OM
Geography of a Land influences the
History, Culture, and philosophy of the Land
By Happymantata ( M.V.S.Murthy)
One may wonder how an inert and static feature like the
Geography of a land could influence the dynamic and ever- changing feature like
History and Culture of that land. This is best illustrated by applying it to a
country. India or Bharat is a particularly good example.
Geography of Indian sub-continent.
Around 120 million years ago, a mass of land
broke off from the African landmass and drifted towards the Asian landmass and
collided with it. The collision caused the formation of mountains, The
Himalayas, in the north and with it, a part of the sea got drained to form
plains. The southern peninsular plateau is one of oldest rock formation on
earth. Thus, the Indian subcontinent was formed.
Indian Subcontinent has well defined
natural borders:
1
Snow clad Himalayan mountains stretch
across the North and Northeast with a few narrow passes, creating a challenge
for migration and foreign invasions in ancient times. Vast stretches of fertile
Plains fed by perennial rivers like Indus and its cluster of 5 branches,
and Ganga-Yamuna, Brahmaputra provide abundant food for people
and cattle, minerals, and timber etc. Vindhya and Satpura hills and thick
tropical forest, like Dandakaranya separate the northern Plains from southern
Peninsula. The Southern Peninsular Plateau with monsoon-fed rivers like Krishna,
Godavari, Kaveri, and Mahanadi, bring with them their fertile
delta. The Western and Eastern Ghats flourish with spices, timber, rubber,
mineral wealth, and unique ecology. The Arabian sea, Bay of Bengal, and the
Indian Ocean, cover the three southern sides of the Peninsula. This long
coastline, while preventing foreign invasions, also enabled trade and commerce
with faraway Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Arab lands to the west, and neighboring
Southeast Asian states, China and Japan to the east.
Dawn of Civilization in Indian sub-continent.
Quoting from ‘Ancient India’ by Joshua J Mark
published on 13th Nov.2012 https://www.ancient.eu/india/,
“Hominid activity in Indian
Subcontinent stretches back over 250,000 years and it is therefore, one of the
oldest inhabited regions on the planet.
Archaeological excavations have
discovered artifacts used by early humans, including stone tools, which suggest
an extremely early date for human habitation in the area.
While the Civilizations of
Mesopotamia and Egypt have long been recognized for their celebrated
contribution to Civilization, India has often been overlooked, especially in
the West, though its history and culture is just as rich.
The village of Balathal near Udaipur
in Rajasthan illustrates the antiquity of India’s history as it dates to 4000
BCE. Balathal was not discovered until
1962 CE and excavations were not begun
there until the 1990s CE.”
There is evidence of Pre-historic man roaming about on this
land some 60,000 years back. With good climate, abundant food, protection from
invaders and freezing Northern winds, the early nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes
settled down to farming, resulting in flourishing villages and towns. Several highly developed cradles of
civilizations like those of Harappan and Mohenjo-Daro, sprang up during second and
third millennia Before Christ.
Historian V. Gordon Childe writes in 1952, (ref.
History-Encyclopedia Britannica) https://www.britannica.com/place/India/The-Indus-civilization#ref484994
“India confronts Egypt and
Babylonia by the 3rd millennium with a thoroughly individual and
independent civilization of her own, technically the peer of the rest… The
Indus civilization represents a very perfect adjustment of human life to a
specific environment.”
Archaeological Excavations in the past 50 years have
dramatically changed the understanding of India’s past which was till then, based
on inference of Western Scholars. It was believed till then that civilization
came to India from the West, with the Aryan Invasion around 1500BC.
While there is no
reference in any ancient scriptures or puranas about either origin of Aryans from outside the Indian subcontinent
or period of such exodus, there is reason to believe that Aryans were the
original inhabitants of the Aryavarta mentioned in ancient Hindu texts
like Dharma Shastras and other scriptures alike. According to Manu
Smrti, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manusmriti
the area between the Himalayan
range, the Vindhya range, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian sea is referred to
as Aryavarta.
Plate2
The current understanding is that the Indian Civilization and
Sanatana Dharma were evolved indigenously, and Aryan invasion from West
is considered a myth. An article Ancient India’s Links to Today by Mini Menon
reveals the vibrant past. https://www.livehistoryindia.com/history-of-india-2000-years/2020/05/12/ancient-indias-links-to-today
Archaeological excavations in the past five decades have
dramatically changed the understanding of India’s past. But, after the partition of India in 1947 AD.,
a sizable part of Ancient India including important cultural centers like
Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, Takshashila, Gandhara, which were the hub of Indian
Civilization, are now under rulers of a different culture. What is known now of
India’s past is only the ‘tip of an iceberg,’ needing further modern
archaeological investigation over a larger area. Such objective archaeological investigation,
in the Indus valley which is now in Pakistan is not likely to be attempted nor
pursued by the present administration and an important part of the Ancient
history may be lost forever.
Earlier, archaeological investigations were confined to large
cities and their ruins, and the finds were donated to museums or were purchased
by art collectors. Modern archaeology is more extensive and with latest dating
techniques, it is more precise and covers people who lived there, their
economic and cultural activities, shedding light on history of the region.
