Indic Knowledge Landscape
Duration of Program
30 Hours
Code: VSF101
Overview of topics: Caturdaśa-vidyāsthānas – Topography of disciplines – Classification of
Indic knowledge disciplines – Basis of classification – Philosophy behind the basis
Credits: 2
L-T-P Ratio: 1-0-1
Course designer: Dr Sushrutha S
Prerequisites: None
Objectives
- This is meant to be a foundation course, which means this is a common
prerequisite for any course in Indic knowledge studies.
To introduce learners to the landscape of Vedic literature with broad taxonomy of Indic
knowledge systems
Outcome
- Visualize and articulate what is knowledge in terms of Vedic sciences to an audience understanding knowledge from a contemporary perspective
- Unlearn the acculturation of the contemporary understanding of knowledge so as to grasp knowledge in vedic sciences from the insider’s perspective.
- Have the most comprehensive possible bird’s eye view of the vedic side of Indic knowledge systems
- For a student pursuing a specific area or stream of vedic sciences, this helps to be able to enter one’s own chosen specific area within that big picture.
- Understand the original context and utility of each Indic knowledge discipline.
- Gain a critical understanding that the current or potential use of the given Indic knowledge
discipline need not necessarily be the original context of it.
Details:
- Words for and concepts related to Knowledge in Vedic literature /Sanskrit: Veda, Vidyā, jňāna, kalā etc.
- Contemporary words ‘knowledge’ and ‘skills’, ‘Arts’ as in the university titles; semantic change, ‘academic’ and ‘professional’ ‘education’. Education as HRT Vs Knowledge for Knowledge sake (Liberal Arts view)
- Vedic context of Knowledge and contemporary context of knowledge
- Contemporary studies of Vedic Knowledge; mapping, researching, validation, application etc.
- Oral (memory) sources and written (manuscript and published) sources
- A bird’s eye view of sources: Vedas, Vedāṅgas, Darśanas, Śāstras etc.
- Gathering /figuring out Vedic knowledge in ‘lost’ sources from the available (oral and written) sources
Mantra, Brāhmaṇa, Āraṇyaka, Upaniṣad (Upaniṣads as part of Brāhmaṇas and Āraṇyakas): Brāhmaṇas and Āraṇyakas as meta-Veda (Veda about Veda) and fountainhead of Mīmāṁsaka, Vedānta and other interpretations of Veda (as the earliest texts of interpretative science)
Discussion around oral and written
Discussion around counting Mantras: finite and infinite Vedas; Finiteness or infiniteness of Knowledge or Vedic Texts
3.1. Classification of Vedas: Implications of classification of Vedas for Indic Knowledge Studies
3.2. Vedas as containers of knowledge (contrast to the view as spells for rituals):
- Traditional view as revelation /discovery of fundamental principles underlying later developments; guiding spirit for later developments.
- Modern view (e.g. Arya Samaj Dayananda Saraswati) as a source of all satya-vidyās (true sciences) viewed in the model of modern sciences. Śrī Aurobindo’s view
● Intense mutuality between Vedas and Yajňas
● ‘Use’ of Vedas in Yajňas
● Vedas as motivating factor for Yajňas : Mīmāmsā view;
4.1. ‘Science’ and ‘Technology’ of Yajňa:
● Nature as yajňa (as the life process or processing by Agni in Virāṭpuruṣa’s body;
“yajňena yajňamayajanta devāḥ”), human yajňa as imitation of natural yajňa (“tāni
dharmāṇi prathamānyāsan”)
4.2. Classification of Yajňas:
● Nitya, Naimittika and Kāmya yajňas
● Śāntika (medicinal/healing) and Pauṣṭika (tonic /nourishing) yajňas
5.1. Śikṣā:
Original Context: Protection of Vedic pronunciation
Contemporary knowledge: Origin of the contemporary phonetics and phonology; study of phonation/articulatory phonetics; origin of Varṇamālā as a scientific table of phonemes in all Indian languages.5.2. Chandas:
Original Context: Protection of Vedic oral text and its prosody
Contemporary knowledge: Mathematics; binary number calculations; origin of zero; combinatronics etc.5.3. Vyākaraṇa:
Original Context: rakṣohāgamalaghvasandehāḥ prayojanam
Contemporary knowledge: Linguistics; origin of many modern general linguistic notions such as sandhi, internal and external sandhi, morpho-phonemics5.4. Nirukta:
Original Context: Protection of semantics of Vedas
Contemporary knowledge: Origin of many contemporary linguistic ideas, etymologies, theories of origin of words from noun and verb roots, multiple interpretations of the same expression, hermeneutics etc.5.5. Kalpa:
Original Context: Protection of Yajňa procedures
Contemporary knowledge: Mathematics, particularly geometry etc.5.6. Jyotiṣa:
Original Context: Protection of space and time knowledge in Vedas
Contemporary knowledge: Astronomy, meteorology etc.
6.1. Mīmāṁsā:
Original Context: Interpretation of Vedic texts towards Dharma and Karma (Yajňa)
Contemporary knowledge: Methods of exegesis, interpretative techniques, a certain approach of Vedic linguistics, linguistic cognition, knowledge organization, knowledge management etc.6.2. Vedānta:
Original Context: Interpretation of Vedic texts towards Brahman and Mokṣa
Contemporary knowledge: Vedic Psychology
Second Pair:
- 7.1. Nyāya:
Original context, Contemporary applicability - 7.2. Vaiśeṣika:
Original context, Contemporary applicability
Third Pair:
- 7.3. Sāṅkhya:
Original context, Contemporary applicability - 7.4. Yoga:
Original context, Contemporary applicability - 7.5. Sphoṭa as the 7 th Vaidika-darśana:
- Original context, Contemporary applicability
● Direct knowledge in non-narrative sections
● Direct Knowledge in narrative sections
● Indirect Knowledge in narrative sections (Epics and personalities, environmental understandings etc.)
● “Encyclopaedic Literature” –Northrop Frye
● ‘vyavahāravide’ of Kāvyas (contextual discussions of knowledge aspects)
● Artha-śāstra, Kāma-śāstra, Nāṭya-śāstra, Saṅgīta-śāstra, Alaṅkāra-śāstra, Ayurveda,
Vāstu, Citra-sūtra, Dhanurveda etc.
10.1. Catuṣṣaṣṭi-vidyāsthānas model:
10.2. Three cleansing sciences model:
Ayurveda – body cleansing
Yoga – mind cleansing
Vyākaraṇa – speech cleansing
10.3. Upaniṣadic (ādhyātmika/mokṣa-centric) model: Parāvidyā – aparāvidyā, vidyā-avidyā:
11.1. Subjective Sciences:
11.2. Objective Sciences:
11.3. Knowledge Sciences:
11.4. Contemporary classification: ‘Vedic Sciences’ model:
Vedic Health /Wellness Science | Ayurveda |
Vedic Linguistics | Language study in Vyākaraṇa |
Vedic Mathematics | Mathematics in Chandas, Sulba-sūtras |
Vedic Science of Aesthetics | Alaṅkara-śāstra |
Vedic Science of Logic | Nyāya |
Vedic Science of Public Administration | Artha-śāstra |
Vedic Science of Psychology | Ideas drawn from Yoga, Upaniṣhads, etc. |
Vedic Science of Ethics | Dharma related ideas drawn from various Vedic sources |
Scope for research on Vedic Knowledge systems through fieldwork, ethnography and other qualitative research methods