Introduction:

Ours is one of the most ancient civilization in the world. To civilize is to quit the barbaric wilderness and to come together to live in a systematic and well-mannered way. To live systematically is to organize not only material and popular resources but also mental resources. As Hegel says whatever we see in the material world is the manifestation of the mental world. Things are first created in mind. Thus, organization of knowledge is also a primary condition of any successful civilization.

Indian civilization too gave a lot of emphasis to the knowledge. We have a treasure of intellectual literature. The most ancient books in the world – The Vedas itself literally mean ‘The Knowledge’.

In the contemporary times, we witness the hegemony of Western Knowledge System. A lot of post-colonial and post-modern thinkers have complained of it. It has stirred a drive to look into the respective indigenous knowledge systems and appreciates their uniqueness and insight. Let us learn a little about our Indian Knowledge System.

Indian Knowledge System

Knowledge and its Kind:

Three terms are very closely associated with the idea of knowledge in IKS (Indian Knowledge System). They are

1) Darshan - It is the philosophy. The viewpoint and perspective.

2) Gyan - It is knowledge. The philosophy leads to certain kinds of knowledge. Gyan could be of two: 

(a) Observational knowledge - It deals with facts gathered by our sensory organs. It is objective. Thus, this is ‘bahirmukhi’ , that is, outward seeking.

b) Experiential Knowledge - It deals with knowledge gathered from our experience and is subjective. Thus, this is ‘antarmukhi’ i.e. inward seeking.

Thus, IKS recognizes two ways in which we know the world. We know it both for what it is and also how we see it.

3) Vidya - It is the ‘discipline’. The philosophy and the information is systemized into a pedagogy or discipline for the purpose of research and reflection. It is the organized knowledge. Vidya is of two types:-
(a) Para Vidya - It is concerned the metaphysical domain, that is, relating to God or beyond this world.
(b) Apara Vidya - It is concerned with the material domain or this world.

Constitution of Knowledge: How is Knowledge Created?

The knowledge is constituted in the mind. The premise is that there is an inner self (antargyata) that builds its own perception of the knowledge that it receives.

1. Input – The knowledge is gathered by indriya (senses).
2. Process – The information gathered is processed by mann (mind) and buddhi (intellect).
3. Output - The processed knowledge becomes a part of the ‘alert self’ (chitta). It becomes a part of your reality.

Knowledge is also contributed by:

• Perception - Indian Knowledge System allows the freedom of individual interpretation. This gives the element of dynamism to the system.
• Argumentation - It also encourages argumentation using ‘tarka’(logic). There used to be ‘Shastrarth’, that is, the organization of philosophical debates. Intellectuals participated in it in which they would interpret the scriptures and argue with one another over the most apt meaning of them.
• Meditation - Indian Knowledge System encourages deep reflection over the acquired knowledge.

Storing the Knowledge: Knowledge Preservation

Oral Culture- As mentioned before, the knowledge is constituted in the mind. Thus, it is stored in the mind and not outside. The knowledge is transmitted to the shishya (student) by guru (teacher). The text is also presented in a structured and layered format so it is easy to memorize. In Panini’s Asthadhyayi the grammatical rules are presented in forms of sutra or formulas. It is very mnemonical. The idea was that the mind is the biggest library and the fastest processor.

Many old texts like Vedas were Smriti literature because it was produced from memories. Therefore, Vedas are called ‘apaurashiya’, that is, impersonal, not created by a person. Even in the contemporary times, we have a folk culture in India. The thousands of home remedies that we know, we know because they have been passed on from generations.

Maintaining the Knowledge

As time passes, some things withstand the test of time, others have to be molded and reshaped while some have to be discarded.

The texts have to be maintained and revised over time. In IKS there are seven mechanisms for text renewal and maintenance.

