Why Indian Knowledge Systems for Global Futures Part 1

भद्रायां सुमतौ यतेम | ऋग्वेद (६।१।१०) [Let us strive for the wisdom that leads to the welfare of all]

There is a global meta crisis and the world is looking at healthier alternatives to loneliness, depression, violence, Big Tech, Big Pharma, and how not to be made redundant by AI. But, we in India are proud parents to something called the Indian Knowledge Systems or IKS, which does exactly that, and more. For eons our ancestors have thought about not just the existential and spiritual questions for humankind, gifting the world with Yoga and Ayurveda, but they have also pondered deep into how not to over consume, how to keep our planet green, how to pass on ethics and know-how to the next generation by delving deep into science, arts and crafts. And they managed to do this with great attention to beauty. This was both theory and application, both shreyas and preyas. The sacred and the sensual were never divorced from one another. IKS fulfills our four human goals or purusharthas in a harmonious manner so as to not harm the universe. Let us explore this world then, all that it offers to us and what people have to say about it.

The Global Meta-Crisis

Today we stand in between two distinct worldviews: the collective and the individual. Leaders in public policy call this a multi-crisis where the individual is facing an endemic of loneliness and emptiness which is in turn fuelled by a culture of constant need for stimulation, a moral sanctioning of indulgence, and a complete disregard for the macro-cosmos within which we are situated.

Even as phone screens are connecting people virtually, a crisis of stress, depression and anxiety is increasing globally. In India, statistics tell us that almost 50 million have either depression or crippling anxiety.

The situation we find ourselves in presently, is a consequence of structures that place human desire and will above all else and seek to displace the human mind from the tradition and cultural context that provides it the stability and freedom that it seeks.

For India, which essentially has had a distinct metaphysics and long-standing cultural praxis, it is the burden of coloniality and continued apathy towards our knowledge traditions for a long time that has cut us off from accessing them and growing to ape the Western world.

However, we are also witnessing a parallel shift both within Bhārata and elsewhere. A part of us is awakening to the reality that there is a chasm between what has percolated into our educational and political institutions and what has authentically developed as an integral part of bhāratīya civilization.

Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) to the Rescue

In one of their reports, the World Bank says that the jobs of the future will require students to be able to interpret information, form opinions, be creative, communicate well, collaborate and be resilient. How can IKS fill the gap? The greatest gift that a young person can bring to the table is a sound, creative mind. Which is exactly what IKS does, it helps an individual to develop a sound and creative mind; via the praxis of vrata-saadhana-utsava - inbuilt cultural mechanisms for regular sensory and mental regulation and refinement of internal subjectivity, by anviksiki - rigorous intellectual training that allows self-reflexivity and one’s thoughts, words and deeds to be on the path of dharma. Through generative understanding of human mind and behavior and the inter-disciplinary and integral nature of exploration of knowledge systems. It does this with its quest for knowledge anchored in ethics along with positive collective feedback loops. There are pathways for integral well-being and attaining deeper states of joy. There is emphasis on the cultivation of aesthetic, socio-cultural, psychological, political and spiritual intelligences through the study of shastras such as natyashastra, tarkashastra, yogasutras, ashtyadhyayi, itihasa-purana etc.

The term jñāna denotes a state of unbounded joy attained through embodied knowledge of sat. It is a state where our intellect is immersed in the ultimate state of happiness. In bhārata therefore, knowledge is not only the source of skills and material abundance but has primarily been considered the greatest purifier of one's consciousness.

Knowledge as the Highest Goal

Our shastras are filled with such examples - of reflection, contemplation, of deep diving into the reality of human consciousness. We are a people who celebrate guru poornima, adore Sarasvati and chant the Medha sooktam. One of our sixteen samskaras includes vidyarambham as well as upanayanam. In short our culture revolves around knowledge - seeking, gaining, disseminating it. Our civilization gave it the highest place, our highest goal was knowing the Self. Knowing which surprisingly all else is indeed known.

Indian Knowledge Systems are Bharata’s best practices; some lost, some that survive, despite various attempts at murder by Islamic and Christian colonization, that are universal, pluralist, and rooted in joy.

These include our philosophies, systems of yoga, grammar, language, logic, debate, poetics, aesthetics, cosmology, mythology, ethics, literature of all genres from poetry to historical tradition, performing and non-performing arts, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, chemistry, metallurgy, botany, zoology, geology, medical systems, governance, administration, water management, town planning, civil engineering, ship making, agriculture, polity, martial arts and more.

Learning of the above and keeping it alive was a decentralized, self-organizing, self-perpetuating, societal structure for thousands of years. This was made possible via chants, songs, stories, drama and other oral traditions across the length and breadth of bhaaratadaesha.  Our knowledge of ourselves, including history and literature was transmitted seamlessly in this manner.

The magic of the IKS systems is such that most of it is alive even today, thousands of years later! These systems and their applications were responsible for India’s prosperity until the 18th century. C.E. India, as we know, was the leading economy worldwide along with China until then. Naganika’s inscription at Naneghat, Kharavela’s inscription at Hathigumpha, the Prayaga Prashasti and many such inscriptions, all document the social realities of their times and give us proof of our prosperity.

The highly abstract and conceptual knowledge from; the Vedas, upavedas, shad-darshanas, shad-angas, smrtis, agamas,  dharmashaastra, nyayashastra, tantrashastra, that which is applicable in daily life, has been condensed, codified, and presented in a relatable manner for the general public via itihasa and puranas. Upanishads have the various bhashyas, as auxiliary and secondary texts to assist in comprehending them in the correct manner as they are meant to.

IKS is a wholesome top-down model that looks at the big picture - where the empirical and the transcendent are both covered before going into individual idiosyncrasies, giving it a strong foundation. It explains the non-material world too and helps us access it. Unlike the Western knowledge systems which are bottom-up are more structured but start with the individual and unfortunately cannot comprehend the whole collectively.  The focus on matter and the material world is eliminative  and exclusive. It makes it impossible to be holistic.

Authored by Kavita Krishna Meegama. Published by Brhat.