Recently, the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), introduced a mandatory course on Indian Knowledge System (IKS) while revising the Engineering and Management Curricula in 2018. This course is meant to help students gain awareness of the wealth of knowledge produced by the Ancient Indians. Our latest publication, Introduction to Indian Knowledge System responds to this decision by the AICTE. Currently, there are no textbooks available to help students understand the various components of IKS. Hence, this textbook is a timely and valuable contribution to the education system in the country.

Our new title responds to the growing need felt by Indian society at large for Indian heritage and the Ancient Indians’ knowledge system to be included in the educational curriculum. The text is primarily intended to facilitate offering a one-semester or two-semester course on IKS to undergraduate and graduate-level students.

India’s sciences are based on fundamental principles, axioms, logical inferences, and empirical observations. Our sciences are steeped in India’s rich history and the vast knowledge of Ancient Indians. The historical accounts of science in India are inadequate and need to grow beyond the colonial lens. This book will help place the heritage of our country into perspective for the benefit of Indian students.

Professor Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman of AICTE, in his foreword, has beautifully explained the need for a textbook on this subject.

Also, Professor S. Sadagopan applauds the book, opening his message with the line “I have gone through this book in detail and it has been an enriching, fulfilling, and satisfying experience.” He feels the authors have done an outstanding job at covering the vast number of topics related to the Indian Knowledge system. He states that the authors describe the various concepts in IKS in sufficient depth and avoid superficial surveys.

One approach taken in this book is to lay clear emphasis merely on the content of IKS. Therefore, efforts are made to present the ‘what’ of IKS rather than the ‘why’ or ‘how’ of IKS. The application, implications, and practical relevance of IKS are often left for self-introspection. The book has taken a middle path and has made special efforts to present IKS in a contextually relevant fashion. This has been done by delicately balancing the ‘why’ or ‘how’ of IKS with the ‘what’.

Some unique features of the book include:

IKS In Action Fact Boxes: This feature enables the students to develop an early appreciation of the subject matter. It provides a context where the ideas discussed in the chapter can be appreciated.

Rich Illustrations: The chapters are dotted with several illustrations by way of figures and tables. These help concisely summarise complex concepts and facilitate easy understanding.

Discover IKS: Every chapter has an end-of-chapter feature that points to useful videos on some of the concepts discussed in the chapter.

Opening Vignette: The beginning of every chapter has an opening vignette called “learning outcomes”. This helps develop a clear set of expectations with respect to the topics discussed in the chapter.

Endnotes: Material for the textbook has been drawn from extensive original sources and research papers. To establish authenticity and enable readers to access the original sources, these have been listed at the end of each chapter.

Suggested Readings: A list of additional readings has been provided at the end of every chapter. These will help students pursue further studies in the topics covered in the chapter.

This text introduces readers to new terminologies from the Indian Knowledge System. Readers may never have come across some of these terms prior to reading the book. Some of the explanations of terms from IKS will be eye-opening for many Indians. Examples of such terms which readers can expect to learn about in detail include: “Nyāya Darśana”, an integral part of the Nyāya school of philosophy and the “Vaiśeṣika” school of philosophy.

The chapter on Philosophical Systems lists a  number of Ancient Indian philosophical texts. These have never been included in the modern-day, westernised image of philosophy we have. For example, the explanation of “Yoga-darsana” is truly an informative read. The authors have explained that ‘yoga’ is a school of philosophy. It serves as a methodology for the realisation of the difference between ‘Prakriti’ and ‘Purusa’. Commonly heard terms such as ‘yoga’, ‘vedas’, ‘puranas’, etc are elaborated upon in detail. This clarifies their true meaning and makes sure their significance becomes clear. For example, in “Wisdom through the Ages”, the author provides several fun facts on the Puranas such as:

• The five key characteristics of Puranas
• Issues of interest in the Puranas
• Topics discussed in them

Such facts not only help educate students regarding the topics on IKS in the updated syllabus but also serve as an enjoyable read. Readers will learn about their heritage through a well-written and well-organised text. The book is peppered with fun facts. For example, the chapter on Number System and Units of Measurement features riveting facts such as:

• The decimal number system originated in India much before the 12th – 11th century BCE.
• The ancient Indians were interested in studying the origins of the universe. This was a study in which the concept of time is very relevant. Table 6.6 in the text elucidates Ancient Indian Measures of Time in which the smallest measure of time is 1.3133 × 10⁻⁵ seconds and the largest is 4,32,00,00,00,000 human years.

Professor Anil Sahasrabudhe says the chapter in Metal Working will be a true eye-opener for young engineering students. The chapter provides a history of Iron and Steel in India. The author states that: “With the advent of the carburization of iron, a special type of high carbon steel was produced in India from as early as the fourth century BCE”. This chapter also provides information on various artefacts created in India. These artefacts evidence the mediaeval Indian blacksmith’s skill in the design, engineering, and construction of large forge-welded iron objects.