I had come across a book of over 760 pages, Civilizations
of Ancient Mediterranean- Egypt, Greece & Rome by Charles Freeman, a
wonderful book, giving a narrative account of main events with minute details,
highlighting developments in cultural and social histories with references to evidences.
It is updated with latest authentic investigations. Though it is a textbook, it
is readable for a layman like a novel!
I very much wish that Indian History is presented by our historians
in a similar authentic and detailed manner, unbiased by Western interpretation
and conclusions.
Let us now examine how the rich Indian civilization and Sanatana
Dharma, a unique world religion, could have evolved independently in India,
thanks to the geography of this country.
Archaeologists have
recently found evidence of Homo heidelbergensis, an ancestral species to
modern Homo sapiens, who inhabited the Indian Sub-continent much before humans
migrated from Africa to Europe.
Plate 3
plate
4
“Hominid Activity in the Indian Subcontinent, dates back
to over 250,000 years and is one of the oldest Hominid activity on the planet …
Significant human activity was under way in India by the Holocene Period (
10,000 years ago)…The beginnings of Vedic tradition can now be dated to the
indigenous people” {Ref. Ancient
History Encyclopedia- Ancient India. By Joshua J Mark published https://www.ancient.eu/india/,
Let me point out a few unique features in Indian civilization
and its spiritual and cultural achievements, which are not found in other civilizations
and religions, to bring out how I feel that geography has an influence in bringing
about these unique features.
Spiritual Achievements - Religion
·
When
early man looked around with awe, respect and fear, at the Sun and Moon, Nature,
Wind, Ocean, and Fire over which he had no control and yet could influence his
life and comfort, he sought to supplicate and worship them; such was the
beginning of Idolatry. Numerous deities were worshiped. Each village had a
small temple for the ‘Grama Devata’ to whom
the villager looks up to for his problems and ailments. When there is
an epidemic pestilence or famine, all
the villagers group together to worship her . She is referred to as ‘ Mother ‘.This practice of worshiping a Grama Devata has survived even
to this day in rural areas.
·
Soon
he argued that there might be a superior and controlling Power, which could be
worshiped, and he called it GOD.
·
Man,
also realized that unlike other forms of life like animals, he had a unique
ability to think of Good and Bad actions, and their effects on himself and
society.
·
When
he saw life and death, he concluded that there must be a ‘soul’ which was there
in every living being, though un-perceivable, which would leave the body on
death. He deduced that the body was not permanent, but subject to aging and
ultimately perish, but the soul would not perish.
·
Man’s
aim in life is happiness while avoiding hardships and grief. He seeks help from
God to achieve this, communicating through worship and prayers to please Him. The
worship could be done individually or collectively.
·
Further,
he developed the concept of his actions being virtuous or good, and sinful or
bad, resulting in God’s reward of Heaven and punishment of Hell. He believed that,
on the death of a man, God would sit in judgement and send his soul to either
Heaven or Hell. Although it was the soul
which was to undergo pleasures of Heaven or torture of Hell after death, man
was concerned about them even in this life!
*
·
Righteousness
is the same for all religions and God honors and encourages righteousness.
·
God
is all-powerful - Omnipotent, though he is invisible, he is everywhere -
Omnipresent, and is all knowing – Omniscient.
These are more or less common in every religion including Sanatana
Dharma of Hindu religion.
But the uniqueness of Sanatana Dharma as I understand is:
1. Concept of GOD in Sanatana Dharma:
God is one for the whole universe. He is loving and compassionate to
mankind. There is no Hindu or Christian God, but He can be worshiped in
different ways. As all rivers ultimately meet the sea, so do all prayers reach
the one Eternal God. Hence there is no superior God and persons of one religion
need not try to convert a believer in another religion either by any type of inducement
or by coercion or killing. However, leaders of different religions or faiths
could sit together for a philosophic discussion to justify their beliefs. This
is how, in the third century BCE, Buddhist religion spread all over East Asia,
with neither war nor forcible conversion.
Our scriptures tell us that God is
without form and beyond comprehension of man. To comprehend Him, and concentrate
on Him, in prayer, we assume a form for him.
He is the Creator, Protector and Punisher and he is worshiped in several
forms as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, all different aspects
of the one God Para brahma.
Several sects like Shaiva,
Vaishnava, Shakteya sects are found in Hindu Religion, just as we find
Catholic and Protestant in Christianity, or Shia and Sunni in Islam. Yet, in Hindu
Religion, they can co-exist in harmony.
2. Concept of re-birth: Every living being has a soul in him,
a spark of the Great God that is indestructible. It is only the perishable body
which gets destroyed. When one dies, the good and sin he has accumulated resulting
from his actions accompany with the soul. A form of God sends the soul to
Heaven or Hell based on these actions – good actions (Punya) or bad
actions (Papam). After enjoying the reward or serving the punishment for
a period, the soul again takes birth on this Earth with a new body accumulating
Punya or Papam yet again. This cycle of life and death and accumulation
of Punya and Papam continues till its net effect is nil. It is
now when the Soul will ultimately get salvation, or become one with God,
and there is no further birth or death to it. So, every human being must strive
to overcome the cycle of birth and death
and reach a stage of eternal happiness. One way to break the cycle is by trying
to live righteously as guided by the scriptures.
