Knock Knock !

Knock Knock !

Who's there?

Culture.

Culture??….culture who?!

Just ask your own self- “What does culture mean to me?!“ Majority would dismiss it as a waste of time (after all how does it matter whatever it might mean!) and those who will reflect on it will either get a a religion in mind or a recollection of some politician or teacher giving a lecture on it… basically telling us that either we dont know or we have forgotten what our culture really is.

Lord Macaulay’s in the house of commons stated in 1835

"I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation."

Just a minute…

Before you raise any questions on the authenticity of the above quote (which is apparently a highly debated issue on the web with both sides to it -believers and non- believers) …. I’d like to say that this is an altogether different debate, whether Lord Macaulay did make such a statement or not.  But never-the-less the contents of this quote are worth pondering. Infact, a simple self assessment is all that is required to bring out the truth Take a look at the following and see how many you knew...

(There are a lot of things which we do not know about our own predecessors as  these were never mentioned to us and there are things which were called as ‘myths’ but only now we are getting evidence of they being facts!)

1.   Did you know that the ‘Pythagoras’ theorem was stated long time “before Pythagoras was even born?

You got that right- The theorem bearing the name of the Greek mathematician Pythagoras is found in the Shatapatha Brahmana as well as the Sulvasutras, the Indian mathematical treatise, written centuries before Pythagoras was born.

Voltaire, the famous French writer and philosopher) stated that "Pythagoras went to the Ganges to learn geometry." Abraham Seidenberg, author of the authoritative "History of Mathematics," credits the Sulba Sutras as inspiring all mathematics of the ancient world from Babylonia to Egypt to Greece.

And there are many other such mathematical concepts, examples include The concept of zero, the place value system of numeration, square roots, cube roots and the powers of ten were known to the ancient Indians.

The invention of the decimal system had revolutionary significance. Ancient Rome was a great civilisation, but its people were uncomfortable with numbers above 1000. They wrote their numbers in alphabets, I standing for 1, V for 5, X for 10, L for 50, C for 100, D for 500 and M for 1000. There was no alphabet expressing a number higher than 1000. If one would have asked an ancient Roman to write the number one million, he would have gone crazy: to write one million he would have to write the letter M, which stands for millennium (or one thousand), one thousand times. On the other hand, under our system, to express one million we have just to write the number one followed by six zeroes. We could thus express astronomically high numbers by adding zeroes. In the Roman numerals there is no zero. Zero was ancient India's invention.

2.   Did you know that "Vedic Cosmology is the only one in which the time scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology."? ( I am not saying this, rather this is the quote of a famous American astronomer- Carl Sagan )

French astronomer Jean-Claude Bailly corroborated the antiquity and accuracy of the Vedic astronomical measurements as "more ancient than those of the Greeks or Egyptians." And that, "the movements of the stars calculated 4,500 years ago, does not differ by a minute from the tables of today."

Nobel laureate Count Maurice Maeterlinck wrote of: "a Cosmogony which no European conception has ever surpassed."

The ninety foot tall astronomical instrument known as Samrat Yantra, built by King Sawai Jai Singh of Jaipur, measures time to within two seconds per day.

Samrat Yantra or equatorial sundial. It consists of a straight ramp or gnomon, about 30 m high, aligned north south and elevated at an angle of 27 degrees above the northern horizon. The latitude of Jaipur is 27 degrees north, thus the ramp points toward the celestial pole. On each side of the ramp there are two quarter circles, or quadrants, fashioned in masonry. The quadrants are centered on the nearest edge of the ramp.

Cosmology and other scientific accomplishments of ancient India spread to other countries along with mercantile and cultural exchanges.There are almost one hundred references in the Rig Veda alone to the ocean and maritime activity. This is confirmed by Indian historian R. C. Majumdar, who stated that the people of the Indus-Sarasvata Civilization engaged in trade with Sooma and centers of culture in western Asia and Crete.

3.      Did you know-  Modern metallurgists have not been able to produce iron of comparable quality to the 22 foot high Iron Pillar of Delhi, which is the largest hand forged block of iron from antiquity.

 

 

This pillar stands at mute testimony to the highly advanced scientific knowledge of metallurgy that was known in ancient India. Cast in approximately the 3rd century B.C., the six and a half ton pillar, over two millennia has resisted all rust and even a direct hit by the artillery of the invading army of Nadir Shah during his sacking of Delhi in 1737.

4.    Did you know that in our culture- such advanced was the thinking of our Vedic ancestors, people of such high moral values that even something like a war had a specific code of conduct to be followed?

*  War used to take place only from sunrise to sunset

* Unarmed people were never attacked

* Not to destroy or even go to enemy’s agricultural fields

* Not to even look at women & children.

 5. Did you know- What some Historians used to call  as “mythical” River Saraswati (which has been mentioned several times in Vedas) is no myth anymore?….ISRO has traced it entirely though under the surface

Using modern scientific methods, such as satellite imagery and dating techniques, it can be shown that the ancient statements of the Vedas are factual, not mythical as erroneously propagated. High resolution satellite images have verified descriptions in The Rig Veda of the descent of the ancient Sarasvati River from it's source in the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea.