Towards the end of the book, the author also informs readers of distinctive aspects of Indian Psychology in “Health, Wellness, and Psychology” which includes an explanation of “Constructs of a Human Being”, “Constraints in Life”, and the “Tri-Guna System”. For example, the last of the terms is a system which provides an overarching framework to understand the physical infrastructure of a human being. The book closes with a chapter on Governance and Public Administration which informs students about the Ancient Indians’ culture and society.

Overall, this text is a must-read for all those who are interested in learning about India’s Heritage, Culture, and the ancient Knowledge System. The book not only responds to the new syllabus as per the changes made by the AICTE but also educates Indian students about their heritage.

About the Authors

B. MAHADEVAN, PhD (IIT Madras), is Professor at IIM Bangalore. As founding Vice-Chancellor of Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth (University for Sanskrit and Indic Traditions), he created a new generation of academic programs in the higher education space that seamlessly blends Ancient Indian Knowledge traditions with Contemporary Knowledge Systems.

Besides being on the advisory boards of several business schools and management journals in India, Professor Mahadevan has been playing a very significant role in the field of Sanskrit and Samskriti for the past 20 years. These include:

• Visioning and execution of Sanskrit promotion activities in India and abroad through a variety of roles in Samskrita Bharti, including being the President of Samskrita Bharati trust

• Shaping the trajectory of Sanskrit educational space in the country by providing thought leadership initiatives involving Sanskrit University Vice Chancellors

• Helping the Government in policy decision making through membership in Central Sanskrit Board and invited membership in Rashtriya Sanskrit Parishad

• Introducing Sanskrit and Samskriti to mainstream audiences such as the Top Management of Corporate and Management graduates at IIMB through seminars, elective courses and lectures

• Professor Mahadevan was conferred the ‘ICFAI Best Teacher Award’ by the Association of Indian Management Schools in 2005. He was one among the 40 nominated globally for the ‘Economic Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Business Professor of the Year Award’, 2012.

VINAYAK RAJAT BHAT, PhD, is Associate Professor in Chanakya University, Bengaluru. Earlier he has worked as an Assistant Professor and held the position of Head of the School of Vedic Knowledge Systems at Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth from the year 2017 to 2022. He has been teaching courses in Indic Knowledge Systems, Vyākarana, Āyurveda, Arthaśāstra for more than 11 years now. Dr. Bhat has been honoured with Abhijña, Kovida and Chūdamani in Vyākarana. He was trained under the guidance of the great scholars like Late Prof. R. Devanathan, Prof. B. Mahadevan, IIM Bangalore and Dr. Chandrashekhar Bhat, CSU.

He was appointed as Specialist Sanskrit Advisor for a project on ‘Ayurvedic Man: Encounters with Indian Medicine’ by Welcome Collections, London. He has written many articles in different areas of Indian Knowledge Systems.

NAGENDRA PAVANA R.N., PhD, is with the School of Vedic Knowledge Systems at Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth. Dr. Pavana has been teaching major works of Vyākaraṇa śāstra and allied subjects for more than fifteen years. He has also worked with Vyoma Linguistic Labs and contributed to developing e-learning tools for various topics of Sanskrit.

Besides Sanskrit grammar, his other areas of interest are Sanskrit literature, aesthetics in Sanskrit Poetry, Indian philosophical systems, the Vedas and the Vedāṅgas.

 

In the Indian tradition the purāṇas are supposed to discuss certain mandatory themes. These form the five characteristics (Lakṣaṇas) of a Purāṇa. One of them is to elaborately describe the origin of the Universe. Obviously notion of time becomes important to discuss origin of the Universe. Also we need use of large numbers to measure time. In book three, chapter 11 of Bhāgavata-purāṇa there is an elaborate discussion of time. The time units describes in this chapter covers an astonishingly wide range. These descriptions form part of the discussions on the origin of the Universe.

It is always the practice to first define a unit and create additional units by establishing its linkage with it. For example, in the modern parlance we define a metre. Further we define a centimetre to be 1/100th of a metre, a kilometre to be 1,000 metres and so on. In chapter 11 of Bhāgavata-purāṇa we see a similar approach to define time. See below the table for details (Although the chapter has all contiguous measures of time, I have skipped the measures in between Prahara and Masa (Month):

We shall see how the first unit of measure for time has been defined. The definition is by way of the following verse:

द्वादशार्धपलोन्मानं चतुर्भिश्चतुरङ्गुलैः ।

स्वर्णमाषैः कृतच्छिद्रं यावत् प्रस्थजलप्लुतम् ॥

dvādaśārdha palonmānam caturbhiś-caturangulaiḥ

svarna-māshaiḥ kṛtac-chidram yāvat prastha jala-plutam

This verse in a way sets up an experiment described as follows. Take a copper pot weighing six palas (1 pala = 48 gms), which can hold water of one prastha (1 prastha = 640 gms; in the case of water it is 640 ml). The vessel shall be bored at the bottom with a golden needle weighing four maṣas (1 māśa = 1 gm) and of length four aṅgulas. (Interestingly, from modern physics we know that if the weight, length and the type of material is known, then it is possible to compute the diameter of the rod!) Leave the pot in water and start a stopwatch. Wait until the vessel is filled fully with water and it just submerges in the water. Stop the watch and record the time. This elapsed time is nāḍika.

