PHILOSOPHERS OF INDIA AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO OUR CULTURE
1. The Indian Philosophy has three categories of enquiry- Jiva, Jagat and Jagadisvara or prkriti, purusa and parameswara. Enquiry into their relationship is Philosophy.
Culture has three facets of refinement--the physical, the mental and the spiritual sometimes called phenomenal or noumenal.
2. Culture or the attitude of mind towards refinement in material, mental and spiritual facets, has to be persistent in time, shaping its expression in a) social b) intellectual c) emotional and d) aesthetic outlook.
3. Culture can be viewed in five distinct periods of history: 1) from beginning up to 1000 A.D., which may be called a period of expansion, 2) 1000 A.D. to 1300 A.D., a period of resistance, 3) 1300 A.D. to 1700 A.D., a period of syncretism, 4) 1700-1947 A.D., a period of Renaissance and 5) 1947 A.D. onwards a period of adjustment and assimilation. This last period marks progress in our contacts with the European, Asian, Africans and America.
Philosophy gave us the regulatory principle-
Brahma satyam Jaganmithya Jivo Brahmaiva naparah
4. The Absolute is beyond time and space and infinite that is indivisible. Generally the Brahman is attributed with the three attributes sat, cit and Ananda, sat is existence, chit is consciousness and Ananda is bliss. If he is sat how could the Brahman be all prevasive? True this sat is not a qualifying adjunct making exclusiveness as when we say a dog we mean not any other animal and when we say a black dog we mean even in the dog class this animal is different. Thus it is just a pointer like a road- guide stating this road leads to so and so town. In Sanskrit we call it Sakha candravat if one has to point to the moon he advises the seeker to see the branch of the three which stands at an angle giving direct sight of the moon. It serves the purpose or to give an exact example when one asks for house, we guide to the spot where a black dog is standing and by the time the enquirer reaches the spot the dog has moved away. But the purpose of locating the house is served.
5. Now what is Satya? Satya is truth but in the context of the Brahman we say eternal, perpetual. Satya has two distinctive characteristics a) be and being or becoming and 2) Integrity i.e. the basic quality of the thing-in-itself is possessed.
6. Philosophers are split over the concept of Nitya or permanency. The concept of changelessness is accepted by both the schools but in the shade of manifestation the two groups differ a) the first group believes that changeless is absolutely changeless in time, space and matter. The example given is that of the Himalaya and call this variety as the Kutastha, b) the second group agrees to the concept of changelessness but adds that the outer exterior or the surface changes the essence does not change like a man who as a toddlers, child, adult, youth and old or his body apparently changes is the same. In the worldly example also we say that this is the same cycle that my father purchased though each and every part of it is changed. The example normally given in the sastras is the river Ganges. Every drop of water every minute flows into the Bay of Bengal but still the river is permanent and called a Jivanadi. This type of permanency where the outer surface is changing but not the integral foundation is called Pravahi nitya.
Indian culture is changingly changeless.
7. The most essential principle of running matter in Indian Philosophy is:
1. The Indian Philosophy has three categories of enquiry- Jiva, Jagat and Jagadisvara or prkriti, purusa and parameswara. Enquiry into their relationship is Philosophy.
Culture has three facets of refinement--the physical, the mental and the spiritual sometimes called phenomenal or noumenal.
2. Culture or the attitude of mind towards refinement in material, mental and spiritual facets, has to be persistent in time, shaping its expression in a) social b) intellectual c) emotional and d) aesthetic outlook.
3. Culture can be viewed in five distinct periods of history: 1) from beginning up to 1000 A.D., which may be called a period of expansion, 2) 1000 A.D. to 1300 A.D., a period of resistance, 3) 1300 A.D. to 1700 A.D., a period of syncretism, 4) 1700-1947 A.D., a period of Renaissance and 5) 1947 A.D. onwards a period of adjustment and assimilation. This last period marks progress in our contacts with the European, Asian, Africans and America.
