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The sources for astronomical knowledge are the Jyotish-Vedanga
(500BC) and the Panchasiddhantas, of which, the Suryasiddhanta (Varahamihira,
578 AD) has had a major influence on Indian astronomical
tradition. Similarly, the postulation of atomism in the
Nyaya-Vaisheshikas; the extensive treatise on coinage and minting
in Kautilya's Arthashastra; and the holistic 'science of life'
Ayurveda with its outstanding texts–the Charaka, Susruta and
Ashtanga samhitas–are examples of the advanced scientific
knowledge that was available during the medieval period (c.647 -
1526AD)
This worldly vs. otherworldly
Despite such early achievements, in the post-Industrial Revolution
era, India fell behind Europe in developing modern science and
technology. Historian, A Rahman has suggested that the reason lay
in "a lack of quantification of knowledge and practice, a lack of
development of aids to observation, and the failure to evolve a
perspective of the future and develop a pattern of knowledge in
relation to it". Others have implicated periodic invasions,
unfavourable social climate, and the self-seeking policies of the
colonial power. The Indian education system was seen to be
ritualistic and brahminical, and the subsequent government decree
in 1844, which officially recognized only students of the Western
education system, led to the decay of traditional Pathshalas. In
his well-known book 'Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism' the European sociologist Max Weber observed that the
capitalist form of economy employed a form of rationality–a "this
worldly attitude"–that fostered western scientific thought; unlike
the "otherworldly attitude" of withdrawal and renunciation that
was supposedly adopted by eastern cultures. In short, the exotic
and spiritual aspects of Indian intellectual tradition have been
unduly exaggerated over its more rationalistic and analytical
elements.
The Sanskrit Cell at IIT Bombay
The usefulness of Sanskrit texts for modern times can be
demonstrated by demystifying the basic knowledge in the ancient
texts, and by working out new theories and paradigms that can be
built on the principles laid down in them. At the suggestion of
the Ministry of Human Resource Development, IIT Bombay has set up
a 'Cell for Sanskrit in Indian Science and Technology' (CSIST),
with an Advisory Committee constituted by Profs Amitabha Gupta
(Convener) and P R Bhat (Dept of Humanities and Social Sciences);
Profs H Narayanan and S D Agashe (Dept of Electrical Engineering);
and Prof Pushpak Bhattacharya (Dept of Computer Science & Engg)
The cell's activities include: initiating teaching and research
based on Sanskrit texts, developing a digital archive*, and
organizing workshops, seminars and lecture series to highlight and
disseminate Indian contribution to science and technology. An
elective course has already been introduced at the 4th year level,
and the texts currently available at the website are
Suryasiddhanta and Bijaganita. Verses from the former have been
juxtaposed with their English translation by Rev Ebenezer Burgess
(1861). Prof S M Bhave, Head, CSIST has provided the prefaces to
both texts. In the future, the CSIST aims to make more such texts
readily accessible and help re-evaluation of ideas dormant in
them, and so enhance their utility in the on-going discourse on
Indian contributions to the founding of science.
Acknowledgement: The author thanks Prof A Gupta and Prof S M Bhave
of the Dept of Humanities & Social Sciences for their comments and
suggestions.
*Website: www.csist.hss.iitb.ac.in
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