3. Concept of action: God has endowed man with a brain which
has the power to think, has a conscience and an ability to discriminate between
good and bad using a guide in the form of religious scriptures. Man, also has
the resources of Shastras, Puranas, Gurus, and Piety
to emulate, and if he still finds himself in trouble due to his own actions, God
may throw up His hands and say ‘Go to Hell!’
For example, in the Bhagavad Gita,
we see Arjuna in the battlefield, totally dejected and confused whether to wage
the war or not. Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna in 18 chapters of the Gita, what
his Dharma is and at the end, he says ‘Arjuna, I have told you in
detail what is your duty, now it is up to you to think and act as you like’
(Gita.18.63). No dogma here, that is Sanatana Dharma!!
4. Concept of universal oneness: Sanatana Dharma considers world
as a family (Vasudha eva Kutumbakam). Hence there should be no hatred between people.
Most of our prayers are for happiness of all beings and mitigation of misery to
the whole world. It is not limited to the self, family, or members of one’s
religion alone.
5. Concept of
collective wisdom: Most religions have a founder who claims that he is
the messenger of God and his is the only true religion which looks after its
own followers.
But, Sanatana Dharma is universal and works for the happiness and
welfare of all beings of the world, including animals and plants. It is a
religion which is a collective wisdom of a large number of spiritual leaders, saints
and Rishis who have, after a lot of scientific
questioning and discussions, evolved to form a religion based on scientific reasoning
and one that is applicable to whole world.
It is divided into Shruti and Smrti. While Shruti tells of
God and how to attain Him, and so, is spiritual and eternal, Smrti deals with do’s and don’ts of how to live and seek
God. Both can be modified depending on needs of society and beliefs with change
of time. Thus, Sanatana Dharma, though
old is ever new and always relevant.
6.
Concept of avataar: God
declares that whenever there is a decay and downfall of Dharma or righteousness, and Adharma or social
evil is rampant, God manifests Himself to protect the righteous and destroy the
evil. These are called Avataars. It is
believed that 8 such avataaras have
taken place in the past Yugas or eons.
Hindu mythology recognizes Goutam Buddha, the founder of Buddhist religion, as
the 9th avataar in this Kaliyuga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Yuga. Such is
the magnanimity of the religion, to recognize greatness even in an adversary.
Influence of Geography in evolving
a unique religion: Sanatana Dharma.
Birth of Varna ashrama Dharma:
In the Aryavarta in the plains of Ganga and Sindhu, during 3rd
millennium BCE, there was peace and plenty. Villages for agriculture and cattle-rearing,
towns and cities for trade and commerce had sprung up.
Our Early Forefathers recognized that Man is born with 3 “gunas”,
natures or traits:
Satvika or righteous - One who is sincere,
steadfast, thinks of others’ good, content and not avaricious, keen of
intellect, eager to learn and teach, eager to think about God.
Rajasika or royal - One who has leadership
qualities, boldness, valor, good bodily strength, of fighting spirit - but is
also forgiving, honest, patriotic and considerate to the weak.
Tamasika - Those with good bodily strength, obedient
but tend to be lazy, not keen on fair play or morality.
These 3 gunas or traits are found in all the members of a society
but in varying degrees.
Our forefathers decided that for faster development of the society, it is
desirable to categorize the society into 4 Varnas based on their nature
or dominant trait and put them to tasks to which they are best suited. The 4
varnas are, Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra.
Each category had specific rules of conduct. The society depended on the
collective efforts and cooperation of all the 4 categories for smooth
functioning.
In the earliest religious text – Rigveda – there is Purusha
Sookta telling that the 4 varnas formed limbs of God -
“Brahmano asya Mukham aaseet. Baahoo Rajanyaha krutaha.
Uooruu tadasya yad Vaishyaha, Padbhyaam
Shudro ajaayata”
Brahmana came from His face, Kshatriya
formed His arms, Vaishya formed His thighs and Shudra from His
feet.
So, the members of the 4 varnas felt that being a part of the God, they were
bound to obey the duties or Dharma enjoined to their respective Varna. There was Shraddha or zeal and
earnestness in adhering to their Dharma. There was no feeling of one being
superior or inferior to other. ###
Lord Krishna tells in Gita, Chaaturvarnyam mayaa srustam Guna Karma
vibhaagasaha (4.13). It means, the Varnas are created by God, based on
individual’s Guna and karma, nature and work not by birth.
Brahmanas were to learn spiritual and religious texts and teach them to others. ‘Brahmana’
means knower of Brahman or God. He should develop virtues like control of mind,
austerity, honesty truthfulness, contentment, frugal living, not attracted to
riches, good conduct, and control over vices like Kama, Krodha, Lobha,
Moha, Mada, and Matsarya, (Excessive Desire, Anger, Miserliness,
Lust, Pride, Hatred) (See Gita 18th canto 42.).