Philosophy gave us the regulatory principle-
Brahma satyam Jaganmithya Jivo Brahmaiva naparah
4. The Absolute is beyond time and space and infinite that is indivisible. Generally the Brahman is attributed with the three attributes sat, cit and Ananda, sat is existence, chit is consciousness and Ananda is bliss. If he is sat how could the Brahman be all prevasive? True this sat is not a qualifying adjunct making exclusiveness as when we say a dog we mean not any other animal and when we say a black dog we mean even in the dog class this animal is different. Thus it is just a pointer like a road- guide stating this road leads to so and so town. In Sanskrit we call it Sakha candravat if one has to point to the moon he advises the seeker to see the branch of the three which stands at an angle giving direct sight of the moon. It serves the purpose or to give an exact example when one asks for house, we guide to the spot where a black dog is standing and by the time the enquirer reaches the spot the dog has moved away. But the purpose of locating the house is served.
5. Now what is Satya? Satya is truth but in the context of the Brahman we say eternal, perpetual. Satya has two distinctive characteristics a) be and being or becoming and 2) Integrity i.e. the basic quality of the thing-in-itself is possessed.
6. Philosophers are split over the concept of Nitya or permanency. The concept of changelessness is accepted by both the schools but in the shade of manifestation the two groups differ a) the first group believes that changeless is absolutely changeless in time, space and matter. The example given is that of the Himalaya and call this variety as the Kutastha, b) the second group agrees to the concept of changelessness but adds that the outer exterior or the surface changes the essence does not change like a man who as a toddlers, child, adult, youth and old or his body apparently changes is the same. In the worldly example also we say that this is the same cycle that my father purchased though each and every part of it is changed. The example normally given in the sastras is the river Ganges. Every drop of water every minute flows into the Bay of Bengal but still the river is permanent and called a Jivanadi. This type of permanency where the outer surface is changing but not the integral foundation is called Pravahi nitya.
Indian culture is changingly changeless.
7. The most essential principle of running matter in Indian Philosophy is:
A Monkey instead of anchoring at a trunk but thinks to catch a small branch, by the time he completes his jump the branch has been blown by a fast running wind and unable to catch. Therefore the monkey falls.
The second component is Jaganmithya, the universe is illusory.
The qualities are limited to the sphere of time and space. The concept of timeless time is not applicable to the Nature or prakriti from its indeterminate stage Avyaktavastha it transference into determinate or Vyaktavastha. The State when the five elements earth, water, fire, wind and space become separate from their nebulous indeterminate state.
8. Jagat is mithya in the sense that it changes every moment and ultimately dissolves into the substratum that is Brahman. It is suffering from limitation of names, form, class, attribute and moving action the manifestation of change and exclusiveness. Another attribute that is expected is Trikalabadhita uncontradicted in time past, present or future.
9. The question of contradiction is deceptive. We see a snake that is in reality a piece of rope or we see a trunk of a tree and take it to be a human being. The after-effects we experience are true like fear in seeing even the illusory snake. The explanation is the contradiction in its longevity. An illusion is knowledge but is contradicted as soon as we realise that it is not a snake but a piece of rope but the world is contradicted not immediately but when we reach a different level of consciousness. As in dream state we see we have become old or we have reached far-off lands like Japan or USA the fact is we have not moved out of our bed. The dimension of our consciousness is different in our dream-state and waking-state therefore, though true, for the dreaming state it is not true for the waking stage. In this case of illusion we have blend of dual knowledge true knowledge of rope and the superimposed knowledge of snake and they are so blended that on the spur of movement we are unable to peel off the illusion superimposed there on.
10. Now, having given two concepts- 1) Perpetual eternality 2) illusion of the dream state and the worldly state and their difference and now I proceed to the third concept of identity Jivo Brahmaiva napara. There are normally three concepts Sarupa, Samanya and Ananya analogous, sameness and identical. In this sense the meaning is identical and I do not want to enter into dialectics, since all the schools of Philosophy concur on the base.
11. Now having detailed the bases of permanency absolute or longer life as a basis of value we proceed to the contribution of philosophy for the culture of India. When we speak of permanency of fundamental basics of India and the basis of adaptation of changes that are secondary.
