Origin of Life as Described by Guru Nanak

Guru Nanak - The Scientific Philosopher

Abiogenesis, meaning the origin of life, is the natural process by which life has arisen from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. According to science, the transition from non-living to living entities was not a single event, but a gradual process of increasing complexity that involved molecular self-replication, self-assembly, auto-catalysis, and the emergence of cell membranes.

We know how life, once it began, was able to proliferate and diversify until it filled (and in many cases created) every niche on the planet. Yet one of the most obvious big questions—how did life arise from inorganic matter?

Five Elements Theory

The ancient Vedas describe the "five great elements" asbhūmi (earth), jala (water), agni (fire), pavan (air) and shunya (ether or void).The Vedas suggest that all creation, including the human body, is made up of these five essential elements and that upon death, the human body dissolves into these five elements of nature, thereby balancing the cycle of nature.

The Five elements

Guru Nanak also describes the five elements as the essential ingredients of generating life.

ਪੰਚ ਤਤੁ ਕਾ ਰਚਨੁ ਰਚਾਨਾ ॥
पंच ततु का रचनु रचाना ॥
Pancẖ ṯaṯ kā racẖan racẖānā.
The creation was created of the five elements. (Guru Nanak, SGGS - 1073) 

Guru Nanak also explains the origin of the five elements from the ether or void:

ਪੰਚ ਤਤੁ ਸੁੰਨਹੁ ਪਰਗਾਸਾ ॥
पंच ततु सुंनहु परगासा ॥
Pancẖ ṯaṯ sunnahu pargāsā.
From the Primal Void, the five elements became manifest. (Guru Nanak, SGGS - 1038)

Scientific Experiment on Five Elements

At the Carnegie Institution for Science: the Geophysical Laboratory, Bob Hazen and his colleagues are using “pressure bombs”—breadbox-size metal cylinders that squeeze and heat minerals to the insanely high temperatures and pressures found inside the earth—to decipher nothing less than the origins of life.

Bob Hazen - Pressure Bomb

Hazen encased a few milligrams of water, earthy materials representing nitrogen, ammonia and other molecules plausibly present on the early earth, in a tiny capsule made of gold (which does not react with the chemicals inside). He put three capsules into the pressure bomb at 480 degrees and 2,000 atmospheres. In these experiments, Hazen and his colleagues created all sorts of organic molecules, including amino acids and sugars—the stuff of life.

Primordial Soup Theory

After the Earth cooled enough to allow oceans to form, the Miller-Urey process produced a rain of organic matter. Over time, the ocean became a broth of these molecules, and given enough time, the right combination of molecules came together by pure chance to form a replicating entity of some kind that evolved into modern life.

Life functions through the specialized chemistry of carbon and water and builds largely upon four key families of chemicals: lipids (fatty cell walls), carbohydrates (sugars, cellulose), amino acids (protein metabolism), and nucleic acids (self-replicating DNA and RNA).

Evolution of Life

Guru Arjan Dev , the fifth Nanak describes how the creation is strung in a genetic thread

ਸਗਲ ਸਮਗ੍ਰੀ ਤੁਮਰੈ ਸੂਤ੍ਰਿ ਧਾਰੀ ॥
सगल समग्री तुमरै सूत्रि धारी ॥

Sagal samagrī ṯumrai suṯir ḏẖārī.
the whole creation is strung on Your thread. (Guru Arjan SGGS - 268)

Prokaryotic Ancestor Cell

Present-day cells evolved from a common prokaryotic ancestor along three lines of descent, giving rise to archaebacteria, eubacteria, and eukaryotes. Mitochondria and chloroplasts originated from the endosymbiotic association of aerobic bacteria and cyanobacteria, respectively, with the ancestors of eukaryotes.

Guru Nanak also describes how life started with a singular cell and from there how life evolved and manifested into streams of millions of forms:

ਕੀਤਾ ਪਸਾਉ ਏਕੋ ਕਵਾਉ ॥
कीता पसाउ एको कवाउ ॥
Kīṯā pasā▫o eko kavā▫o.
You created the vast expanse of the Universe with the One!
ਤਿਸ ਤੇ ਹੋਏ ਲਖ ਦਰੀਆਉ ॥
तिस ते होए लख दरीआउ ॥

Ŧis ṯe ho▫e lakẖ ḏarī▫ā▫o.
Hundreds of thousands of rivers of lifeforms began to flow from that One.

Creation of Body

Guru Nanak then describes how the body is made up of the five elements.

ਪੰਚ ਤਤੁ ਮਿਲਿ ਕਾਇਆ ਕੀਨੀ ॥
पंच ततु मिलि काइआ कीनी ॥

Pancẖ ṯaṯ mil kā▫i▫ā kīnī.
The body is formed from the union of the five elements. (Guru Nanak SGGS - 1430)

Guru Nanak had a scientific approach to explain the creation of embryo (human and other). He describes this phenomenon as joining together of the male sperm (bindu) and the female ova (rakat).

ਰਕਤੁ ਬਿੰਦੁ ਕਾ ਇਹੁ ਤਨੋ ਅਗਨੀ ਪਾਸਿ ਪਿਰਾਣੁ ॥
रकतु बिंदु का इहु तनो अगनी पासि पिराणु ॥

 Rakaṯ binḏ kā ih ṯano agnī pās pirāṇ.

 This body is made of male sperm (Bindu or Dot) and the female ovum (Rakat or female egg). It shall be consigned to the development and formation of the human embryo.
(Guru Nanak SGGS - 63) 

It is important to realize that Guru Nanak shared his philosophy on creation of  embryo in the 15th century when other spiritual theories prevalent in those days were living in mythological frame of mind, More important is for us to realize that the human sperm is not visible to the human eye and you need a microscope to view it. Its worth noting here that the microscope was not invented by Zacharias Janssen in the early 1590s, over 100 years after Guru Nanak. Famous Italian inventor Galileo Galilei soon improved upon the compound microscope design in 1609.

Guru Nanak further describes how human embryo is conceived by the union of male sperm and female ova, and then placed in womb of the mother where it grows to its final shape.

ਰਕਤੁ ਬਿੰਦੁ ਕਰਿ ਨਿੰਮਿਆ ਅਗਨਿ ਉਦਰ ਮਝਾਰਿ ॥
रकतु बिंदु करि निमिआ अगनि उदर मझारि ॥

Rakaṯ binḏ kar nimmi▫ā agan uḏar majẖār.
From egg and sperm, you were conceived, and placed in the fire of the womb.
(Guru Nanak SGGS - 706) 

I am amazed at the scientific vision and logical explanation of complex biochemical processes by Guru Nanak. Only one word comes to my mind when I try to comprehend his wisdom .... WAHEGURU.

References

1. Smithsonian: The origins of Life
2. Wiki: Abiogenesis
3. The American Scientist: Origin of Life
4. The Cell: A Molecular Approach