Kshatriyas were to be rulers or guardians of society. They should be brave, honest,
compassionate, maintain law and order, dispense justice, and get guidance from
Brahmins who are their Kula gurus. There were rules in fighting war.
Supremacy and control over other kingdoms were permitted, but war was resorted
to after exhausting Sama, daana, bedha. Wars were fought based on a set
of rules as given in Manu smriti https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manusmriti. Unlike in the West, in a war, no
cities are destroyed, no slaves are taken, and womenfolk were to be treated
well.
Vaishyas were tradesmen, farmers, and took care of cattle rearing. They were the
producers of wealth. They were to be honest, trustworthy, just and kind to
subordinates and educated in their trade
These three varnas are classified as ‘Dwija’, or
‘Twice-born. The first birth being biological. After this birth and childhood,
they undergo a religious ritual which makes them eligible for Brahmacharya and
live the life of a student, this is considered as a second birth making them
fit to live life on earth. Youth of all the three varnas stay together and get
educated in Gurukulas and learn scriptures and books of their trade or
profession. There is no Varna distinction or rich or poor in Gurukula.
Generally, at the end of learning the guru seeks fee according to ability of
student to pay.
Shudra: The rest of people who are
temperamentally Tamasa (lethargic) are grouped as Shudras. They are
laborer or service-providers.
Demographically the 4 Varnas formed a
pyramid with Brahmana as the top and Shudra as base. Thus, the society created Brahmana
Varna from the cream of the society with desirable qualities like satvica
guna, spirituality, dedication, desire to learn and teach, without pride or
avarice or desire for domination. They preferred to live in secluded clusters
called Ashramas practicing austerity and maintained centers of learning,
pursued different branches of knowledge, and lived on alms or donations from
the rest of the society.
The Brahmana community had a
wide sphere of activities. Some conducted Gurukulas for educating
children of all the 3 dwija communities. Some took upon spiritual
studies Veda and Upanishads and became Tapasvis and Rishis.
Some devoted themselves to the sciences, mathematics, agriculture and animal
husbandry, medicine and ayurveda, social sciences, music and dance, art of
warfare and weapons including Astras (weapons superimposed with divine
powers), commerce etc., all considering their activities as worship of God.
They used techniques of yoga, pranayama, meditation, and austerity to
sharpen their skills. This helped in achieving great progress in various
aspects of civilization, while the people of other varnas were busy with
day-to-day activities of the society. Thus, there was harmony, peace, and
prosperity, in addition to advancement in spiritual, scientific, and cultural
fields.
I may mention here that we had a
large number of Rshis and Tapaswis who, by deep austerity and Tapas, had
acquired supernatural powers such as, extra sensory perception, distant
communication of thought, clairvoyance, knowing past-present-future, materializing
objects, blessing or curse which would happen - all this for Dharma or the good of
society. This art is now lost. But, with present day advancement in communication
technology, cybernetics, artificial intelligence, automation, etc., man could rediscover
a part of these and put them to use for the good of society, unrestricted by
the outmoded Varna or Jati. Man has realized that only a small part of his
intelligence has been put to use till now and knowledge is boundless and is
waiting to be discovered.
Foothills of the mountains abounded
with rivers and lush green meadows provided ideal places for hundreds of Rishis
and hermits to establish their Ashrams and concentrate on spiritual matters
or explore scientific and artistic pursuits without any hinderance. This has
resulted in the Hindu civilization to indigenously attain progress in both
spiritual and material fields, ‘leap-frogging’ all other civilizations of the West,
all this, before the beginning of Christian Era. Hundreds of intellectuals, scientists, inventers,
poets and artists, Rishis, Yogis and saints who have contributed
to this achievement over centuries have remained incognito.
This achievement can be
attributed to:
·
Geography
of the sub-continent: Foothills of Himalaya and other mountains sheltering Ashramas, monasteries, and hermitages
and providing ideal environment for work of spiritual and technological
development.
·
The
people who inhabited this region expressed foresight, engaged in a ‘live and
let live’ community, championed fair-play, and employed a scientific and
logical state of mind.
·
Varna ashrama dharma which placed people in professions best suited to the individual’s in-born
qualities and skills, brought out hundreds of rishis and saints who
worked diligently on development of society instead of personal aggrandizement.
No other civilization has mustered up so many tapasvis and intellectuals
over a specific period as the ancient Indian civilization has done.
Achievements of ancient Indian civilization
compared with those of some Western civilizations in the field of Science,
Technology, Arts and Culture:
It can be appreciated that ‘four
or five millennia of uninterrupted agricultural life in the Indus Region set
the stage for final emergence of a highly developed indigenous civilization by
about 2600BCE’ (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica).
While writing about ancient India,
it is difficult to separate religion from other achievements as spirituality gets
intertwined with them, whether it is within the arts like music, dance and
yoga, or science like mathematics, astronomy, or Ayurveda.