Once we have this measurement, then we can get all other measures of time from the table above. Is it not interesting?

Reproduced with permission from Prof. Mahadevan B.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mahadevan-b-7784282_indianknowldgesystem-iks-activity-6911281003449774080GFgS?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web 

More in our book Introduction to Indian Knowledge System by Prof. B. Mahadevan, Vinayak Rajat Bhat and Nagendra Pavana R. N.

 

The Tempest from our Shakespeare plays series features the original text of the play along with
simple yet explanatory notes in the footnotes of the text. Alongside this, the textbook features a
comprehensive introduction to the entire play, illustrative summaries of each act, and two critical
essays giving a postmodern outlook to the play.

This blog post will provide a detailed explanation of what’s in the book and help the reader
understand what’s in store from them through a chapter review. Read on to find out more about
this supplementary text and what it has to offer!

The Tempest is a play about Prospero, the true Duke of Milan. Exiled by his brother Antonio
who has usurped his place, Prospero plots to retake what is rightfully his. With the help of a
spirit, Ariel, Prospero orchestrates a storm, ‘The Tempest’. The storm entraps the ship of his
brother. Antonio and his crew are shipwrecked and make their way to Prospero’s isle. Prospero
sets in motion a meticulous plot which results in the restoration of his Dukedom.

The play poses several questions about territorial authority and claim. For example, the
territorial limits of Prospero are questionable since he conquers an island which was already
inhabited. Similarly, the crew of Antonio’s ship become Prospero’s subjects and must
understand his rules of governance. These are unlike their understanding of the system of
governance in Naples and Milan. Their presence on Prospero’s isle, therefore, is a point of
discussion with great potential.

Trapped on the island, Miranda experiences the world through the isolated isle. This natural
world is very different from the kind of society Miranda would have otherwise had in Milan. This
influences her perception of the world. On the isolation and consequent individualization of this
character, Choudhary comments: “What Prospero banks upon is her ability to submit to his
scheme, and part of it involves imbuing her with a form of knowledge that would equip her as an
individual. The individualization of Miranda is an orchestration envisaged to address and
engage with the world in more ways than one.”

In the book’s introduction Choudhary grapples with such concepts to help students understand
the dynamics between the tempest characters which Shakespeare attempts to create. The
critical essays are selected to help contextualize the storyline as it unfolds.
The first of the two critical essays the book features is “The Other in the Tempest: The Case of
Caliban” by Margaret L. Pachuau.

The essay grapples with representations of the “other” within the context of colonization. The
relationship between Caliban and Prospero can be analogously seen as that between a
colonizer and the colonized.

The essay discusses how representations of Caliban as an enslaved “savage” being rather than
the isle’s original inhabitant can aid the arguments of postcolonial theorists. The author
describes various instances in which Propsero and Miranda, Caliban’s colonizers, otherize, entrap, mistreat, label as “savage”, and attempt to colonize Caliban. These instances can be
seen as symbolic of the treatment meted out to colonized communities. The essay discusses
and brings together the perspectives of various theorists on the colonized status of Caliban. The
critical essay argues that the devaluation of the “other” within the play is similar to the
otherization of the colonized in European colonies.

Pachuau begins by analyzing the character Caliban who, by her interpretation, can be seen as
the “other” within the play. He is often represented as a subhuman species, with his body being
described as monstrous as compared to the human colonizer who has enslaved him. She
argues that Caliban, being the original inhabitant of the island, has a greater claim to ownership
over the isle than Prospero. She presents Caliban as a wronged, mistreated character who has
been devalued and given the title of a “savage” by his colonizers, Prospero and Miranda. She
explains that Prospero’s attempts to humanize Caliban and teach him his language is akin to
the colonizing efforts made in the past.

