Thought for the day - Quote from Bala Gangadhar Tilak

April 22, 2009

Quote for the day by Bala Gangadhar Tilak in Orion, page 16-17 refuting the general skepticism of the European of his day (that applies to many Occidental even today)Â that the Indic could be capable of the intellectual effort needed to make Astronomical inferences

â€œProf Weber and Dr. Schrader, appear to doubt the conclusion

(that the Vedics knew how to reconcile the lunar with the solar year, on the

sole ground that we cannot suppose the primitive Aryans to have advancedÂ in civilization as to correctly comprehend

such problemsâ€. To which Tilak caustically observesÂ â€œ This means that we must

refuse to draw legitimate inferences from plain facts , when such inferences

conflict withÂ our preconceived notions

about the primitive Asian civilization. I am not disposed to followÂ this method, nor do I think that people who

knew and worked with metals, made clothing ofÂ

wool, constructed boats, built houses, and chariots, performed

sacrifices,Â and had made some advances

in agriculture were incapable of ascertaining the solar and the lunar year.â€ Clearly, Tilak ji recognized that there was a version of the â€˜loin cloth

syndromeâ€Â at work here, whereby the

Occidental often gages the extent of the civilization and the general

competency of a people , by the number of layers of clothing he wears.Â

Each oneÂ of us can and should ask ourselves the same question, whether weÂ

refuse to draw legitimate inferences from plain facts , when such inferences

conflict withÂ our preconceived notions

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