As our focus is on influence of geography
on science and technology, it is relevant to compare the achievements of ancient
Indian civilization with the status in other such civilizations at a particular
time, say, beginning of the Christian era under the following nine different
parameters.
1) Language: Sanskrit. Although Sanskrit is
considered as a “dead language” by some, because it is not being spoken in
daily life, yet, it is used daily in prayers, hymns, Vedic mantras, sacred
literatures, music, etc. Though regional
languages and dialects were used for day to day activities, during spiritual
and technical debates, Sanskrit was used and understood by intellectuals. Sanskrit was a language used in Kings’ courts
and correspondence with foreign countries, much the same way that we use
English today. However, during the
Muslim rule the usage of Sanskrit was almost abandoned. Further in the English rule, learning
Sanskrit in schools was also abandoned leading to the death of a technically
mature language. While Vedic Sanskrit
was the earliest language form in the 2nd millennium BCE, a more
refined version of Sanskrit followed which was used in all the epic scriptures,
Puranas, Shastras, philosophical and scientific
literature, and was a communication link for rishis and yogis. It was also used as a court language by kings. Pāṇini
assigned grammar and systemized the language which has helped it survive through
all the centuries.
Peggy
Holroyde in her ‘An ABC of Indian Culture’ while writing on Sanskrit says “Most
scholarly Englishman, Oxford Graduate Sir William Jones, appointed by Governor
General Warren Hastings (1783-1794), described Sanskrit as ‘more perfect
than Greek, more copious than Latin and more exquisitely refined than either’.
In an era when colonial Europe was globally dominant, subjecting others in
Africa and Asia to its supposedly superior civilization, it had not realized
that in fact Sanskrit was the mother language of the Indo-European System.”
But
decline set in with the rise of Buddhism and Jainism, and the Persian language gained
popularity under the Moghul rule. During the last 3 centuries, due to British
dominance, English drove Sanskrit to the status of an archaic language much like
Latin and Greek in Europe.
2) Script: Devanagari.
Script is an important medium for language to record and communicate a
spoken thought without ambiguity. Letters, alphabets, and characters, each have
a distinct sound, but when grouped together, bring out the spoken word. Language needs script for preservation, dissemination,
and communication of knowledge.
Egyptian
civilization is one of the most ancient. Still they did not evolve their alphabet.
They had several hundred pictographic signs to represent words. It was time consuming,
both to write and read, and the precision was absent.
Ancient Greek
and Romans developed 26 alphabets. Several alphabets are grouped to bring out
the sound of a syllable. Phonetic usage of alphabets is often absent. Sometimes
an alphabet is ‘silent’ depending on usage.
The Devanagari script was evolved in about the 2nd millennium
BCE. It has 56 alphabets, 16 of which
are vowels. It is fully phonetic and nearly all words in the language can be
written. The beauty of the language and its precision is guarded by a grammar
developed by Pāṇini. Amarasimha created Amarakosha, a Sanskrit thesaurus providing vocabulary for
precise usage.
Thus, the
Sanskrit language with Devanagari script is
easy to read and write without ambiguity.
3) Culture:
Tolerance. Hospitality,
courtesy, and respect to the learned such as one’s parents, Gurus, and elders are imbibed deeply in Indian culture. Kindness to animals
is in the nature and ahimsa is a
creed.
For
instance, the cow is held in reverence for its docile nature, providing
nourishing milk and cow dung as covering mud floor and as manure. A cow is never
killed for food.
Also, when
walking and riding bullock-carts were the means of transportation, for
pilgrimage or other ventures, it was customary to welcome a stranger, an unexpected
guest for lunch. A guest was treated as God: ‘Atithi devo bhava.’
Religious
tolerance is a major pleasing cultured behavior.
St. Thomas
the apostle who came with traders established a Christian Syrian orthodox
church in 52AD on the Malabar coast of South India, Christianity was in India
perhaps even before its spread in Europe! Similarly, several groups of Jewish
heritage took refuge in India at various periods, earliest being the 68 AD. A group of Zoroastrians took refuge in a
state near Surat in 7th Century AD and became Parsees. All these people of different religions and cultures
sought refuge and lived amicably following their religion and culture. Muslims
who came as conquerors destroyed temples and killed and converted people to
their religion. Britishers who followed
were able to wipe out old systems in the name of modernization.
Now it is
for the present generation to wake up and salvage the Indian Civilization and
put it back to its past glory. A basic need is, everyone in the country, Hindu,
Muslim, Parsi, Christian or any other creed should feel and proclaim that he is
first an INDIAN and work for its betterment. There
should not be any doubt in loyalty.
Ancient India
in 2nd millennia BCE gave the world the concept of zero and infinity,
the decimal system which revolutionized mathematics, the atom and the universe influencing
both physical science and metaphysical concept of God.
The period between
the 6th century BCE and the 1st century BCE appears to
have been a period of Intellectual exuberance in which a vast body of
works, on topics outside the perview of
faith and religion were composed in the Indian subcontinent. These were
scientific and political works on a host of subjects like politics economy ,
holistic wellness medicine mathematics grammer Drama etc.
