When we look around, we see that modern systems - economic, social, technological, educational, health, governance etc. - appear to inexorably lead towards crises in individual lives and in society at large. The rise of individualism, which is central to
modernity, along with associated "ideas" like freedom, rights and equality, pushes us towards comparison and competition and converts every want into a need. This has deeply disrupted Indian families and society. The problems of modernity which are faced by everyone across the unipolar world of western liberalism gets aggravated in India because of the festering wounds inflicted by the brutal Islamic and British rule we endured over centuries. During the Islamic rule we were terrorized, which was further compounded with a sense of shame during the British rule. As a people we, perhaps, need to derive strength and wisdom from our still surviving civilizational roots and to heal our wounded collective psyche.
You will find here an overview, blog posts and resources about Bharatiyata in the context of modernity.
We unquestioningly believe everything that we are told when young. Many false ideas lodge in our minds because of this conditioning, but to dislodge a wrong idea from our heads takes a lot of convincing. The topics (Ganita, Vigyan, Shiksha etc.) are chosen to clear our misconceptions through:
a. Presenting the correct version of things that you were told lies about in your educational journey.
b. Presenting information that may be new to you and which can help you see things in the correct perspective.
(As an example, the Angus Maddison graph under the topic on Arthashastra shows that India and China were the richest countries in the world for 18 centuries. Isn’t it strange that you can get educated in India and be completely unaware of this?)
Browse through the topics under this section to learn more...
Ganita (Equivalent modern subject: Mathematics)
Vigyaan (Equivalent modern subject: Science and Technology)
Shiksha (Equivalent modern subject: Education)
Arthashastra (Equivalent modern subject: Economics)
Itihaas (Equivalent modern subject: History)
Sangeet/Nritya/Kala (Equivalent modern subject: Music/ dance/ Art)
Karigari (Equivalent modern subject: Craftsmanship)
Nirmiti (Equivalent modern subject: Infrastructure)
Ayurveda (Equivalent modern subject: Medicine)
Krishi Vigyan (Equivalent modern subject: Agriculture)
Soundarya drishti (Equivalent modern subject: Aesthetics)
Akharas (Equivalent modern subject: Sports)
A weekly blog on Bharatiyata, modernity and education where a new post is put up every Monday is available at:
http://blog.sidhsri.org
Some of the relevant posts on Bharatiyata :
Education in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition (Samdhong Rinpoche)
Sahajta aur samarthya: Ravindra Sharma
Gently reminding us of who we are: Dharampal
The towering genius: Ananda Coomaraswamy
A radical spokesman of tradition: AK Saran
Shaking us awake: SN Balagangadhara
A mathematical genius: CK Raju
The cheerful Pandit: Kapil Kapoor
The history of Bharatvarsha: Rabindranath Tagore
The Renaissance in India (Sri Aurobindo)
On Education: J Krishnamurti
Hind Swaraj: MK Gandhi
The following is a list of articles and books that go into more depth and highlight various
aspects of Bharatiyata. Please click on the links to read:
M.K. Gandhi: Hind swaraj
Dharampal: Collected Writings
Volume I: Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century - Introduction
Volume II: Civil disobedience in Indian tradition - Introduction
Volume III: The Beautiful Tree - Introduction
Volume IV: Panchayat raj and India's polity - An Exploration into the Proceedings of the Constituent Assembly
Volume V: Essays on tradition recovery and freedom - Bharatiya chitta, manas and kala
Sri Aurobindo:
Book 1 - A preface on national education
Book 2 - Perfection of the body
Book 3 - The training of the logical faculty
Book 4 - The training of the mental faculties
Book 5 - The training of the senses
Ananda Coomaraswamy:
Book 1 - What has India contributed to human welfare
Book 2 - Indian nationality
Book 3 - The influence of modern Europe on Indian art
Book 4 - Education in India
Book 5 - Memory in education
Book 6 - Swadeshi
Book 7 - Music and education in India
Rabindranath Tagore: The history of Bharatvarsha