We often find ourselves very vociferous about our rich cultural heritage which once pervaded the whole world. At the same time, very little has been written about this topic which still remains as an area of darkness for most of us. The Hindu culture in the world, once it was abused as pagan and wiped out of the regions by the advent of Semitic religions, is now regaining its lost glory, though very slowly, as the ancient ‘nature-worshipping sites’ like Stonehenge in England still draws many aficionados who are in persistent search for their cultural roots.
The widely popular narrative is prevalent in the realm of history that the western culture, civilisation, polity and philosophy had been evolved from the Hellenic tradition. Apparently, while the present polity and governance of the west largely owe to the erstwhile Roman Empire and its philosophy is largely drawn from the Greeks. The book under review busts this myth as it categorically proves the Bharatiya imprints not only on people, religion, mythology, philosophy and civilisation of the Europe but also on its jurisprudence, language, literature, science, technology, art and trade.
The writer Shri Sudhakar Raje is a veteran journalist and renowned columnist who requires no forewords. Shri Raje, an author of many books, has penned a widely acclaimed satirical column titled ‘Satiricus’ which was an indispensable ingredient of Organiser Weekly over decades in which he dissected the then political scenarios and tore apart the masks of political buffoons.
This book answers many questions that any student of world cultural history might have. Drawing enormous backing from both Bharatiya and western historians and authors, the author delved into many books to substantiate his arguments and postulates. Researchers and historians like Will Durant, David Frawley, Sita Ram Goyal, PN Oak and many other scholars find space in the bibliography. The supportive evidence is many like etymological connections etc.
With the strong support of historical and archaeological evidence, the Bharatiya imprints on western societal life have been categorically proved. Countering an already established perception requires a profound research and exhaustive reference. The writer affirms that the mass migration of Hindus to Scandinavia eventually played an influential role in social and cultural life of the west. In his book The Theogony of the Hindus, reputed Scandinavian Indologist Count Biornstierna says, “It appears that Hindu settlers migrated to Scandinavia after the Mahabharat War.” So the antiquity of the west owes so much to the Eastern culture, especially to Hindu civilisation. Nowadays, evidently, even modern academicians agree to the fact that the very foundation of all the civilisations is built upon Vedic civilisation.
Of all, three portions that stand out are religion, philosophy and language. Europe’s philosophy is essentially Greek which traces its roots back to Bharatiya School of thoughts. For a case in point, consider the example of Pythagoras. We can find the reflections of Samkhya and Vedantic philosophy in his popular theorems and outlook. Lived in sixth century BCE, he believed that the whole world was based on ‘numbers’. He founded his philosophy on Sankhya school of philosophy which was shaped under Maharshi Kapila. The atomic theory, which is widely believed to have been propounded by Democritus, is now proved to be the brainchild of Kanada Maharshi, the founder of Vaiseshika School of philosophy. He lucidly conceived the basics of atomic theory in his seminal work Vaiseshika Sutra. In relation to this, Col. Olcott, founder president of Theosophical Society scholarly observes, “One has only to put side by side the teaching of Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Zeno, Hesiod, Cicero, Schoevola, Varro and Virgil with those who of Veda Vyas, Kapila, Gautama, Patanjali, Kanada, Jaimini, Narada, Panini, Marichi and many others we might mention, to be astonished at their identity of conceptions.”
Summing up the book, the author asserts his standpoint, Hindus civilised the Europe. Throughout the book, he explains that how the major aspects of European societal life from mathematics to metaphysics, astronomy to agriculture had been influenced by Hindu civilisation. A remarkable book in this genre, this is a fine successor of the greatest books in this genre written by Sita Ram Goel, PN Oak and the author himself. Books like this are much needed to keep the debate alive to remind both natives and westerners about our rich contribution to the humanity.
New Arrivals
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Kalpaz Publications;
Pp 244;
Rs 750
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India’s Unique Transformation Programme;
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The Arts of Kerala Kshetram;
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Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts & Gyan Publishing House; Pp 84; Rs 250
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