These works leaned
heavily on even earlier works and refined and recast into the form of
treatises, shastras and samhitas to
serve as text books for further study and referance through the ages. They were
a culmination of existing knowledge and
served as nucleus for subsequent development. What is amazing is that they find
relevence even in this day It is a
misfortune that almost all original manuscripts are lost, but luckily we have
numerous referances to them down the ages which help us to rebuild them .
To name a few of such historic works.
·
Ayurveda.Medicine and Surgery. Charaka Samhita, based on earlier
works of Agnivesha and Atreya of 6th centuryBCE and Sushruta
Samhita( 6th centuryBCE
·
Holistic Wellness.
Patanjali ‘s Yoga Sutras (2nd CenturyBCE) Science of Asanas
,Pranayama Meditation etc
·
Sanskrit Grammer, and Literature: Panini’s Asthadhyayi (5th-4th
century BCE) Pingala’s works on Chandas shastra.(2nd CenturyBCE)
·
Politics, Statecraft, Economy: Chanakya’s Artha Shastra (4th
Century BCE)
·
Dance Drama and Music :
Bharata Muni’s Natya Shastra (5th century BCE)
4
Medicine: Ayurveda Charaka defines Ayurveda as “the
science of life” not merely of health, as it deals with good and bad life -
happy and unhappy life. Ayurveda,
an
indigenous herbal Indian medicine and surgery, was a part of Atharva Veda and believed in a holistic view of both body and
mind while diagnosing and treating. The Ayurvedic system
emphasizes on prevention of a disease by correcting lifestyle, rather than treating
the ailment.
Sage
Atreya guided Agnivesha to compile a treatise on Ayurveda in 8th
century BC based on prevailing knowledge which was revised and codified in 3rd
century BC by Charaka into the Charaka Samhita
(consisting of 8 parts and 120 chapters). This was used as a standard text for
studying Ayurveda for over 2 millennia and was
translated to many foreign languages including Arabic and Latin.
Sushruta
compiled a similar Sushruta Samhita mainly
for surgery. This was often used for treating injuries sustained during war or
sports. The field of medicine in
ancient India was so advanced that the textbooks written 2500 years back by
Sushruta, mentions 1,120 medical conditions, 700 medicinal plants, 400
surgeries and 121 surgical instruments. (Ref. Age of Literature: The Art
&Science of living -by Aditi Shah)
Ayurveda as systematized and codified by Charaka and
Sushruta is still in use. Even chronic diseases are treated successfully, and a
number of foreigners come to take up this treatment even in present 21st
century. Himalayan Foothills, and the Ghats of southern peninsula abound in
rare herbal treasure, thanks to India’s geographical features. Many medicinal
herbs and tubers are exported for use, supplemented in drug manufacture by
western manufacturers. Ayurvedic pandits
were functioning in every town and village before the introduction of Western
medicines, but with ‘injection pill’ culture, indigenous medicine has faced a
setback. From Vedic times, yoga, meditation, and Pranayama, were in
wide use to enhance mental ability. These have now been popular both in India
and other parts of the world, often as a novelty, forgetting the correct technique,
thereby losing the expected benefits.
5
Performing Arts: Dance, drama,
and music, both traditional and classical rural and folk forms of music had
developed to a high standard in Ancient India. Treatises, codes, and texts have
been developed by saints and rishis from Vedic period
and cultural purity has been maintained while absorbing influences from other
cultures.
For
example, the Natya Shastra, by
Bharata Muni, dates back to 1st millennium BCE. The text consists of
36 chapters and over 6000 verses detailing all aspects of performance arts.
This includes composition, structure of play, the stage, selection of artists, subtleties
of acting and body movements to bring out the 9 Rasas, the Sutradhaara and his sakhi introducing
the story and the purpose to the audience. The purpose of this is not only
entertainment but an added aesthetic enjoyment that transports the audience into
a spiritual experience. Natya Shastra does not
permit the portrayal of death on stage.
Music and
Dance are considered Vedangas or
extension of Vedas. Their
presiding deities are Saraswati and Nataraja. Performances are conducted for entertainment and
also during rituals like marriages, Utsavas, and in temples.
It is traditional to start an auspicious act with music by the ‘Mangala Vadyams’.
India has
developed a wide variety of musical instruments that are stringed, wind,
percussion and cymbals. Some of these are unique like Veena, Tabala, Ghatam, and Brass Cymbals.
6
Architecture: Rock art. Archeological
excavations of ruins of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro have revealed that Indus
Valley had indigenously developed a very high level of urban development in the
mid-3rd millennium BCE.
Ancient Buddhist
stupas and Hindu temples of north west India of the 1st century BC
and earlier have been lost due to vandalism and looting during the Taliban
regime of Afghanistan.
Pre-historic
cave paintings in Bhimbetka in central India date back to the 10th millennium. This
is a stone-age habitation covering over 750 rock shelters over 10 km, showing
the skill and artistry of pre-historic man. The paintings depict themes of
animal-hunting and dancing. This is also classified as a UNESCO World Heritage
site. Similar cave paintings are found in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Odisha.
