'Decolonising India, Reinstating Bharat' Part:2
- In History & Culture
- 11:27 AM, Mar 24, 2021
- Bharati Singh
Script, Education, Beliefs, Art, Architecture and Institutions
Bharat is land of Yoga, Music, Kamasutra, Astronomy, Metallurgy. The language, dialect and script evolved with geographical variation too. With regional variation, Indian music emanated from the same base.
The culinary unity is still so evident that even now if you visit any market of India from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.
Bharat there is traditional colloquial saying that if you throw a piece of stone, it’ll reach temple or dharamshala or piyaoo water (piyaoo at every 1 kos- 3.2 km or 2 mile) Basically at stone throw there is temple, dharmshala or water body.
Temples have been institutes for praying, spiritual education, religious ceremonies and home for homeless.
Gurukul provided formal education with organised curriculum catering to diverse needs and skills. The education system of Bharat was not same as current classroom didactic lectures based but it was about skills & competency development with analytical thinking. Hence modern India post 1947 hasn’t innovated as much as ancient Bharat did. Gurukul education was in native languages across Bharat with fixed curriculum
Bharat as civilisation evolved with time in science, academics, art, music. Educational surveys by William Adam observed that there existed about 1,00,000 village schools in Bengal and Bihar around the 1830s.
By 18th century it was estimated that Bharat had more than 700,000 gurukuls but they received no grants from state. It was funded, managed and organised locally with structured curriculum achieving 100% literacy. Macaulay advocated anglicising Indian to ‘civilise’ them. Sadly, this anglicised is still considered as elite.
We built best universities, sciences made a big leap, art flourished, engineers built the grand structures which is a sight to behold even now.
Bharat built best universities, Nalanda was big university teaching many diverse subjects and it had 73 departments including aeronautics
Indica the book by Megasthetena and the travel records by Faxian, Xuan Zang, Yijing, Minhaj-i-siraj and Chaglo-Tsaba Chos rje-dpal Aka Dharmasvamin cumulatively points to the Nalanda having close to 70 departments. Even Max Muller could not discount or dismiss it. A mention of Nalanda university was found in the records of Lhasa Tibet University professor.
The concept of relativity and dimensions are well known to Bharat. Indian scientists are believed to have postulated about 11 dimensions. The modern world knew three dimensions as 3D.
The time is considered as 4th dimension. When we talk about multiverse that’s 5th dimension
Mandukya Upanishad describes four state of consciousness. The fourth state as Turiya transcends absolute (sagun) & relative (nirgun). When we say man ki gati it referred to time & space.
Śaktisandhāne śarīrotpattiḥ
शक्तिसन्धाने शरीरोत्पत्तिः (sūtra I.19)
There are 11 dimensions of the Universe, which are elaborately described in the ancient scriptures. There are in fact, five-unit dimensions which are length, breadth, depth, time and space.
Adding time and space and combining these 5 basic unit dimensions with each other leads to 11 dimensions of the Universe
There was a reference to Parshuram who was on Mahendra parvat near Orrisa but reached Mithila through time travel when Ram broke Dhanush to marry Sita.
Rishi Bharadwaj worked on aeronautics wrote five shaastras - vimaniki, udayayan shastra etc. In 1895 for the first time ever Tallapade flew plane sponsored by Gaikwad for 82 minutes. The colonisers stole our story and it wasn’t coincidence that Wright brothers flew another plane 8 years later.
Bharat did significant work on plants and chemicals too. The Ayurveda, which is scientific and evidence-based approach evolved. But colonisers discredited it and allopathy took over. The metallurgy and mining techniques advanced too. India had perfected the art of making rust- free iron.
As per the Surya Siddhanta, a 4th-century astronomical treatise, Ujjain is geographically situated at the precise spot where the zero meridian of longitude and the Tropic of Cancer intersect. Bharat considered this as navel of earth or the “Greenwich of India” But soon colonisers replaced it with Greenwich meridian. The almanac panchang considers Ujjain as central meridian of Bharat
The Tropic of cancer crosses Mahakal temple & Mangal Nath temple of Ujjain and also Somnath temple. Mangal Nath temple is considered as birthplace of Mangal (Mars) and also the closest point from Earth & Mars.
Surya Mandir of Konark has Sundial with 8 spokes for calculating time of the day and a moon dial too. Sundial has 8 major and 8 minor spokes with 90 beads in between for timekeeping.
Surya mandir Konark has stone with 24 spokes for 24 hrs reflection on it and sadly many of our knowledge and texts were robbed from us.