1. Commentary - it is a review of work.
2. Reduction - it is a re-arrangement of the texts.
3. Adaptation - It is taking inspiration from someone’s work and adding it to your own.
4. Recension - It is a critical revision.
5. Translation - It is a production of a work in different languages.
6. Popular exposition - This is a folk tradition of ‘katha-pravachana parampara’. People engage, explain, narrate, verify, and illustrate the knowledge. Even today, this tradition is very popular, and discourses on Vedas, and Gita Ramayana happen in front of a huge audience.
7. Re-creation - It is the extraction of a theme and representing it in various ways. For example, a lot of plays have been derived from epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana.

Institutionalizing the Knowledge: Creating Disciplines

Creation of disciplines is important to every knowledge system. In IKS, knowledge domains were institutionalized in 18 vidyas (disciplines) and 64 kalas (craft). Much to our dismay, a lot of our texts have been destroyed by invaders. Nevertheless, it’s still rich.

The domain pertaining to vidyas/ disciplines are vast enough to include sciences of various kinds—medicine, biology, veterinary science, military science, agriculture, metallurgy, shipbuilding, weapon making, and mining to name a few. That apart, philosophy, ethics, economy, poetics, and polity are also present.

Here is the list of 18 vidyas:

1. Vedas
2. Puranas
3. Nyaya (Justice)
4. Mimansa
5. Dharmashastra and Vedanga
6. Phonetics
7. Phonetics
8. Astronomy
9. Grammar
10. Ritual
11. Philology
12. Ayurveda
13. Medicine
14. Dhanurveda
15. Weaponry
16. Music
17. Ghandarveda
18. Architecture

There are 64 kalas or crafts. Crafts are applied sciences. Crafts are equivalent to ‘arts’ in IKS. Most of the crafts are derived from the ordinary activities of life. Craftsmen are ‘sadhak’ or the devotee of their art, and they perform their skill as if doing sadhna (worship). Thus, skilled craftsmen were immensely respected by the public and they treated their art with equal respect. The guru(master) would make his shishya (student) do abhyasa (practice) and teach the value of ekakgrata (concentration). Here is a list of some popular kalas:-

1. Calligraphy
2. Cooking
3. Dancing
4. Wrestling
5. Hunting
6. Magic
7. Making Medicine
8. Hair-dressing
9. Body care
10. Gardening
11. Painting
12. Performing Puja
13. Training Memory
14. Training animals and birds
15. Exercise and Yoga
16. Leather work
17. Making ornaments
18. Making scents
19. Flower arrangement
20. Speech-making

Features of the Indian Knowledge System: What Makes it Unique?

A) Constructivism - 

IKS has put a lot of effort into structuring the ideas and knowledge. Take any discipline, the knowledge is very systemized. For example, if you want to research on poetics, the discipline of Poetics, you will find there are six schools, their respective thinkers and text.

School→ (Thinkers) →[ Text]

1. Rasa→ (Bharat ) → [Natyashastra]
2. Alankara→ (Dandin)→ [Kavya-alankara]
3. Riti→ (Vamana)→ [Kava alankar]
4. Dhavani→ (Anand vardhan)→ [Dhvanyaloka]
5. Vakrokti→ (Kuntaka)→ [Vakroktijivita]
6. Auchitya→ (Khsemendra)→ [Auchityavichara]

B) No Single Given Truth - 

IKS believes in the ‘plurality of truths’. Truth is there, but the truth is multiple. This plurality of truth enables multiple paths to knowledge. One may not conform to world views, societal or communal views. There can be multiple epistemologies and ontologies.

C) Oneness of All - 

Despite the fact that there is the presence of many truths and different perspectives, the highest knowledge is ‘that all are one’. Oneness of All does not believe in differentiating between Self and Other. Something, which is very popular in Western individualism and Orientalist narrative. It believes in ‘Ekatvabudhdhi’ (synthesizing intellect), that means instead of opposing different perspectives, collecting and understanding the varieties of perspectives.

