Indian Knowledge System PDF

# INDIAN KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM ## An Overview ### Do We Need Indian Knowledge System? - It is about protecting received wisdom, economic security and national pride. - We do not have a linking of the nature of the contributions made by the Indians. - There was an abrupt end to this ("guru-sisya oral tra...

# INDIAN KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM ## An Overview ### Do We Need Indian Knowledge System? - It is about protecting received wisdom, economic security and national pride. - We do not have a linking of the nature of the contributions made by the Indians. - There was an abrupt end to this ("guru-sisya oral transmission of knowledge") process of knowledge transmission and the continuity is mostly lost. - The erstwhile British policies on education excluded the ancient Indian knowledge citing reasons of lack of rigor and scientific value. ### Importance of Ancient Knowledge - If the underlying knowledge systems are abruptly withdrawn from society, the cultural practices will be rudely jolted. - Ancient knowledge provides a head start to a society to march on the highway of innovation and new knowledge creation. | | | |---|---| | **Identity** | It defines the context for several aspects of the day-to-day living of every individual. Preserving this knowledge and baton passing them on to the next generation is an important step for contemporary society. | | **Culture** | It provides a sense of identity at a societal level by providing a common medium for communication and the transaction of ideas. | | **Received wisdom** | Innovation and new knowledge creation in any society is path-dependent. Ancient knowledge plays the valuable role of this and provides a head start to a society to march on the highway of innovation and new knowledge creation. | | **Economic Value** | Transforming knowledge into economic value has been fully formalized with the global intellectual property rights and regulations and patent laws. | ### Indian Knowledge System - **Indian** - We mean the indigenous sources of knowledge generated by Indian society. We mean geographical areas spanning from Burma on the east to modern day Afghanistan in the west and Himalayas in the north to the Indian ocean in the south. - **Knowledge** - It is obtained by personal experiences with life situations, facing problems and coming up with means of solving them. It pervades all three domains: spiritual, religious, and other social day-to-day issues. - **System** - A structured methodology and a classification scheme to access the available corpus of knowledge. ### IKS Corpus There are many ways to define and identify what constitutes IKS. - One approach is the important topics representative of the knowledge corpus such as the Vedas, Yoga, Vastu, Silpa Sastra, Ayurveda, Buddhism & Jainism. - Another approach is to select phrases such as Indian psychology, Indian Arts, Dance and Architecture. The usefulness of a classification framework depends on three factors: 1. Completeness 2. Compactness 3. Inter-connectedness - **Completeness** - All important components of the IKS are included in the proposed framework. - **Compactness** - It indicates the efficacy of the grouping of various topics in IKS in a congruent and logical fashion. - **Inter-connected** - It brings logical relationships among the various sub-classifications that means it presents a unified picture of the entire knowledge. - Knowledge is available in both formal literary sources and informal non-literary sources. - Literary sources are sanatana-dharma. - Non-literary source is a set of oral traditions found throughout the country. ### Sanatana - Dharma - **Core Literature** - This comprises a vast repository of knowledge starting with the Vedas, known as Sruti. Six school of philosophical thought, known as Darshans developed their basic assumptions from the Vedas. - **Other Literature** - This consist of works that addressed key issues of day-to-day life such as health, wellness, science, engineering, technology that aided societal progress and development and aesthetics and art forms. ### INDIAN KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM  - **Sanatan Dharma** - **Core** - 14 Vidyasthana - Work of several religious leaders - **Other** - Basic & Applied Sciences - Engineering, Technology, Architecture, Alchemy - Asthetics, Arts, Kavyas - Health, Wellness, Psychology - Public Administration - Code of living - **Literary** - **Other Dharmic Tradition** - Buddhist - Jain - **Regional** - Wealth of Religious and other Literature - **Non Literary** - **Oral Tradition** - Art form - Health - Food & Life Practices - Folklore ### CHATURDASA VIDYASTHANA The classification framework for the Sanatana dharma literature is systematically organized under 14 major divisions. The components of the 14-part knowledge contain as the following:  ### VEDAS - The Vedas are the primordial source of knowledge in the scheme of the Sanatana-dharma literature. - They are also known as Sruti as they are not authorized by anyone but heard by the seers of the Vedic Lore. ### VEDANGAS - To benefit fully form the Vedas some complementary tools and skills are required. - These help to understand the exact meaning and intent of what is presented in the Vedas and follow them based on specific instructions provided. These are collectively referred to as Vedangas. ### DARSHANAS - Darshanas essentially means a philosophical thought. - It is natural quest for everyone to understand three forces and interact with one another: an individual(Jiva), the Universe (Jagat), and a larger force governing the other two (Ishwara/Brahman. ### PURANS AND ITIHASAS - Puranas contains a rich repository of ideas that seek to explain various thoughts using detailed stories. - The stories in the Puranas relate to pre-historic events that have taken place within a specific timeline. ### DHARMA-SASTRAS AND SMRTIS - The Dharmic principles engrained in the Vedic corpus are presented in multiple formats in our knowledge traditions. - Smrtis are rule books with specific operating guidelines of how to put the dharmic principles into actions and what are the consequences of not doing so. - Itihasas demonstrate dharmic principles 'in action, through case studies and real-life situations. - Nitisastras and Subhasitas are pearls of wisdom articulated by learned people in the society, clearly showing the value of adhering to the dharmic principles in life. ### TABLE 1.1 A Sample List of the IKS Repository | Sl. No. | Name of the Work | Keyword 1 | Keyword 2 | |---|---|---|---| | **Before 3,000 BCE** | | | | | 1 | Vedas | Dharma (Code of Living) | Several Other Topics | | 2 | Puranas | | | | 3 | Mahabharata, Ramayana | | | | **3,000 BCE to 500 CE** | | | | | 1 | Vedānga-jyotişa | Astronomy | | | 2 | Manu-smrti | Dharma (Code of Living) | | | 3 | Sulba-sūtras | Mathematics | | | 4 | Suśruta-samhită | Wellness | | | 5 | Aştādhyāyī, Nirukta | Linguistics | | | 6 | Nātyaśāstra | Art Forms | Dance, Theatre | | 7 | Buddhist Texts | Philosophy | | | 8 | Nyāya and Vaiśeşika Sūtras | Logic, Epistemology | | | 9 | Jaina Mathematical Works | Mathematics | | | 10 | Arthaśāstra | Public Administration | | | 11 | Chandah-śāstra | Mathematics | | | 12 | Yoga-sūtras | Control of Mind | | | 13 | Kāmasūtra | Metrical Pattern, Prosody | | | 14 | Mahā-bhāşya | Art Forms | | | 15 | Rasaratnākara | Alchemy | | | 16 | Caraka-samhitā | Health | | | 17 | Sämkhya-darśana | Philosophy | | | 18 | Amarakośa | Linguistics | | | 19 | Sürya-siddhānta | Astronomy | | | 20 | Brhat-samhitā | Astronomy, Mathematics | | | **500 CE to 1,800 CE** | | | | | 1 | Aryabhatiya, Ārya-siddhānta | Astronomy | Mathematics | | 2 | Pañca-siddhāntikā | Astronomy | | | 3 | Mayamata | Architecture | | | 4 | Brāhmasphuța-siddhānta | Astronomy | Mathematics | | 5 | Mānasāra | Architecture | Town Planning | | 6 | Aryabhatiya-bhaşya, Mahābhāskarīya | Astronomy | Mathematics | | 7 | Nārada-śilpa-śāstra | Architecture | Iconography | | 8 | Ganita-sara-sangraha | Mathematics | | | 9 | Siddhānta-śekhara | Astronomy | |