Do science and Hindu dharma conflict?

largely no — dharma has long valued inquiry and doubt; the two answer different questions.

Hindu tradition has a strong culture of questioning. The Nāsadīya Sūkta, the Ṛgveda's hymn of creation (10.129), ends by wondering whether even the highest overseer knows how creation arose. The Upaniṣads are built on dialogue and debate, and Indian thinkers made lasting contributions to mathematics, astronomy and medicine. The tradition's vast time-cycles also sit comfortably with an old, vast universe.

Science studies how the physical world works, using observation and testing. Dharma addresses meaning, value and the nature of consciousness — why we live, how we should act, who we are. They can enrich each other without one replacing the other.

A word of care: it does not honour the scriptures to claim they contain every modern invention, nor to reject sound science. Many Hindu teachers say faith should be reasonable and reason should be humble. A curious, honest mind is itself an offering.

Source: Ṛgveda 10.129 (Nāsadīya Sūkta) · Faith that reasons, reason that is humble

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