From: prabhupada_news@yahoo.co.uk   
      
   Evolution in Fact and Fantasy   
      
      Los Angeles, June 1972: Srila Prabhupada asserts that Darwin's theory of   
   evolution is inconclusive and illogical. But Darwin's is not the only theory   
   of evolution. The Vedas explain that an evolutionary process governs the   
   progress of the soul. "We accept evolution," Srila Prabhupada says, "but not   
   that the forms of the species are changing. The bodies are all already   
   there, but the soul is evolving by changing bodies and by transmigrating   
   from one body to another.... The defect of the evolutionists is that they   
   have no information of the soul."   
      
   Devotee: Darwin tried to show how the origin of living species could be   
   fully explained by the purely mechanical, unplanned action of natural   
   forces. By the process he called "natural selection," all the higher,   
   complex forms of life gradually evolved from more primitive and rudimentary   
   ones. In a given animal population, for example, some individuals will have   
   traits that make them adapt better to their environment; these more fit   
   individuals will survive to pass on their favorable traits to their   
   offspring. The unfit will gradually be weeded out naturally. Thus a cold   
   climate will favor those who have, say, long hair or fatty tissue, and the   
   species will then gradually evolve in that direction.   
   Srila Prabhupada: The question is that in the development of the body, is   
   there any plan that a particular kind of body--with, as you say, long hair   
   or fatty tissue--should exist under certain natural conditions? Who has made   
   these arrangements? That is the question.   
   Devotee: No one. Modern evolutionists ultimately base their theory on the   
   existence of chance variations.   
   Srila Prabhupada: That is nonsense. There is no such thing as chance. If   
   they say "chance," then they are nonsense. Our question remains. Who has   
   created the different circumstances for the existence of different kinds of   
   animals?   
   Devotee: For example, a frog may lay thousands of eggs, but out of all of   
   them only a few may survive to adulthood. Those who do are more fit than the   
   others. If the environment did not favorably select the fittest, then too   
   many frogs--   
   Srila Prabhupada: Yes, frogs and many other animals lay eggs by the   
   hundreds. A snake gives birth to scores of snakes at a time, and if all were   
   allowed to exist, there would be a great disturbance. Therefore, big snakes   
   devour the small snakes. That is nature's law. But behind nature's law is a   
   brain. That is our proposition. Nature's law is not blind, for behind it   
   there is a brain, and that brain is God. We learn this from the   
   Bhagavad-gita (9.10): mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram. Whatever   
   is taking place in material nature is being directed by the Supreme Lord,   
   who maintains everything in order. So the snake lays eggs by the score, and   
   if many were not killed, the world would be overwhelmed by snakes.   
   Similarly, male tigers kill the cubs. The economic theory of Malthus states   
   that whenever there is overpopulation, there must be an outbreak of war,   
   epidemic, famine, or the like to curb it. These natural activities do not   
   take place by chance but are planned. Anyone who says they are a matter of   
   chance has insufficient knowledge.   
   Devotee: But Darwin has a huge amount of evidence--   
   Srila Prabhupada: Evidence? That is all right. We also have got evidence.   
   Evidence must be there. But as soon as there is evidence, there should be no   
   talk of "chance."   
   Devotee: For example, out of millions of frogs, one may happen to be better   
   adapted to living in the water.   
   Srila Prabhupada: But that is not by chance! That is by plan! He doesn't   
   know that. As soon as one says "chance," it means his knowledge is   
   imperfect. A man says "chance" when he cannot explain. It is evasive. So the   
   conclusion is that he is without perfect knowledge and therefore unfit for   
   giving any knowledge. He is cheating, that's all.   
   Devotee: Well, Darwin sees a "plan" or "design" in a sense, but--   
   Srila Prabhupada: If he sees a plan or design, then whose design? As soon as   
   you recognize a design, you must acknowledge a designer. If you see a plan,   
   then you must accept a planner. That he does not know.   
   Devotee: But the "plan" is only the involuntary working of nature.   
   Srila Prabhupada: Nonsense. There is a plan. The sun rises daily according   
   to exact calculation. It does not follow our calculation; rather, we   
   calculate according to the sun. Experiencing that in such-and-such season   
   the sun rises at such-and-such time, we learn that according to the season   
   the sun rises exactly on the minute, the second. It is not by whimsy or   
   chance but by minute plan.   
   Devotee: But can't you say it's just mechanical?   
   Srila Prabhupada: Then who made it mechanical? If something is mechanical,   
   then there must be a mechanic, a brain, who made the machine. Here is   
   something mechanical [Srila Prabhupada points to a Telex machine]: Who made   
   it? This machine has not come out by itself. It is made of iron, and the   
   iron did not mold itself into a machine; there is a brain who made the   
   machine possible. So everything in nature has a plan or design, and behind   
   that plan or design is a brain, a very big brain.   
   Devotee: Darwin tried to make the appearance and disappearance of living   
   forms seem so natural and involuntary that God is removed from the picture.   
   Evolutionary theory makes it appear as if combinations of material   
   ingredients created life, and then various species evolved one from another   
   naturally.   
   Srila Prabhupada: That is foolishness. Combination means God. God is   
   combining. Combination does not take place automatically. Suppose I am   
   cooking. There are many ingredients gathered for cooking, but they do not   
   combine together by themselves. I am the cooker, and in cooking I combine   
   together ghee, spices, rice, dal, and so on; and in this way, nice dishes   
   are produced. Similarly, the combination of ingredients in nature requires   
   God. Otherwise how does the moment arise in which the combination takes   
   place? Do you place all the ingredients in the kitchen and in an hour come   
   back and say, "Oh, where is my meal?" Nonsense! Who will cook your meal?   
   You'll starve. But take help of a living being, and then we'll cook and we   
   can eat. This is our experience. So if there is combination, then who is   
   combining? They are fools not to know how combination takes place.   
   Devotee: Scientists now say life arose out of four basic elements: carbon,   
   hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen.   
   Srila Prabhupada: If the basic principle is chemicals, who made the   
   chemicals? That question should be asked.   
   Devotee: Isn't it possible that one day science will discover the source of   
   these chemicals?   
   Srila Prabhupada: There is no question of discovering: the answer is already   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)