Trade, Governance
We traded with all other empires like Roman, Persian, Mesopotamia, Egyptian and many more. In traditional barter system we accepted Gold only as there was nothing else traders could offer us which we didn’t have in Bharat. Hence India was called ‘soney ki chidiya’
Indians travelled along Indian Ocean built alliances but never were expansionist or aggressors.
The ‘Indica’ by Greek ambassador Megasthenes also confirms that India never invaded, caste system was professional and not birth-based.
East & West
As times evolved, West and Middle East values system that espoused concept of one god, one truth & ‘exclusivist’ ideology took roots. It believed in total submission, decried ‘diversity of thought’ and worked on issuing commandments or diktats. As a result, rigid and regimental institutions developed. This ordained people to be subservient and slowly Christian beliefs controlled West. Just in few centuries after Jesus crucifixion it gained full control. Few centuries later Islam followed similar route became popular in Middle East and changed the course of World for millenniums to come.
Christianity & Islam had same Abrahamic template of supremacy & exclusivity started a big civilisational war for global domination, spread & control.
The race between two beliefs set off horrific barbaric crimes and genocide.
The Nazism & Fascism were fundamentally Christian extremist ideology.
The Secularism was born as protection from religious interference & control. Just to point out here that secularism was protection from supremacist and exclusivist-controlling and interfering ideology which also translated that religion of ruler as the religion of state.
Bharat on the contrary believed in humane values that were inclusive. Many naturalistic, polytheistic, indigenous and natives all across the world were exterminated, genocide, murdered, robbed, converted and humiliated with the rise of exclusivist ideology. Many civilisations vanished from the face of earth while so called messengers of love & peace were spreading their messages.
Both faiths reached India too, Islam though it was appeared late was first to reach India first as traders. Bharat with ‘diversity of thought’ and multiple janapada fell into conniving invaders, colonisers and became victim of ‘divide & rule’ plans.
Bharat was plundered, robbed, ransacked, divided. S.K Lal, in his book, Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India estimates that about six crores to eight crore (60-80 million) Hindus and Buddhists were killed in India between the year 1000 and 1525, due to the Islamic invasion of the Indian subcontinent
Economist Utsa Patnaik calculated $45 trillion were stolen by British from colonial India.
Richard Eaton, History Professor in University of Arizona in his article "Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim states", claimed that 60,000 temples were demolished under Muslim rule in India and also claimed that it could be even 80,000. Our destruction funded growth, prosperity, arrogance & ignorance of West.
We are kept apologetic. The crimes of invaders and colonisers were systemically whitewashed.
Invaders and colonisers totally distorted, India’s civilisational concepts it to suit their ‘Divide & Rule’ agenda. Hinduism doesn’t conform to Western idea of religion. The caste system was exploited and misinterpreted.
Invaders were credited with building architectural marvels but we didn’t ask why did they not create such monuments in their countries.
Indians fought the West’s World wars. Our soldiers died and bled for them. World war victors then created institutions as a façade to perpetuate control. The ‘vanguards’ of democracy- UN with an absolute Veto right for the permanent five is now actually subverting democracy.
India (foreign name) created this myth that India is an ‘idea’ of coloniser who was merciful enough to free India to make this idea a reality.
Ironically the Congress party was founded by coloniser AO Hume who was Itawah Police officer in 1857 created a party to serve as a connect between English coloniser & Indian natives. Not surprisingly the Congress party was dominated by all Western educated English-speaking leaders. Congress for very long maintained the demand of dominion status and not full independence or Liberty as Neta Ji called. This fundamentally created a division in independence struggle.
Fundamental difference and diversification plagued freedom struggle, two groups emerged – Garam dal led by Swadeshi Bharat Lal, Bal, Pal while Naram dal was led by Gandhi, Nehru & Congress party.
After the fall of Ottoman empire Khilafat movement, with an objective of establishing Islamic caliphate sprung up in India. This dying movement was resuscitated then patronised by Gandhi, Nehru and Congress which later turned into a political party for Muslims as Muslim league demanding division of India along religious lines. It led to creation of Islamic Pakistan from civilisational India into Muslim Pakistan & Hindu India.
During the transfer of power, India retained the colonial system of governance machinery comprising of Western-influenced officials. The administration system was soon perpetrated by people who ridiculed, denigrated Hindu customs, beliefs & festivals. English became the language of elites; all jurisprudence and correspondence was done in English. The natives were humiliated for not knowing English and many were even ridiculed for their accents and pronunciation which then alienated them from mainstream.