2
Ajanta
caves in Maharashtra date back to 2nd century BC. These are world-famous
rock-cut caves, also classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They consist
of Buddhist monasteries and worship places carved into rock cliffs and are covered
with vivid mural wall paintings and sculptures. The caves are carved out of basalt
rock on a vertical cliff side. Excavation was begun by cutting a narrow tunnel
at the roof level and expanded down and outwards. Massive pillars were carved
out to support the roof. There was a two-story monastery.
The skill,
ingenuity in planning, the enormity of work involved, the army of rock cutters
and sculptors diligently working in inaccessible places with primitive implements tools, and the
sheer feat of engineering speak to the advanced status of this civilization, which
has managed to sustain and survive to the present day. It is also to be
appreciated that the motivation to these efforts are not self aggrandizement for
an individual’s purpose (as was in the case of Egyptian Pyramids) but a devotion
to God or service to society.
India is
dotted with huge temples with marvelous sculpture, many in ruin, victims of
plunder or religious intolerance.
7
Political Science and Finance: Indian scholars
had made a deep study of various aspects of life as they existed at the time of
their study and also explored aspects that would be relevant even after
centuries. They had laid down rules and norms giving reasons, assumptions, and
explanations.
Chanakya’s
Artha Shastra is one such script. It contains 15
volumes, 150 chapters and over 6000 verses in Sanskrit, covering topics like Governance
of a country, Law, Civil and Criminal Courts, Ethics, Economics, Markets and
Trade, Diplomacy, art of War, nature of peace, Foreign policy and espionage. It
also included the duties and obligations of a King, written as a practical
guide for a king to survive! Chanakya warns the king that the end justifies the
means, and one day you make peace and next day you may be attacked.
8
Measuring Progress
a.
Figure 1Iron
Pillar at Merouli
|
Technology and metallurgy:
Indus Civilization exhibits a wide range of crafts and
technical skills; Occupational specialization was firmly established. Copper and
bronze were principle metals used for making tools and implements like axes,
chisels, knives, arrowheads, and spears in large quantities, both for local
needs and even for export on occasions. They were also used to make cooking
vessels, seals and tablets embossed with animal motifs. Bronze castings of
human and animal figures were made by the lost-wax process. The quality of both
sheet metal and castings were outstanding. Silver, gold, and lead metal work were
frequently used. Ornaments, jewellery inlay work, shells and ivory, soapstone
carving, and terra-cotta figurines were extremely popular for export
Glazed
earthenware with artwork were mainly for trade within the country and for
export to Mesopotamia and Akkadians.
Ironworking was indigenously developed around 12th century BCE.
Apart from introducing iron ploughshare and other implements, an engineering
marvel had been achieved- an Iron Pillar 23’ 8” high and weighing about 3tons.
This iron pillar at Mehrauli Delhi has been resistant to corrosion and has not
rusted over the years even through its exposure to sun, rain, and the current polluted
atmosphere. Figure 2Inscriptions
on Iron Pillar
b.
Agriculture and Animal husbandry: Agricultural
practices like planting seeds in rows, harvesting, threshing, and storing in
granaries had been developed in the Indus valley, by about 7000BCE, thanks to
the fertile soil and abundant availability of water. Wheat and barley cultivation and rearing of
cattle sheep and goats had started. By
5th millennium cotton cultivation had started and by 4th millennium spinning
and weaving had also been evolved. Several wild cereals including rice growing
in Vindhya hills were domesticated and developed indigenously in 7th millennium
and rice farming spread to Ganga valley and delta of Bengal and later to
South-east Asia (Wikipedia History of Agriculture in Asia.) Thus, it can be
concluded that many agricultural practices and verities of crops had originated
in India and spread to south-east Asian countries. Sophisticated irrigation and water storage system
were developed, including artificial reservoirs at Girnar dating back to use
3000BCE. Use of animal drawn plough had been evolved. Deccan plateau was not
far behind in developing their own traditional practices. Western Ghats developed growing of spices
like pepper, cardamom etc. Spices, timber, herbs, and jewelry were exported to
European and Gulf countries by Indian and Arab ships. Sugar cane cultivation
and purifying and crystallizing sugar were developed, China had sent Buddhist
monks in 647CE for learning sugar refining technology. Dung-mounds for manure, was a prevailing
practice.
c.
Progress in Literature: When
we talk of the Heritage of Indian Literature, we cannot overlook Vedas
and Vedanta, being the oldest crystallisation of thought.
As
Peggy Holroyde puts in her ‘An ABC of Indian Culture,’ about Vedas,
“true
Indian view of Life - a glacier of knowledge, assessment after speculation,
insightful flashes of inspiration that gathered material slowly over the
terrain of human thinking in a period that must have stretched for at least
3,000 years, before finally being set down in written text.”
Assuming
that Hinduism had started its decline by the time Buddhism and Jainism came
about, which is about 6th century BCE, and allowing one millennia for Hinduism’s
Golden age, the compilation of Vedas and Upanishads could be put at
the beginning of 2nd
millennium BCE.
