Vedic Treasures, India's gifts to the world - I
The most challenging question a parent faces from a small child is either “But why?” or “But why not?” I recall the exasperation on my mother’s face when I asked these questions, not once, not twice but over a hundred occasions. “WHY are we called Saraswats?”
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- Dr Usha K. Sharma
“ India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe’s languages: she was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all.”
Ref.: Will Durant, American writer and World Historian. Author of 10 volume “STORY OF CIVILISATION”.
It all started with CHILDHOOD CURIOSITY- a river named for the Goddess of Education?
The most challenging question a parent faces from a small child is either “But why?” or “But why not?” I recall the exasperation on my mother’s face when I asked these questions, not once, not twice but over a hundred occasions.
“WHY are we called Saraswats?”
“Our ancestors”, said my mother, ”were settled on the banks of the river Saraswati, and so we were called Saraswats”.
Soon I was in school, and learning Geography and History, and no one said anything about the river Saraswati.
Years down the line, I learned of the Triveni and of only TWO rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna, and the by-then-mythical Saraswati which had gone underground.
Back to the questions drawing board at home. “So”, I asked mother, “why are we not taught about the river Saraswati? how long ago did our ancestors live on the banks of the river Saraswati? How do we now know there WAS such a river? Why is not much more known about this?”
I had to be satisfied with that. Time passed, professional studies intervened, a taxing medical career, marriage and family, came up, and then it was my turn to be questioned as a mother.
By now, the Internet had come up, a few old fashioned search engines were present, slow and clunky, and not at all comprehensive- how spoiled we are now for all time to come !!!
Answers could be found nevertheless, and most of all my own childhood curiosity now appeared to be satisfied somewhat.
How wrong I was.
After the lapse of what feels like an aeon, the question of the Saraswati river began to draw the attention of the best scientists nationwide, and made regular headlines in respected dailies!!
And why??
Because, NASA had visualised from their powerful satellite imagery, what could ONLY be the sunken bed of a HUGE river stretching from the Himalayas towards the Rann of Kutch where it emptied into the Arabian Sea. Soon, ISRO had joined in.
SO!! How cool was that?? FINALLY, answers !!!
Did the Saraswati river actually exist or was it just a myth? Who lived on its banks? WHY were my ancestors found in Southern India if we had originally dwelt on the riverbank in the North?
My quest for information led me to reading many books, some purchased, some borrowed, some gifted – by authors who were economists, to politician authors, to researchers who came to India to learn about Her, fell in love with Her, and were changed by Her forever.
The most motivating was a video recorded talk by Sanjeev Sanyal, and the most fascinating was the book “The Sarasvati Civilisation”, by Dr. Lt. Gen(Retd.) G.D.Bakshi.
The most humbling was the depth of knowledge and commitment of non Indian authors such as Michael Danino, and Stephen Knapp, whose love for Bharat and passion to uncover Her glory left me stupefied. May their tribe increase.
The Sarasvati Civilisation is considered older than the Harappan, and offers fascinating insights into the unfathomed depths of Bharat’s Ancient culture- the magnificence of Her knowledge of mathematics, and her understanding of Space, atomic energy, aircraft technology and much more.
I was left enthralled, humbled, and exhilarated. This then is my heritage!!
India- Bharat- a land rich in intellectual and spiritual wealth, whose people are unaware of the greatness of their Motherland; a Nation that once accounted for almost a third of the World’s economy, ruined for centuries by invasions that looted and exploited Her. But Who had meanwhile left an indelible stamp on the World outside, with Her brilliant mathematicians, scientists, metallurgists, navigator sailors, engineers, architects, and of course weavers, sculptors, dancers, singers and artists.
I invite my readers in Bharat and the whole wide world, to come with me on a journey to learn why this wonderful heritage belonging to YOU and to ME, and to our CHILDREN, has inspired, even taught the World so many basic wonders, that are only NOW being acknowledged by the Western World: when We ourselves are ignorant of it, can we wonder that the World is just learning of Her greatness?
Readers, its time to inspire the world again!!
“Our real ties are with the Bharatavarsha which lies outside our textbooks. If the history of this tie for a substantially long period gets lost, our soul loses its anchorage. After all, we are no weeds or parasitic plants in India. Over many hundreds of years, it is our roots, hundreds and thousands of them, that have occupied the very heart of Bharatavarsha. But, unfortunately, we are forced to learn a brand of history that makes our children forget this very fact. It appears as if we are nobody in India; as if those who came from outside alone matter”.
REF:
Excerpts from a Translation of RABINDRANATH TAGORE- ESSAY (1898), ‘ BHARATBASHER ITIHAS’ or “THE HISTORY OF BHARATVARSHA”
Full text of essay by Dr. Rabindranath Tagore available on the website of The International Forum for India’s Heritage at http://www.ifih.org/articles/bharatavarsha.html
Quoted by
Michel Danino in “The Problem of Indian History”, DIALOGUE, Vol 13, No.4: April-June 2012.
Bharati Web
