The Big Question Of Vedic Planes and Modern Arrogance!

The latest controversy, or discussion topic : Ancient Indian advances, sciences... and the attendant noise around it is giving rise to claims and counter claims of various and sundry theories on either side; which is sad, since this is only taking the attention away from the need of the hour! 

There is no conspiracy either way, it is just a cultural backlash that has started, as a new and confident India begins to question the European version of history. This is also strengthened by a politico-religious movement, on which I shall remain silent, given that I do not comment on Religion as a rule. What has happened is that a good number of so-called European facts have been proven wrong; add to this the rise of the Hindu right wing, which has been driven by a repression during British times, when Indian culture was systematically targeted in everything-  religion, music, arts everything. The pendulum is now swinging back the other way; and will settle somewhere in the middle. 

The other side of the equation is just ridicule, and arrogance. From where I stand, both sides are wrong. The ridicule side tends to forget that the version of history they love to extol as Gospel has been proven wrong on innumerable occasions already, and is thus not infallible. Further, as science gets more and more advanced, timelines are being revised, old "facts" are being rediscovered to be pure myth, and so on. As one side rises, in response the other side rises equally in the other direction, creating a ludicrous dance full of abject stupidity and arrogance on both sides of the coin! 

THE EXPLANATION : 

First, let us look at Modern India. We Indians have an unfortunate tendency to accept anything in written form as gospel, without attendant analysis of its accuracy. And if the source of this writing is Western, then it has to be accurate. Unfortunately for such people, any number of so called western "facts" about India have been laid bare as complete lies, and malicious lies at that.

Be it casteism, or Sati, all we know about it are lies, blunt and straight. You can say that these things cannot be proven; in that case, look at Economics. There are any number of period documents : documents written in the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s testify to the reality. The fact of the matter is plainly evident - that India was one of the most developed - in every thing from economics to manufacturing. 

My point in this preamble is that it has now been proven that a good bit of western history was pure myth, and based on deliberate lies. And add to that the fact that the West is, till date, racist and has no real understanding of the orient. The icing on the cake is this  observation from one of my earlier articles :

"3 continents were exterminated; several civilizations gutted into nothingness; Africans reduced to animals, chained and sold as slaves, and some who survived - like the Chinese and the Indians - were subjugated with a bestial and venal ferocity that involved taking away every dignity from them; so fierce was the repression that its after effects are still apparent 66 years after independence. As I said, go ahead and tom-tom your achievements. But keep a thought somewhere in your hearts for the sins of the Europeans, as outlined above. No one else in documented history has done as many" 

And it is this lovely civilization's views we are now accepting. Well, the whole world can if it wants to. I refuse, blunt frank and straight. The Europeans versions have already been proven as total lies on several points; how can then we accept that the rest is true? On one side, we have a version from a source now known to be bigoted, which has been proven wrong on several points; on the other, we have a literary record that hasn't even been  studied properly and in an unbiased manner, and which has no proofs either way - not in the modern sense. From an impartial stance, given the European record of lies, rape, bloodshed, and bigotry, I think the Europeans are wrong. I dont accept anything they state, period. Not on Indian History, at any rate.  I dont lay claim that the right wing Hindus are right, but I just dont accept Western versions as the full truth, period.

ANCIENT INDIA

With that. we finally enter the dragon. When was Ashok born? 300-400 BC? How about I show you a spotless analysis that proves Ashok was born 1200 years before this? That this timeline does not tally with Western-written  history does not necessarily mean it is inaccurate; it only means that  questions still remain, unanswered questions - especially since the  logic presented  in the research that laid this claim forward is not so easy to dismiss

Just 10 years ago, the timeline for Indian civilization was around 2000BC. As on today, that has been pushed back to 7380BC at a minimum, as per the ASI. There are several sites that have been dated to 6000 - 7000 BC. Ten years ago, everyone would have laughed and ridiculed. 40 years ago, Aryan Invasion was a hard fact; now most people know that it is a pure myth. I could go on and on. 

Note this paragraph from my review of a book "What India Should Know" : "The  last section of the book is a veritable treasure trove of our literary  history, with a succinct presentation of our Vedic Literature, The  Concepts of Sanatan Dharma, and Vedic Society. This section is the piece de resistance of the book, as one wonders at the level of development and thought  processes of our ancestors. At least in my case, this section has  kindled a desire to know more, and to learn more. The last 4-5 chapters  deal exclusively with Vedic Society and Literature, and will take your  breath away in the simplicity of their concepts, and of the clarity of  their thoughts. Any description from my side would be superfluous, as  also wholly inadequate. "

This is a level of analysis and thought that we are still struggling to understand; so brilliant and stunning are the concepts, so advanced in thought, that one marvels at the development of those intellectuals, who were far more advanced than we are today. This is a level of intellect and knowledge that we cannot even grasp. Fine, we dont have evidence of quite a few things stated therein, but that does not mean we reject those statements. 

Furthermore, if we accept either the statements of modern people who have studied those original manuscripts, or if we accept the original manuscripts without proof - then we have not understood the manuscripts; then we are not worthy of this knowledge, we are not fully enlightened; our path- please dont call it a religion - our path of Sanaatan Dharm explicitly teaches you to question life, and focus on your Karma. The moment we start accepting anything without questioning it, we go wrong. 

My point : challenge the right wingers of Hinduism; that is what Sanaatani thoughts instruct you to do; you can and should question if your intellect does not accept it. But you cannot ridicule - if you ridicule, you are showing your arrogance  and ignorance both. And the modern metrosexual Indian male and female loves to ridicule such thoughts. The focus should be on the tragedy that is unfolding; we dont require this nonsense. We require a quiet, impartial study to get at the truth behind the many, many unanswered questions of Ancient India; not this rubbish!

The other side - well, the less said the better. My only advice to them : at times, silence is golden. And when you do speak, do so with irrefutable proof. A lot of genuine questions remain over the real history of India, that is a fact. Rather than scream dramatic claims from rooftops, it is better to focus on chronicling, studying and furthering the cause of Vedic studies in India, and setting the record straight in a proper and defined above-board method. 

I dont hold the European and American civilization in any regard {contempt is closer to the feeling I have}; neither do I accept their version of Indian History. I have an open mind, and am willing to wait for proof to manifest itself. Even if it means waiting a lifetime. It is possible that what the right wingers are saying is at least partially true on some points; the reverse is also equally plausible. We just dont know enough. What is important is that the true reality be placed before India, and Western misinformation identified and purged. The saddest part is that in this idiotic battle, truth is the only casualty; truth requires an impartial analysis without vested interests. 

Earlier, Europeans ensured obfuscation; now the reverse is happening, with right wingers making unsubstantiated claims, and the Westernised Indians ridiculing them!  Will we ever know the reality? I sometimes wonder... for one thing is certain, we dont know a lot of the reality of Ancient India. Too many unanswered questions remain; way too many. The European version is all cockeyed; right from the Aryan nonsense to other stuff.