The author comments on Caliban’s ability to speak, noting that Miranda and Prospero believe
that teaching Caliban to speak was a “gift”. Referring to ‘Can the subaltern speak?’ (Spivak
1985), Pachuau notes that the so-called “Demi-devil” delivers the most elaborate and
memorable speeches in the play. Although he has learned the language of his colonizer, he
seems to be empowered by it. Her analysis of this character completely changes how the
reader views Caliban. Refuting his image as the enslaved, sub-human entity within the play,
Pachuau places Caliban in the centrestage, arguing that he is the rightful owner of the isle.
Quoting Foucault, she asserts that power cannot be one-sided (from the ruler to his subjects)
but comes from within. Therefore, a ruler’s subjects are powerful since power comes from within
a group. She argues that due to this “web-like inclusiveness” of power, there is a sense of
power in Caliban’s character, the enslaved subject of Prospero. She notes that ‘Caliban
challenges Prospero’s authority when he points out that Prospero’s language gave him the
ability to “curse” his tormentor.’ After providing this unique perspective on Caliban’s character,
Pachuau notes that Caliban’s name is a play on the word cannibal – a term which is associated
with “savageness” by European norms. It may also be a play on the word “Cauliban” which
means “black”.

Other critical points of discussion in Pachuau’s analytical essay which are likely to be extremely
helpful to students working with this play include interpretations of Caliban as a slave, colonized
person, and victim which align with discussions in various postcolonial texts. Further, Pachuau
makes a brief reference to the book Black Skin and White Masks by Fanon which analyzes the
relationship between the lord and bondsman, drawing from Hegel’s propositions on self-
consciousness. The book states that ‘The element of recognition is lacking in the relationship
between the white master and black bondsman.’ Pachuau compares this assertion to the
dynamics between master and slave within the book, presenting a detailed discussion. Further,
the author asserts ‘learning the language of the colonizer is a prerequisite for any social
advancement (as per a colonial mindset)’. This is since the colonized is always veiwed as
inherently ‘savage’, ‘lazy’, ‘stupid’, and ‘other’ –  a’vile race’, as is the representation of Caliban
within the play.

Further, the essay compares portrayals of ‘the other’ in The Tempest to the ‘othering’ treatment
meted out to the colonized in the history of colonizing efforts. She writes, ‘Prospero’s art
represented the world of civility and learning in contrast to the ‘natural’ black magic of Caliban’s
mother Sycorax’. Such a representation of the colonizer’s benevolent art as a contrast to the ‘uncivilized’ culture of the colonized is a common theme in history. She frames such a
representation of the enslaved Caliban within the context of the decolonization movements of
the 1960s and 1970s in Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. With Prospero’s culture being
treated as the norm, Prospero derides Caliban even as he claims he has treated him with
kindness in his attempts to humanize him.

By raising such points, the essay does a commendable job at finding links between postcolonial
theorists’ works and the portrayals of the “other” in the play. It analyses Miranda and Prospero’s
justifications of their enslavement of Caliban and places these under question. It raises the point
that the island rightfully belongs to Caliban – the original inhabitant.

Whilst discussing criticism of European paternal rule, the author refers to Aime Cesaire who
discusses the relevance of language in colonial imagery, continuing the discussion on
Prospero’s gift of language to Caliban. The author writes, ‘Set in a colony – a  prototype of a
Caribbean or African setting – in the throes of resistance and unrest, Cesaire.

Pachuau continues on with the discussion on language by observing instances where language
is used to portray the colonized as “other”. She gives the example of the dualisms of dark and
light which Shakespeare portrays in his imagery to contrast the colonizers and colonized. She
observes ‘The colonizer used words like light, knowledge and wisdom to refer to himself while
he used terms like darkness, ignorance and elemental to describe the colonized’. She argues
that language is used to devalue the colonized.

The author concludes this highly informative essay by acknowledging that there can be
counterarguments to her stance. She says that some critics have argued that Prospero is not a
colonizer but simply one who was exiled and stranded on the isle he has taken over. He is, in
this way, not unlike Caliban who is also stranded.

She informs us that Prospero isn’t the only main character in the play and that Caliban’s
character holds an important position within the dynamics between the characters. For example,
she argues that Caliban is an important character since he holds aesthetic significance. She
quotes Harold Bloom who says “Caliban has aesthetic dignity, and that the play is not wholly
Prospero’s only because of him.” Pachuau concludes her essay by observing Caliban’s unique,
inimitable character which contrasts our own self-concern as human subjects.

Overall, the chapter accomplishes what this book from our Shakespeare series promises to do.
It helps readers gain a deeper understanding of the play and view the characters through a new
perspective – through the lens of postcolonial theory. As mentioned in the introduction, the essay
demonstrates how The Tempest raises questions about Politics and Governance through its
storyline and portrayals. The essay backs up its arguments with evidence from various
reputable critics who have also written on the postcolonial questions raised within the play.
This book is an excellent read for students and teachers who are working with Shakespeare
plays. Making persuasive, clearly written, and well-evidenced arguments, this book’s strength
lies in providing strong critical reasoning and analyses of the play.

If you found this book from our Shakespeare plays series interesting, don’t forget to check out
the other supplementary texts in the series. https://www.phindia.com/Books/ShowBooks/MTM4MQ/European-Literature

@PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.