Text 11094 (200 lines) From: link: (Bhakta) Vasu Murty Date: 10-Jul-94 18:00 SST To: Philosophical Exchange [67] Subject: "Aryatarangini" -- A History of the Aryan People ------------------------------------------------------------ A. Kalyanaraman presents a detailed account of Indian history from a Hindu perspective in his two-volume work "Aryatarangini" -- a history of the Aryan people. While the term "Aryan" has been misused by racists and anti-semites, it merely means "advanced." The word refers to a people who cultivate godly qualities. Today we find the industrialized West designated "advanced," while many Third World nations are considered "backwards." What constitutes advancement? According to Manu: "He alone is an Aryan who sticks to his long-established code of conduct and does not deviate therefrom." "India was the motherland of our race and Sanskrit the mother of European languages," wrote American scholar Will Durant in "Our Oriental Heritage." "She was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother of the ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self- government and democracy. Mother India, in many ways, is the mother of us all." Kalyanaraman supports Durant's observations by citing evidence from the Vedas, as well as the testimony of Megasthenes. Megasthenes journeyed from the Greco-Roman world to India during the 3rd century BC. He served as an ambassador to the court of Chandragupta, where he had been sent by the king of Taxila. Kalyanaraman finds a great deal of political freedom and equality in ancient India, where social mobility was acknowledged. The Vedas describe numerous sages who were of low birth, but were considered by their virtue to have been raised to the highest status. The Greek Megasthenes observed: "The law ordains that none among them under any circumstances be a slave; enjoying freedom, they shall expect the equal right to it which others possess...All Indians are free and not one of them is a slave. The Indians do not even use aliens as slaves; much less a countryman of their own." The earliest moral and legal codes (Dharma-sastras and Niti-sastras) originated in India, as did the earliest representative institutions (Sabha and Parishad). A Western text, "India: Yesterday and Today", also reports that "the four orders...of Hindu society...were classes in the Western sense rather than castes in the Indian manner." Long before Columbus' era, India had a reputation for its opulence. "The part of India known as Malabar," wrote Marco Polo, "was the richest and noblest country in the world." Kalyanaraman writes that Egypt traded ivory, precious stones, gold and sandalwood with India, while Rome traded Indian spices--mostly cinammon and cassia. The Puranas mention sandalwood from Malaysia, and the Mahabharata compares women from the Mediterranean to the goddesses of higher worlds. The Rig Veda refers to metallurgy. The Vedas refer to mining iron ore, copper, brass and bronze. By the 6th century AD, India was far ahead of Europe in in industrial chemistry. The Hindus were expert in calcination, distillation, sublimation, steaming, making anaesthetics, soporific powders, metallic salts, compounds and alloys. India was producing steel during the time of Alexander the Great. Centuries later, steel would be introduced to Europe by the Muslims. The Vedas mention herbal medicines. They also discuss various afflictions and symptoms, and prescribe cures, depending upon whether the disease is chronic and acute, and contagious or non-contagious. Jivaka (6th century BC) was adept at surgical operations such as trepanning of the skull, abdominal openings to cure hernia, etc... Panini's classical work on grammar, the "Ashtaadhyaani", contains a comprehensive list of parts of the body (human anatomy) as well as rare and common diseases. He further describes ligaments, sutres, lmphatics, nerve plexus, adipose and vascular tissues, mucous and synovial membranes with astonishing accuracy. Susruta dealt with surgery, obstetrics, dieting, baths, drugs, infant feeding, personal hygiene and medicinal education. He also understood the process of digestion and the functions of the stomach and liver. The Laws of Manu warn against marrying someone with tuberculosis, epilepsy and chronic dyspepsia. A remarkably accurate account of prenatal human development--from fertilization to birth-- is given in Srimad-Bhagavatam. Bhavamisra, in 1550, detailed the circulation of blood in a book written on anatomy and physiology, a century before the West. Susruta described cataract surgery, hernia, caeserian section, the dissection of cadavers and the use of skin grafts to repare a torn ear. Rhinoplasty (fixing a broken nose) was a common practice. A drug called "sammohini" was used as an anaesthetic. Ancient Indians were experts in plastic surgery until the 18th century, when the West finally caught up. The Indians knew the importance of taking a pulse. They were aware that mosquito bites