad BhAgavatam".
> 
> It's now time for adiyen's 'sandhyAvandanam'. So I
> will continue this post tomorrow.
> 
> dAsan,
> Sampathkumar  
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 
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