After centuries of struggle, India as know now with foreign name was born on 1947.The colonisers transferred power to colonised and it created newer colonial ‘idea’ of India within the civilisational continuum of Bharat. The story of independent India is the story of India & Bharat
Decolonising & Healing wounds
Free our land from invaders and colonisers physical occupation has been an integral part of freedom movement aspired by Gandhi. But Netaji wanted Liberty, freeing India from intellectual occupation of colonisers.
Every nation defines their own identity, history and narrative but in1947, India missed this golden opportunity. The churning ‘manthan’ in society is ongoing. But it is expected that some ‘halahal’ poison will emanate before it releases ‘Amrit’ nectar.
Our intellectual occupation is still ongoing and India hasn’t decolonised yet. In fact, the Indian journey to decolonise hasn’t properly started yet. Ironically it is still led by colonised and anglicised in their mythical anglosphere, some of them even ridicule same commoners whose voice they pretend to champion. None of the decolonial literature or work is in native languages. It is like playing our kabbadi with colonisers cricket rules in colonisers stadium with colonisers as umpire with sole authority to change rules anytime. Even against all these odds if we start to win, they change the rules again. University and academics have western control who edits journal. Once Bharat starts making some progress, they change the rules like how colonisers Macauley changed the educational language medium and by just one stroke of pen he declared all Bharat as illiterate
If we can’t be the equal stakeholders in setting the rules, we can certainly change the game. We need to break this colonial mould. The commoners whose story it is, they are not included, not trusted/respected to lead their own decolonisation and are humiliated.
The conniving invader/coloniser, colonised identity, destroyed history and distorted narrative making it tough for Bharat to decolonise. We have normalised our self-hatred when we say – don’t be like typical Indian, mocking Indian accents, glorifying when we compliment them by their resemblance to angrez or gora.
Unless commoners use their own voice and own words to write their own destiny, India shall not be liberated. Hence ‘Children of Civilisation’ need to make sure the path to decolonise goes through villages, taluka, gali, mohalla taking commoner in our journey to decolonisation.
Same way English has become the sign of intellect and class distancing commoners from the discourse who are ridiculed for their pronunciations, accents, spelling mistakes, grammars etc to keep them apologetic for their native identity.
Even the identity of success in India is still deeply colonised. Hence celebrities or commoners turn celebrity they take that colonised role of sermonising natives Hindus about their beliefs and customs.
Ideologically India has diverse heterogeneous population who are nursing deep civilisational wounds. The wounds if allowed to fester for long can turn gangrenous needing amputation, 1947 was such amputation too.
Civilisation Values in Indian success
The civilisational values of Bharat are helping indians in many ways we don’t appreciate. It’s not a coincidence that Indians are doing so well globally. Their fundamental beliefs of karma detached from results, mutual respect, Vasudaiva Kutumbkam to assimilate, pursuing multiple paths, adapting and evolving, diversity of thought, celebration of diverse colourful festivals, family support and many more help them achieve higher potentials. One can easily connects the dots of Bharat civilisational values, even in the recent interview of Dr Swati Mohan from Nasa who was recently famous as “The Lady with Bindi” in NASA Mars mission
Clearly- We didn’t come this far to just stay this far; We didn’t come this far to be held back now
The civilisational values indeed helped Bharat manage COVID and help the world with COVID vaccine. We are the only one who is helping others unlike Western powers who have stocked twice or three times the vaccines they need rather than being thoughtful of others
Bharat suffered like many other indigenous polytheistic, naturalistic, aboriginal, maori pagans, all the world. But has refrained from creating an alliance against the forces who destroyed and ransacked the planet and sought peace with them.
As our civilisation traverse through this unique epoch, we witness an unprecedented civilisational awakening of channelising energies by defining ourselves and decolonising India.
(The End)
Sources:
https://www.quora.com/Are-64-dimensions-as-mentioned-in-the-Vedas-ancient-Sanskrit-texts-possible
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_Temples:_What_Happened_to_Them
https://www.outlookindia.com/traveller/mp/inspire-me/heritage/ujjain-crossroads-time/
Foreign tales - Megasthenes, Herodotus, Sikander, Sanyugan, Phahyan, Hwansang, Ithsing - India Old Days
https://www.hindufaqs.com/secret-sundial-konark-sun-temple-india/
https://www.indictoday.com/research/nalanda-study-based-literary-works-ancient-travelers/
https://nithyananda.org/article/what-are-11-dimensions-universe#gsc.tab=0
https://www.quora.com/How-many-Gurukuls-were-there-on-Indian-subcontinent-before-British-rule
Image provided by the author.
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