Where science and religion are in harmony

Author: G V R Subba Rao
Publication: The Times of India
Date: January 17, 2004
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/428391.cms

Religion demands faith, while science requires facts and logical conclusions to establish the truth. But some people here, trained in the best of scientific principles, are attempting to harmonise the divergent principles of science and religion.
 
While Venkata Ramana Deekshitulu, head priest at the Tirumala Venkateshwara Swamy temple, has a post-doctoral research degree, M V Soundararajan, head priest of the Chilkur Balaji temple, was an acclaimed commerce professor and retired as the registrar of Osmania University .
 
And M V Rangarajan, the youngest priest at the Chilkur temple, was a biomedical engineer.
 
What do these three people have in common?
 
Their educational qualifications and experience in the field of science have not come in the way of fulfilling their hereditary commitment.
 
While Deekshitulu preferred to squander a chance to go to the US  because of some religious restrictions, Rangarajan left his job in a US- based multinational to become a priest.
 
Deekshitulu was serving the Lord of Tirumala while he was studying. CSIR gave him a post-doctoral fellowship.
 
"Religion is not just a faith. No science can make man a dictator. One should perceive the existence of God. Religion is a science of a higher order. It is my destiny," says Deekshitulu.
 
Speaking to the The Times of India, he said: "I got an opportunity to go to the US and do research on human cancer tissues. But, according to the Vaikhanasa Sastras, I cannot do Kain-karyam (serve the Lord) once I travel across the sea. Hence, I turned down that offer."
 
Asked whether he would ever return to the world of science, Deekshitulu said, "I always knew I would be an 'archaka' (priest) as I was born in a family of archakas. I served the Lord of Tirumala even while I was studying. Religion is my hereditary profession and it is my commitment to my elders."
 
Soundararajan, who taught commerce at Osmania University , says: "Normally, people believe that scientists are necessarily rationalists. Truth is bhakti, it has nothing to do with science. Faith and education are not related. It is wrong to argue that a person who studied science should have no faith in religion and vice versa."
 
Asked how he entered the new profession, the retired professor said: "We treat Lord Venkateswara as one of our family. I used to serve him even when I was a teacher at the university and I am continuing it."
 
Rangarajan had worked as a regional manager of the US-based MNC Medtronic, which is among the first majors in the world to have produced pacemakers.
 
He drew Rs 8.4 lakh per annum as salary. He left that job to do pujas at the Chilkur temple.
 
"Technology is only a support system. Science helps us establish the known facts. No man can make an exact replica of what God has done. Science has its limitations, but not God," he reasons.
 

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