[Advaita-l] Dinosaurs and Puranas

[Pranav Peshwe]

On Fri, Jul 4, 2008 at 10:50 AM, Suresh <mayavaadi at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Friends,
>
> As it's scientifically accepted that dinosaurs existed millions of years
> ago, why is it our puranas/ramayan never mention them? Or, do we have to
> assume that the rakshasas mentioned therein could be referring to dinosaurs?
>

Namaste Suresh,
         Dinosaurs became extinct around 65 million years ago. I am not sure
whether any of our Puranas and Ramayana refer to that old an era.
Scientifically speaking, dinosaurs and humans (or for that matter, any of
the *homo* species) did not coexist. So, there can be no mention about
dinosaurs in our scriptures.


The reason I find this important from a spiritual angle is because, if our
> scriptures hadn't mentioned these things, it raises questions as to their
> authenticity.
> Moreover, how is it possible to believe that the scriptures are ancient,
> when this obvious info. pertaining to that time is missing?
>

I doubt whether all the things mentioned in our scriptures comply with
modern science. So, it is up to every individual to decide for him/herself
whether or not to accept the scriptures as authentic. IMVHO, it is the
philosophy in the scriptures that is important and, not the technical
details.

HTH.
Learned members, kindly CMIIW.

Best regards,
Pranav