transmit diseases as far back as the 6th century BC. In 261 BC, the emperor Ashoka gave up waging war in favor of peace. He converted to Buddhism in what H.G. Wells called one of the greatest moments of world history. Ashoka established some of the first animal rights laws and provided free health care to humans and animals. Veterinary medicine soon became commonplace. Square roots, cube roots, and the "Pythagorean" theorem are mentioned in the Sulbha Sutras of Bodhayana (700 BC). Bodhayana also calculated pi = 3.14136 when measuring and constructing altars. Aryabhata (5th century AD), drew up a table of sines and provided India with a system of trigonometry more sophisticated than that of the Greeks. Ancient mathematical texts such as the Jyotisha Vedanga dealt with geometry, fractions, quadratic and cubic equations, algebra, permutations and combinations. In the West, we have been taught to call our base-ten numerical system (which replaced Roman numerals) "Arabic numbers." India gave the world the base-ten numerical sysem, our modern numerical script, and the concept of zero as a placeholder and a numerically recorded quantity. Indian mathematics came to the West through the Arabs. The Arabs called mathematics "Hindisat," or Indian art. Before Newton, Bhaskara (1150 AD) was well-acquainted with the principles of differential calculus and the concept of infinity. Astronomers such as Vachaspati (800 AD) anticipated the foundations of solid coordinate geometry centuries before Descartes. They also explained the movement of celestial bodies in terms of the earth's rotation and motion about the sun. Charaka, a physician from the 7th century BC, described the wave motion of light, had a calendar of 12 lunar months and classified stars into zodiacal constellations. India had rockets in the late 18th century: they were used in miltary battles against the British. This generated interest in rocket technology in England. The Indian people build "iron forts and thousand pillared halls" and were described by observers as adorning themselves in silk, wool, linen and cotton. For thousands of years, India has enjoyed music, orchestral bands, dance, song, stage acting, and all the other fine arts. A. Kalyanaraman writes that in comparison to other parts of the world, slavery was virtually nonexistent. There did exist various forms of indentured servitude, but none as brutal as in the West. He further insists that the whole of Southeast Asia received most of its culture from India. The famous Angkor Wat in Cambodia (a Buddhist shrine) used to be a Vishnu temple. Indian philosophy and metaphysics can be found in the teachings of Pythagoras, Plato, Plotinus, Emerson, Thoreau, and Schopenhauer. India's real treasure is her spiritual heritage. "What extracts from the Vedas I have read fall on me like the light of a higher and purer stratum," wrote Henry David Thoreau. "The religion and philosophy of the Hebrews are those of a wilder and ruder tribe, wanting the civility and intellectual refinements and subtlety of Vedic culture." Some Christian theologians have even gone on record as calling the Vaishnava tradition a "religion of grace," comparable to Christianity, and not a religion of "works." One of the most renowned religious thinkers of this century was a German scholar named Rudolf Otto (1869 - 1937), recognized for his book, "The Idea of the Holy." Otto was especially concerned with the Vaishnava faith as a competitor to Christianity. A competitor, Otto explained, would make a claim to be equal or even superior to Christianity, and would have a well- founded basis on which to make that claim. Otto wrote of "India's religion of grace," or "bhakti-religion," as the principal competitor to Christianity. He discussed this at length in his book, "India's Religion of Grace and Christianity Compared and Contrasted." He wrote: "In this Indian bhakti-religion there is presented, without doubt, a real, saving God, believed, received, and --can we doubt it? -- experienced. And this is just why this religion appears to me to have been, and to be today, the most astonishing 'competitor' to be taken most seriously. "Here we are dealing with a *genuine religion* and *religion of experience*," Otto explained. "Religion here is no mere fringe sentiment furnishing a border to the rest of our life, but is conceived as the true meaning of life itself." Otto devoted a good portion of this book to demonstrating and appreciating the numerous similarities between Vaishnavaims and Christianity. For centuries, under the influence of colonial rule, we Hindus have been taught that everything Western is good, while everything Indian is inferior. It's important we make people aware that we are in every way equal to the West--including religion. Srila Prabhupada said India's spiritual heritage can save the world. Your servant, Vasu Murty 30 Villanova Lane Oakland, CA 94611 (510) 339-8155 (Text 11094) -----------------------------------------------