This
was followed by a large number of classical Epics like the Ramayana, the
Maha Bharata, the Bhagavad Gita and 18 Puranas and Itihasas
which picturised the philosophy of the Vedas and Upanishads for
the guidance of common man, to follow the path toward observing Sanatana
Dharma. Thus, while Vedas and
Upanishads could be read and understood by intellectuals, the universal Sanatana
Dharma or the way of life was illustrated into stories such as those in the
Epics like Ramayana and Maha Bharata, for the whole society to
follow and imbibed into their daily life. In addition, the epics were
outstanding in their literary value; with poetic beauty and rich cultural
impact, they spread all over India and to countries of Southeast Asia and have
survived to this day. Other art forms like music, dance, sculpture, and painting
have drawn heavily from these literatures.
Katha
Sarit Sagara as the name implies, is a treasure of stories for adults and
children, anecdotes, folk lore collected over centuries by unknown storytellers,
which provided themes for poets to weave dramas and poems. Bhasa, a famous dramatist
several centuries prior to Kalidasa has written dramas using characters from
Katha sarit sagara like Udayana, Vasavadatta, Yaughandarayana. He was one of
the few Indian play-writes who wrote Tragedies
like Urubhanga Karnabharam known for their pathos and characterisations
d. Trade
and commerce: The Indian subcontinent, with its rich varieties
of spices, metal implements jewellery pottery, artifacts and agricultural
products etc. provided a good market for internal trade as well as export to
countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Northern rivers
provided inland waterway, and maritime trade on the coasts of both the Arabian
sea and the Indian Ocean were developed by ports.
Maritime
history of India dates to 3rd millennium BCE. Indus Valley was known
to Mesopotamians as Meluha. Louver Museum in Paris houses a Akkadian Cylinder
seal of about 4300 years back showing a Meluhhan tradesman with Mesopotamians, indicating
that trade existed between Mesopotamia and Lothal port (in present day Gujarat). Ruins of Lothal indicate a wharf, Warehouses,
and a flourishing trade centre. A Roman Historian mentions that in 26BCE he saw
120 ships ready to leave for India at Red Sea port of Myso Horomos (Indian
Maritime History – Wikipedia) other ports of India in Ancient
Times are Muziris, Poompuhar Pattanam, Baruch, Arikamedu, and Tuticorin.
9
Sustainability: How sustainable is this civilization – is it
susceptible to decline and vanish or resilient and survive.
World
has seen a number of civilizations which have outshined for a short period,
excelling in a few fields, but ultimately faded into oblivion .This could be
due to Natural causes as in the case of Mesopotamia, where rivers flooding of fields and lack of
drainage causing salt incrustation and decrease of fertility of soil. In the
case of Egypt, it was weak administration, which could not retain its cultural
identity and withstand the cultural impact of Roman, Persian, Christian and
Muslim cultures. Roman civilization crumbled
due to life of over-indulgence and dependence on slave-labor.
In the
case of Indian civilization, though it has fallen from past glory, a
resurrection like Phoenix is possible as cultural values imbibed over centuries
lay dormant and could be awakened and unity in diversity consciously practiced.
An analogy is: All the fingers in the hand are different from each other, yet
they all act together in times of need. There
is also a need for deep introspection of our old practices and attitudes and
revising our Smriti discarding outmoded beliefs and practices. Dadabhoy Naoroji
had said a century back, ‘Whether I am a Hindu, Mohammedan, Parsi, Christian or
of any creed, I am above all an INDIAN and my country is India ‘There is a
basic need for everyone to feel and proclaim that he is First an Indian and
this is his country. There should not be
any doubtful loyalty. WE should keep in mind the concept of ‘Vasudha eva
Kutumbakam’ and try to introduce it as a global concept.
Above
narrative briefly indicates that
·
the unique geographical features
of India played a major factor in the creation of a highly mature civilization
in ancient times. The features primarily provided the ideal environment for a
large number of intellectuals, thinkers and Maharishis to devote
uninterrupted time both, in the spiritual field and other various aspects
needed for a civilization to flourish. There are hardly any places in the world
that can claim a similar condition
·
A
mature world religion which teaches humans how to live in harmony for a
better society.
·
A
large group of Intellectuals and sages who, over a period of several
centuries have given to society, treatises on various aspects of civilization with
such a sound base, that the civilization can withstand any pressures of foreign
invasions, or religious intrusions
As Peggy Holroyde commenting on the Indian Rishis writes at
the end of her book ‘An
ABC of Indian Culture’
How very modern at the level of its
philosophical view, and how very contemporary in embracing what we would call
‘scientific exploration’ is the entire basis laid by India’s incisive thinkers…
and that too so very long ago. With not
even rudimentary technology, let alone our advanced electron microscopes etc.,
how then did those rishis of such antiquity come to understand the immensity
“out there” and “within” the mind of consciousness? I think, with concentration, meditation, and
keenness of thinking, the rishis could solve problems, spiritual or scientific,
and arrive at ‘Knowledge’ even in the absence of aids like tools or labs.
*******
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