D) Power Over Oneself - 

The Western Knowledge System relates knowledge with power. This has encouraged them to develop sciences, to tame the nature, and harness it to the advantage of the man. However, the Indian Knowledge System believes in power over oneself as opposed to the idea of power over others. Power over oneself, will free one from dukha (sadness) and lead one to moksha (salvation).

E) Ethical framework of IKS - 

Knowledge is the means to dharma. Although, it is difficult to literally translate dharma. It is always assumed to be close to religion, values, morals, ethics, and duty. Dharma comes from the Sanskrit root ‘dhri’ meaning ‘to uphold’. Dharma upholds you and binds the society together, if you don’t live by dharma you’re no better than an animal, and an adharmik( not abiding by dharma) society with be doomed into anarchy and chaos. One is encouraged to protect his dharma, and his dharma will protect him. Every person has some dharma by virtue of him being a human, also there are some role-based dharma. Like dharma of a father, mother, teacher or king are different.

F) Knowledge Not for Few - 

The unpopular misperception that is held about knowledge in India is that it has been for a few. However, there was a scholarly tradition of ‘katha parvhachan’ (story-discourse) to pass knowledge to the ordinary masses in a simple and lucid way. Also, if you notice we Indians have a lot of analogies and proverbs to explain day-to-day activities and interpersonal and familial relationships. Furthermore, a lot of terminologies of our knowledge system are prevalent in our daily or spoken language , for example, jada; chetna; chitta, sanskara, atma; dhayana; chintan; manan; budhdhi et cetra. Thus, one of the most beautiful value of our Indian civilization was the democratization of knowledge.

G) Cyclicity - 

The Indian Knowledge System believes in cyclicity and not linearity. Unlike, Western Knowledge System that believes in evolution and progress with passage of time, Indian Knowledge System believes that humanity may be growing towards decay but that is not the end. If you have ever observed it, a lot of religion predicts an apocalyptic end of the world, Judgment Day for instance. Hinduism believes after the end, there is a new start. After Kaliyuga, new good age will begin. Thus, there is a cycle where after humanity reaches its worst, it is made to start from the scratch.

Satyuga→Tretayuga→Dwaparyuga→Kaliyuga→Satyuga

Another instance is of ‘Karma’. The Karmic philosophy of you gets what you give talks about another such cycle. You may have heard about ‘You Live Only Once’, however, in India, you must have heard about people talking about past life and the afterlife. If you are fortunate, people say, “ Oh! You must have done good things in your previous life.” Also, you would have heard people saying in criticism, “ Fear God, you won’t get away doing so many bad things. You won’t be spared in your next life.” Take another example of re-birth, you must have heard people talking about companionship for seven lives in the context of their marriage.

Thus, the philosophy of cyclicity is very intrinsic to Indian Knowledge System and has trickled down in the general public through folk culture.

Conclusion:

Why Should we talk about Various Knowledge Systems?

We live in a modern world where a lot of post-modern criticism is coming to defend indigenous knowledge and value system. The purpose is not to discard and do away with Western Knowledge System but to acknowledge and appreciate the native.

Looking at the history of the world, a lot of countries were colonized not just territorially and economically but also mentally. Such civilizations and societies were held back from their social and economic development, the impact of which they still face. But, it would not have been possible without inducing an inferiority complex in the colonized population. So, their history was distorted and manipulated to the advantage of the colonizers. Their rich heritage was hidden or destroyed.

You don’t know the culture by learning about their clothes, mannerism, and language, but by understanding the ancestral wisdom behind the tradition. These traditions are tested as time passes, and only by understanding the wisdom behind them you mold and reshape them to apply in contemporary times.

Our tradition has provided us with not only a map but also a moral compass. There’s a lot to be proud about whether it’s our rich diversity, geographical resourcefulness, glorious heritage et cetra and we have to use it to push us forward. Why copy the global north, when we can be unique? Why not appreciate different cultures and take pride in ours and talk about alternative ways to develop? 

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