Vishwaguru

 

Of late, "Vishwaguru" is a term that one hears and reads more and more frequently in speeches and in writings of the high, the mighty and the wise in India today.  The term denotes at once an aspiration and an assertion. The aspiration refers to India becoming a leading intellectual and moral beacon for the world to follow.  And underlying the assertion lie two beliefs. One is the claim that India in the distant past was a Vishwaguru , a fountainhead of knowledge and wisdom far ahead of the rest of the world. The second belief is that India is poised to become Vishwaguru again and that she is ready to reclaim that status in the not-too-distant future. For some, we already are there. In support of India’s past pre-eminent status are cited various claims of scientific achievements in subjects ranging from mathematical and astronomical sciences and some assertion about existence of airplanes, plastic surgery, genetics, nuclear weapons, television and internet to name a few.

A cursory look at the evolution of science over ages shows significant achievements in the ancient times in two areas across several cultures and civilizations. These are Mathematics and Astronomy. Mathematics because it was concerned with many practical issues of measurements of quantities, weights, areas and volumes etc. for activities like building houses, canals, temples, monuments like pyramid etc. and economic and administrative activities. Studies on early and prehistoric civilizations such as Indus valley and ancient Indian, Egyptian, Greek, Babylonian, Chinese, Arabian, Mayan etc show plenty of evidence of existence of mathematical knowledge such as numerical symbols of some kind, computational methods for area, volume, algebraic methods etc including such formulae as value of pi, Pythagoras theorem etc . Astronomy attracted the attention of humans from early ages out of sheer curiosity and awe of celestial bodies and their mysterious movements. Our ancestors attributed supernatural powers to these heavenly bodies to influence fate of humans on earth (astrology). Observations through naked eyes and using mathematical tools helped in recording and predicting their movements. Once again, all the ancient cultures show evidence of astronomical records of celestial motions and events like eclipse. Many of these achievements across cultures were independent of each other, given little contacts and interactions during that early era. As time progressed interaction between civilizations through trade and travelers helped exchange knowledge that led to further evolution, maturing and codification of mathematics and astronomy. These two streams of science could make remarkable progress in prehistoric times because they did not need any materials or special tools (telescopes came much later) or special processes as they were based primarily on symbols, logic and painstaking observations. Mathematics and Astronomy were the subjects (among others) studied and taught in the Takhashila and Nalanda seats of learning in the Indian subcontinent as also in Plato's Academy in Greece and in ancient Chinese Schools. Ancient Indian civilizations have indisputably contributed to these two branches of scientific streams. And so have the others and it is difficult (and pointless in my view) to apportion credits. There is no evidence of pre-eminence of ancient India vis-à-vis other civilizations.

Modern science and technology is an edifice built brick by brick from ancient time, from incremental contributions by several civilizations, individuals and increasing exchange of knowledge and ideas. Complex products such as airplanes and television require a build-up of multiple mature technologies, materials and processes (aerodynamics, fuel, navigation, control systems, components, metallurgy, machining and so forth). Flying machines were what our ancestor desired and imagined perhaps looking at birds. To believe that our ancestors actually built such machines in absence of any evidence (barring some textual references) is a figment or rather flight of imagination driven by desire to claim great scientific achievements. Scientific methods to confirm a hypothesis or a theory concerning ancient history needs archeological evidence, artifacts and independent demonstration using materials /tools of the concerned historic era. It is bad enough when sundry politicians make such claims but it becomes worse when "committed" academics on the cue start digging into ancient texts to prove the claim. And it becomes cringeworthy when such assertion are made in science and technology conferences and seminars.

Medicinal science is another area where irrational and absurd claims are made. Ancient health systems of preventive and curative therapies based on herbs and other natural substances found in all cultures do have a real empirical basis for many common ailments but surgery and transplants are another matter requiring complex equipment, materials and so on.

India as the world's largest democracy was the standard catchphrase used by our leaders in international fora and readily accepted by the international community. Added to this now is a new slogan of India being the mother of democracy having a great tradition of democracy for thousands of years. This was pronounced by our leader in an international forum. Academics are now busy searching puranas, Vedas, h pre-historic accounts and scriptures and quoting terms like " ganatantra" "Samitis"  'Sabhas" and examples of non- dynastic instances to prove this. Some forms of limited democratic practices are to be found in all old cultures including here, ranging from what sociologists call " tribal democracy" to consultations and elections limited within a small ruling elite. For instance, in ancient Greece, where the word democracy originated, democratic systems excluded all females and servants and slaves. Present democracy based on universal suffrage evolved through several stages and  different forms and has no parents or one father or one mother. Our leaders believing in over glorification of the past (with reflected self-glory) and with a penchant for acronyms and slogans will make new claims, coin new slogans and catchphrases to impress the international community who will occasionally make polite noises and acquiesce. India after all is the most populous country important as a huge market and geopolitically strategically located. (Very recently, a Ukrainian minister appealed to India as "Vishwaguru" for support in the on-going war since they are fighting for the same principles that India upholds!)  

It is one thing to be proud of one's nation ( or a state or religion for that matter) and quite another to portray India's past  as being superior to the rest of the world in all aspects such as science, language, literature and arts, statecraft, medicine and so on. This presumed pre-eminence in the distant past is sometimes being justified as an attempt to boost national pride. However it seems to be making Indians complacent, arrogant and supercilious. We talk and lecture others of वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम while in our own country we are having issues accepting all as one irrespective of religion or caste. (Incidentally वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम is also the theme of this year's G20 summits , whose routine rotational presidency that India acquired is being touted as a hard- won trophy and as the world community's acceptance of India as a world Guru. This is being celebrated across the country in manner of a victory festival. India's turn was initially in 2021 and was postponed to 23 apparently to be close to the Indian general elections in slated in mid-2024).  We talk of India being mother of democracy in international fora while in our land democratic institutions and principles are being trampled upon with impunity. We talk of governance transparency outside and here the government is not ready to   share information except in sealed envelopes. 

The whole notion of Viswaguru sounds to me rather pompous and conceited as the very term presupposes a wise teacher and an ignoramus learner. This is not an effort to belittle Indian traditions but putting up a case for rational thinking and dispassionate intellectual integrity . It is time we learn to learn rather than lecture and pontificate , it is time we stop wallowing in past glories, true or imagined and start introspecting. We might have given the world "Yoga", but we must have humility to accept that we are and were not omniscient. Rather than self-proclaiming ourselves as Vishwaguru let us wait till others bestow it on us.