The Origin of the Universe

In the 1920s, astronomer Edwin Hubble, using his new and extremely powerful telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory, Los Angeles, made two revolutionary discoveries about our universe.

Hubble’s Two Groundbreaking Discoveries

1. The Milky Way is not the only galaxy.
   Hubble observed that the cloudy objects seen in the night sky were not just distant clouds but entire galaxies, millions of light-years away. The Milky Way is just one among billions of galaxies.
2. The universe is expanding.
   Hubble discovered that all galaxies are moving away from each other, meaning that the universe is continuously expanding. The biggest object we know—the universe—is getting bigger all the time.

The Birth of the Big Bang Theory

Just a few years after Hubble’s discovery, in 1927, Belgian Catholic priest and scientist Georges Lemaître found that distant galaxies are moving away faster than nearby ones. This mathematical derivation is known today as the Hubble–Lemaître Law.

Lemaître conducted reverse calculations based on his observation and published an article in Popular Science magazine (December 1932). He theorized that if the universe is expanding today, it must have been smaller in the past. Going far back in time, the universe must have once been compressed into an extremely small point.

He called this primeval atom, and his article was titled "Hypothesis of Primeval Atom", which later became famously known as the Singularity and the Big Bang Theory.

Modern Science and the Big Bang

According to the American Museum of Natural History, most astronomers accept the Big Bang Theory as the explanation for the origin of the universe. However, modern science still does not have an answer to the fundamental question:

• Why did the Big Bang happen?
• How did it happen?

Let’s set aside this question for a moment and try to understand what happened after the Big Bang.

The Formation of Matter After the Big Bang

For several decades after Lemaître’s article, the events immediately following the Big Bang were only theoretical. However, in 1964, with the discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation, scientists started getting concrete answers.

Later, the European Space Agency’s Planck Mission and NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Mission studied the remnants of the early universe (CMB radiation) and provided a detailed timeline:

• At 10^-32 seconds after the singularity exploded, at an extremely high temperature of 10³² Kelvin, space began producing protons, neutrons, and electrons.
• As space expanded, within the next three minutes, the temperature dropped from 10³² K to 10⁹ K, allowing protons and neutrons to collide and form Deuterium (a stable isotope of hydrogen).
• This Deuterium further combined to form Helium gas.
• This process continued for 380,000 years, after which electrons started binding with nuclei to form neutral atoms.
• About 400 million years after the Big Bang, known as the Dark Age of the Universe, these gas elements condensed to form fiery stars and galaxies.
• Eventually, these fiery stars cooled down, leading to the formation of liquids and solid matter.

The Five Fundamental Elements of Creation

When we study the sequence of events after the Big Bang, we see a clear pattern:

1. First came space.
2. From space emerged air (individual atoms).
3. From air emerged fire (fiery stars).
4. From fire, liquid and solid matter were formed.

Now, this exact sequence was described 5,000 years ago in the Bhagavad Gita (7.4):

bhūmir āpo ’nalo vāyuḥ, khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca

• Kham (खं) = Space
• Vāyuḥ (वायुः) = Air
• Analaḥ (अनलः) = Fire
• Āpaḥ (आपः) = Water (Liquid)
• Bhūmiḥ (भूमिः) = Earth (Solid matter)

Lord Śrī Krishna explains in exactly the same sequence how material creation occurs:

1. Space (kham) gives rise to air (vāyuḥ).
2. Air gives rise to fire (analaḥ).
3. Fire gives rise to water (āpaḥ).
4. Water gives rise to solid matter (bhūmiḥ).

Now, let’s return to the fundamental question we parked earlier:

• Why did the Big Bang happen?
• How did the Big Bang happen?

The Vedic Answer: The True Origin of the Universe

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (Canto 2, Chapter 5, Verses 22-40) provides exact details about the creation of the universe.

It explains that within the Spiritual Sky, Lord Śrī Krishna expands as Mahā-Viṣṇu for the purpose of material creation. He manifests time, which is the first element of creation. Then, in due course of time, Mahā-Viṣṇu exhales, and from the pores of His body, countless universes emerge.

• This means that the universe originates from a single point, which modern science calls Singularity.
• However, this origin is not due to a random explosion (Big Bang) but is a deliberate act of creation by Mahā-Viṣṇu.

As soon as these universes come into existence, the three modes of material nature (sattva, rajas, tamas) manifest from Mahā-Viṣṇu’s external energy.

• From these three modes, space is formed.
• As space expands, universes grow like bubbles.
• Then, by Mahā-Viṣṇu’s divine glance, the elements manifest sequentially:
  • Space produces air.
  • Air produces fire.
  • Fire produces liquid and solid substances.
• These five fundamental elements—space, air, fire, water, and earth—combine to form the non-living segment of the universe.

Vedic Scriptures Answers Much More Than Science

We have seen that Śrīmad Bhāgavatam not only aligns with modern scientific findings about the universe’s origin but also provides answers to the questions that scientists consider “impossible to answer.”

In our next blog, we will explore another fascinating question: How did life originate in the universe? Stay tuned!