12. The Philosophy guides the culture to adopt such changes or adjustments that are superficial and exterior and do not form an inherent part.
Culture is manifestation of collective consciousness of a group preserved from generation to generation. The fields. of manifestation are a) social b) intellectual c) emotional and d) aesthetics.
13. As regards the social structure the Rgveda says
The four castes or the division of caturvarnya as reflected here is as per professions needed for the society.
14. The reservation of the professions, vocations and occupations was perfect.
15. The anatomical geography does not make a limb, a lesser part of the organic whole, since even small scratch on the feet whole body feels the pain.
As any body else in the society a Brahmin should also possess a cow. As a living animal the cow must die. Who will remove the dead body of the cow? Can a Brahmin do it? He is not permitted to do it. caste reservation.
16. Till yesterday when maternity centres were not established, delivery of a child in the house of a Brahmin was done by whom? The postnatal scavenging work was done by the squalid- remover who is assistant to the midwife who belongs to the lowest class. Dependence of the higher class on lower class is far greater than the lower class on the higher class particularly on essential services. A Brahmin's service is needed by ignored.
17. The term Padaja is often used to the people of the lower castes. Lower does not mean lower in rank. They have the same divine spark in them that a saint has as the Gita says.
18. The confusion in caste system has been created by the presence of people who once were casteless. The Parathions, the Scythians, the Greeks, the Huns who came to India and could not compete were relegated to the category of the casteless which we call the pancama. The meaning of the term pancama is only fifth and nothing else. The surname of the present Chancellor of the Vidyapitha is Panchanmukhi and nobody will mean that he is the head of the Pancama lowest caste. Panchama at the most may mean the list or the fifth list and not the lowest caste.
19. Indian Society has excommunicated many Anulomas and pratilomas who were unable to elevate themselves because they were fallen and cannot be retrieved.
20. India accepted and honoured the right of every body to live. Sanctity of human life was more sacred to the society than the heinous and sinful actions of the individual. He was allowed to live but not be an active member of the society.
In Gita Govinda Radha asks her Lover Krishna to Press her throbbing breasts by pressing them with his feet and not by hand.
21. Padapuja of the i.e. senior most member of the society on social functions is a custom. Sri Padarenu is the most coveted thing in the temple Prasad. Therefore, meaning Pada the most sacred part of the body to display one's reverence to mean contempt is not what the term means. Material culture was cent percent in the hands of the people of lower caste. They were the manufacturing class. True, manufacturing class and the consuming class can be on the same level. Otherwise the users of the manufactured goods may not be able to use them.
22. While range of books in useful arts, performing arts and plastic arts in Sanskrit of course as the world would like to believe, were written by Sanskrit Pundits by they were not the masons- carpenters, stone -cutters music singers or drum-players not even a stage-actors. As a matter of fact Manu has ordained that only sudras can practice the arts. Even the knowledge has been classed as Jnani and vidya the knowledge pertaining to emancipation is a Jnana as Brahmjnana and others pertaining to silpa or arts is Vidya. Vaidya Vidya, Sangita Vidya, Vastu Vidya even the knowledge regarding Tantric subjects is called Tantra Vidya or Srividya. Mokse dhi jnanam aynatra vidya silpa sastryoh.
23. Vedas mention more than 254 varieties of weapons. Ramayana states about Puspakavimana and a manuscript of Brahat Viman Sastra is published recently. The manuscript is written by some ancient Bharadvaja, the mythical seer.
24. Not only we had developed agriculture we had the full knowledge of iron and other metals and full knowledge of melting, smelting and turning them into implements. Gold and other metals were known even in the Vedic age. Earliest smritis prohibit stealing of iron as also of gold. Women liked ornaments and more than 14 types of ornaments for different parts of the body are known in the Vedic literature. We could fore east weather by seeing the colour of the sky or the speed of the wind. By Ramayana age we had full knowledge of the different kinds of wounds and how to cure them. Utensils of various sizes, forms and shapes were made and measurement of gold and other precious metals was known as also testing the purity by blowing. Rocks they could cut to their size horizontally and vertically and recognize as masculine, feminine and neuter to carve idols male in masculine, female in feminine rocks.
