Hinduism on Mars with Dr. Subhash Kak

This episode is the second installment in Aspiring Martians’ January series exploring religion on Mars where we cover Hinduism.

There are over 1.2 billion Hindus in the world today. To cover how such a prolific religion has lasted almost 4,000 years and what that future may hold on Mars, Joe is joined by Dr. Subhash Kak, a computer scientist, philosopher of science, and Vedic scholar whose work sits at the intersection of modern science and ancient Indian thought. Dr. Kak has published extensively on artificial intelligence, consciousness, cosmology, and Indian systems of knowledge, and recently co-authored Project Omega, a book exploring what future life across the solar system — including Mars — might realistically look like.

Together, they explore how Hinduism’s vast sense of time, multiple worlds, and non-Earth-centric worldview translate naturally to space exploration. The conversation touches on the four aims of life (dharma, artha, kama, moksha), the role of deities as bridges to deeper philosophical ideas, Vedanta’s influence on modern physics, reincarnation on a cosmic scale, the red planet’s role in Hindu cosmology, how ancient belief systems and modern spaceflight quietly converged with India’s Mars mission, Mangalyaan, and why Hinduism tends to be remarkably comfortable with the idea that humans want to spread out into the cosmos.

Featuring