The Satellite image (above) clearly shows the Indus-Sarasvata river system extending from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea. Here the Indus River is on the left, outlined in blue, while the Sarasvati River basin is outlined in green. The black dots are the many archeological sites or previous settlements along the banks of the now dry Sarasvati River.

Vedic Sarasvati -No more a debatable point - http://www.scribd.com/doc/7571528/Vedic-Saraswati-No-More-a-Debatable-Point

 6. Did you know the ancient 'mythological' city of Dwarka has been discovered-

Marine archaeology has been utilized in India off the coast of the ancient port city of Dwarka in Gujarat. An entire submerged city at Dwarka, the ancient port city of Lord Krishna with its massive fort walls, piers, warfs and jetty has been found in the ocean as described in the Mahabharata and other Vedic literatures.

Dr. S. R. Rao, formerly of the Archaeological Survey of India, has pioneered marine archaeology in India. Marine archaeological findings seem to corroborate descriptions in the Mahabharata of Dvaraka as a large, well-fortified and prosperous port city, which was built on land reclaimed from the sea, and later taken back by the sea. This lowering and raising of the sea level during these same time periods of the 15^th and 16^th centuries B.C.E. is also documented in historical records of the country of Bahrain.

Amongst the extensive underwater discoveries were the massive Dwarka city wall, a large door-socket and a bastion from the fort wall.

   

Dwarka city wall

door-socket

a bastion from the fort wall

Two rock-cut slipways of varying width, extending from the beach to the intertidal zone, a natural harbor, as well as a number of olden stone ship anchors were discovered, attesting to Dvaraka being an ancient port city.

slipway

ship anchor

   

The three headed motif on this conch-shell seal (below), found in the Dvaraka excavations, corroborates the reference in the scripture Harivamsathat every citizen of Dvaraka should carry a mudra or seal of this type.

All these underwater excavations add further credibility to the validity of the historical statements found in the Vedic literatures.

Lost city 'could rewrite history'- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1768109.stm

7. Did you know - Plastic surgery was invented in India in the 6th century B.C.; Westerners ‘discovered’ it only about 200 years ago.

Sushruta is regarded as the father of Indian surgery and he invented cataract surgery, plastic surgery etc.  many centuries before it was invented by the westerners.  In his book Sushruta Samhita he has mentioned in great detail about the medicines and surgeries, including dozens of instruments used in surgeries.  Sushrut said that to be a good surgeon one has to have a good knowledge of anatomy. Another eminent name is Charak, who wrote ancient Indian ayurvedic text Charaka Samhita. In this connection it may be mentioned that in the London Science Museum in one floor relating to medicine, there is mention of the various achievements in medicine in ancient India including the surgical instruments used by Sushruta.

8. Did you know - Those who introduced English education in our country are now making sanskrit compulsory in their schools....

In the heart of London, a British school has made Sanskrit compulsory subject for its junior division because it helps students grasp math, science and other languages better.

“This is the most perfect and logical language in the world, the only one that is not named after the people who speak it. Indeed the word itself means ‘perfected language.” –Warwick Jessup, Head, Head, Sanskrit department

“The Devnagri script and spoken Sanskrit are two of the best ways for a child to overcome stiffness of fingers and the tongue,” says Moss. “Today’s European languages do not use many parts of the tongue and mouth while speaking or many finger movements while writing, whereas Sanskrit helps immensely to develop cerebral dexterity through its phonetics.”

http://www.charityfocus.org/blog/upload/2008/Sanskrit.pdf

9. Did you know-  Dhyan Foundation successfully demonstrated clairvoyance (the sixth sense)  at the Indian Medical Association, Mumbai.  After which the medical fraternity gave us in writing - "Our perception about yoga and the abilities of a yogi has changed for the positive."
http://www.dhyanfoundation.com/dhyan-foundation-ima-certification.php

So how many of these did you know? And what if I say this list is just the tip of the iceberg… (do your own research on this and youl surprise your own self) It is high time we come out of our stereotypes and rediscover our own culture, which is no doubt ancient but at the same time truly advanced. The ancient seers knew all aspects of the manifested creation and more!

And the uniqueness of our culture lies in the fact that even today we can know and experience the strength (the strength “Lord Macaulay’s quote”  talks about) of our culture because it lies inside each one of us.So all one needs to do is to know ones own self but that can happen only under Guru sanidhya.... Historians say we know very little of our Vedic culture but the fact is that even today we can choose to know it! 

(PS-  Mind you for this you ought to find a Guru and not some smart businessman trying to sell you something! So here's a quick check list...

Signs of a Guru

• A Guru exudes what he talks. He practically experiences and radiates the phenomenal glow and attraction that is associated with the state. When you are in the presence of your Guru, you experience the same attraction within you and feel healthy and glowing.
• A Guru is above the attractions of the five senses; he desires nothing in the physical world, yet can achieve anything by just a thought. He is in a state of vairagya. When you meet your Guru, you experience the same vairagya within you.
•  When you hold the hand of your Guru, truths of creation are revealed to you. You start experiencing and interacting with energies that run the creation.
•  A Guru is like a mirror for you. He will not try to impress you or do sweet talk. He will make you see your truth so that you may rise above.

(some content has been taken from- http://www.archaeologyonline.net/ and http://sanskritdocuments.org/articles/ScienceTechSanskritAncientIndiaMGPrasad.pdf