25. Any number of things of useful and utilitarian value were being made. Bamboo craft being most prominent.
26. In social structure family was the most important. Concept of compatibility and mismatch was known. What features prominently visible in a girl would make her a successful wife was common knowledge. Women were held in great respect as a container and carrier of race. As a feminine duty not only she did retain the semen drop but also nursed and cared till the foetus gets life and distributed symmetrically all the upper and lower limbs. She has to undergo many rites during the period of pregnancy and has to adjust herself to the special type of life she has to undergo during the period she is in the family way because she is carrying in her womb a link with the future an extension of the family propagation child rearing, breast feeding carrying with greatest attention during the infancy is her special duty. All this she has to tolerate because of family besides her normal duties.
27. Gotra system is another hardship. She comes from a different family and the Hindu marriage being indissoluble she has to undergo all types of physical and mental anxieties and difficulties because she has to keep balance between the membership of the joint family, wifehood and motherhood.
28. Joint family is another speciality of the Hindu social structure. Life of a woman in Joint family is not easy and cozy since she has to face tensions of many hues and varied colours and dimensions. She has to be a teacher and guide of the family in aspects which the society values. Traditional values have to be learnt besides family customs.
29. A widow in a family is almost dehumanised today where respect for the old parents is diminishing, particularly the widow mother who does not have any substantial claim over the family income and assets.
30. Breaking up of the joint family system is not to solution. The insurance and the security joint family system upheld are missing in the nucleus family Crimes are increasing because the affection which was throughout presents in the family because of some new born child and infants and toddlers is nowhere and there is none to whom it could be bestowed upon Division of ancestral property has made people to migrate and plant themselves in the slums of some towns or cities where human being live like inanimate objects or animated machines. They cannot enjoy the relaxed moments which they had in their country home in the joint family that permissibility which was so thin and delicate could enkindle the whole personality but in the cities human feeling has evaporated. The Mother and the mother land are more precious than the heaven. Nothing like one's own house and one's own fields. Bhu sukta in the Rgveda calls the fields as her mother. Kalidas excels in describing. Nature and detailing not only the blossoming flowers but the ashram trees also made some presents to Sakuntala while she was proceeding to her husband's house for the First time. Emotional sameness of the Nature with the human nature was a new concept of oneness of the universe. That all pervading Nature is demonstrated. On seeing a young and beautiful wife sitting on the corpse of her husband on the fire the poet said the fire had shied away and withdrew all its heat but during the time the fire good could withdraw all its heat she melted in love heat.
31. Mahabharata says human being is the highest value. He is not Asian or European he is not a worker or a banker. He is man. Life is the highest value. Reverence life, ahimsa emerged as the fundamental principle from the pre-Christian period of Ashoka to the latest period of Mahatma Gandhi. Ahimsa has a special significance for the Buddhism and the Jainism. In Hinduism also it has a very special status.
32. Other institutions evolved by Hinduism is Temple institution, the maths monasteries are attached to it. Moral precepts are taught and propagated Legal institutions are based on ethics the King's special duty was to enforce the smriti institutes.
33. Welfare economy: Indian Philosophy directs to curb all desires erotic or economic, grabbing land or looting a Bank. Do not desire such thing that are not useful towards attainments of Moksha or liberation.
34. State in India was monarchical in style but the king was always assisted by a council of wise ministers. The gram sabhas were managing the state affairs. Sometimes the monarch was also elected. In spite of his election he was called the king. The sixth of his produce was the tax one has to pay to the state.
35. Thus Indian Philosophy gives an integrated outlook not to view things, events and situations in isolated parts but as a whole. This habit alone can give the human being a formula to weigh each option and take a decision.
36. Man will continue to seek a constant interpretation of the universe. This is a continuous process and shall continue.
Religion is supporting that interpretation and revitalising it by accommodating the same into religious thinking.
