"And it was simply a logical idea, he was not sitting in a lab and dividing things. But it is simple: everything consists of smaller parts. The smallest part he called an atom.

"Greek philosophers, nearabout the same time, talked about atoms in the same way, saying that if you go on dividing a thing you will come to a point where you cannot divide it any more. Not because they had divided anything – they had no instruments to come to the division where the atom exists – but because logically, intellectually, there is no problem in it. It is conceivable.

"In Greek thought and in Indian thought, masters have come up with the idea of the atom. But when Albert Einstein talks about the atom it is not just an intellectually conceivable thing, he has seen the division. He has seen the molecule splitting; not only that, he has found that the atom itself is not indivisible, it too is divisible into electrons. And nobody can say now that electrons are indivisible. That certainty is not possible any more. In the eighteenth century the molecule was indivisible; then it was divided. Then the atom became indivisible; then it was divided. Now with what face can anybody say that electrons are indivisible? Only tomorrow knows.

"But what we talk about today is experimental, not intellectual. And compared to Albert Einstein, the ancient philosophers talking about atoms are bound to look like pygmies. It is not their fault; it is not Albert Einstein's glory either – just the time factor. In these twenty-five centuries things have moved with a tremendous speed in every direction. Those people were working with primitive words, ideas, instruments. We are in a better situation, a greater opportunity is available to us.

"As far as religion is concerned, it is a little more complicated. It is easy to understand scientifically that what Mahavira is saying is just ordinary compared to Albert Einstein. In religion it seems to be a little complex, complicated, because we have accepted the idea that these religions – Hinduism, Mohammedanism, Christianity, Judaism, Jainism – are religions. There is the basic fallacy.

"They are only pseudo-religions. They are only preparing the way for religion to come."