India's proud scientific heritage

February 14, 2007

Hanuman_Choudhary <thc (AT) satyam (DOT) com> wrote:

By - M.V. Kamath

Pride of India; a Glimpse into India's Scientific Heritage; Compiled by

Bharatiya Bouddhik Sampada, Nagpur; pp 208; Rs.2,000.00

Science and Technology in Vedas and Sastras; Dr. R.V.S.S. Avadhanulu;

Shri

Veda Bharathi, Hyderabad; pp 334; Rs. 350.00

When a suggestion was made some time ago that Vedic Mathematics should

be introduced as a subject for study at the college level in India,

there was a lot of derisive laughter among some of our

pseudo-intellectuals, not to speak of 'secularists' whose knowledge of

Sanskrit was questionable and a sense of inquiry non-existent. The idea

had to be dropped in the face of

determined opposition. Now, overnight as it were, and almost

simultaneously, we have two books on the subject, one entitled Pride of

India and another entitled Science and Technology in Vedas and Sastras.

Both are scholarly replies to our cynics and provide more than just

glimpses into India's vast scientific heritage seldom before brought to

light. Never before, may it be said, has Vedic Science been presented to

the world in such intimate detail and precision whether in the realm of

pure mathematics, physics, astronomy, medicine or in civil and

mechanical engineering and the life sciences. Our ancestors could not

have built those marvellous temples if they had no knowledge of

architecture and civil engineering, not to speak

of geometry and allied subjects. Pride of India is in hard cover and

is

the work of several experts. Beautifully illustrated, convincingly

researched and splendidly presented, it is like Dr R.V.S.S. Avadhanulu's

work, the ultimate reply to sceptics and a rich, if delayed tribute to

the genius of India which has sustained and empowered the culture and

civilisation of Bharat for centuries past. Both are works to be

treasured and handed down to generation after generation. Dr

Avadhanulu's work covers topics both conventional and non-conventional.

It quotes with great flair the Vedas and their offshoots like the

Sastras on conventional subjects like science and technology but goes

beyond them to take note of what the Sastras have said about cognition,

artificial intelligence, computer compilers and unified theories. The

ancient seers were they to come back today would surely be stunned to

know what present-day technologists have achieved unaware of what Indian

thinkers had conceived in centuries past! As in Pride of India, so in Dr

Avadhanulu's work, the original Sanskrit verses are quoted in full,

their transliteration in English follow and their meaning and

significance is explained. We are thus introduced to Aryabhatta,

Brahmagupta, Baudhayana, Bhaskaracharya, Apastamba, names mostly unknown

to today's generation of Indian students, let alone their elders who

would be disturbed to know that the theorem generally attributed to

Pythogaras was originally conceived by Baudhayana and should be known as

the Sulba or

Baudhayana Theorem. For that matter what in the west is known as the

W.

Snell Theorem was first enunciated by Brahmagupta on cyclic

quadrilaterals.

Indeed Brahmagupta went even further to calculate the area of cyclic

quadrilateral and triangle, not to speak of circumradius of cyclic

quadrilateral. And it is interesting to know that even the value of 'Pi'

had been studied by a succession of Indian mathematicians right from the

time of

Mahavira (850 AD). It is no disrespect to Pythogoras to acknowledge

that

his discovery was preceded by Baudhayana or that long before Galileo,

India had a succession of astronomers, eighteen of whose contributions

including those of Garga, Narada, Parasara, Varahamihira, Aryabhatta and

Bhaskaracharya have been duly acknowledged in the Sastras. While modern

astronomy deals with planets and their movements, Jataka goes a step

further

and probes as to how their movements affect the living beings on earth.

As

a lot of calculations are involved in predicting the positions of

planets, mathematics understandably becomes prominent. It is usual to

attribute the discovery of gravity to Isaac Newton and the apple that

fell on his head.

But a cursory perusal of our ancient literature brings out stunning

information on this topic. Varahamihira, the great astrologer who lived

in the 6th century AD, recorded in his Pancha Siddhanta that all objects

in the universe attract each other. And he further said: "Gravity is the

cause for falling of liquids and solids. It is invisible and is inferred

by the falling motion. Gravity acts not only on the body, but equally on

its finer

constituents." Both Pride of India and Avadhanulu's study are

complementary to each other though, inevitably, on some points they

naturally merge. Both have excellent chapters, for example, on medicine,

anatomy, embryology and obstretics, surgery, pharmacology and

elimination therapy. The Atharva Veda (youngest of the four Vedas)

placed in time to around 5000 BC contains hymns on diseases and their

treatment. Charaka (1st century BC) of the Atreya School codified the

percepts and practices in internal medicine. Sushruta (6th century BC)

of the Dhanvantari School codified surgical practices and Vagbhata (6th

century AD) of the Kashyapa

School dealt with gynaecology and paediatrics. Recalling them and

their

contribution to medical knowledge is not, as many of our 'intellectuals'

would argue, a matter of jingoism. It is merely gracing medical history

as it is to its roots. And the authors in both the books now available

quote from chapter and verse to see that their veracity remains

unchallenged. What is significant about these two works is the amount of

research work that has obviously gone into their writing. And, of

course, the illustrations

accompanying the text. While the illustrations in Avadhanulu's work

are in

black and white, those in Pride of India are in colour which make them

specially attractive. But what is exciting is the rang of subjects

covered such as measurement of rainfall in Varahamihira's Pravarshana

Adhyayaya, cosmic energy and radiation. Even the subject of spectrometer

has been a

matter of study. Incredible, one would say but India is incredible and

we

have to thank the authors of these two books for reminding us of our

rich scientific heritage. Truly they constitute the pride of India.

Reading them is a revelation; more, they recall the glory of a great

past and provide encouragement to the young to do better. We have it is

us to be great. These

books are a gentle reminder of that fact. (Samskrit Bharati, Mata

Mandir

Marg, Jhandewalan, New Delhi-110 055.)

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