Attractive Arguments are Distractive!

 ATTRACTIVE ARGUMENTS ARE DISTRACTIVE. 

If an X god cries on death of his wife, how can he be God? If a Y god takes help of monkeys to save his wife, how can he save you?

The problem with these approaches is not the questioning, our tradition is supports curiosity based questioning. 

Infact most of our scriptures are born out of question-answer dialogue between a disciple and a teacher. Many Upanishads, Bhagvad Geeta, Ayurvedic texts are a result of deep curiosity of the disciple and a kind-hearted guru.

Ignorance of important aspects of one's tradition, political/social scenario and other aspects is definitely our fault. But on the other hand, Knowing everything is not possible as well. Therefore in my understanding, the bigger problem is not the lack of knowledge, but not knowing where to seek the right answers from and discriminating true knowledge from false claims.

Nyaya shastra (one of the schools of Indian Philosophy) puts a lot of emphasis on tests for validity of information. Knowing which information can be relied upon is the first step towards 'Knowledge acquisition (Prama/Gyan)'. 

With regards to the above topic, Nyaya shastra specifies that information only from a reliable person who has studied the concerned topic with due diligence is valid.

The process of arguing over a topic (Vaad), another limb of Nyaya philosophy was highly systematised so as to make the conclusion born out of the discussion authentic and valid. Attractive argument doesn't necessarily mean its true. In the Nyaya tradition, such baseless arguments disqualified the participant at the very first instance. 

This ancient Nyaya wisdom was one of the essential branches for a student to learn in Vedic days. If foundation is built with Logic and  the correct Knowledge acquisition process, the superstructure becomes unshakable. 

Satya (truth) is a dynamic process and needs to be accessed with deep study or from a person who has done that. May be more then the knowledge, we need to to learn how to seek knowledge before believing in it?

Dr. Karan Mittal 

MBBS, MA (Sanskrit, Clinical Psychology) 

M.Sc (Counselling Psychology) 

Ignorance is Bliss v/s Vimudhatma

Learning moral, idioms, phrases through fables, history, legends was a significant exercise during childhood. 

"Ignorance is bliss", is one such lesson that has been taught to us right from our childhood days. The intensity of this particular lesson taught slowly increased from simple stories to real life situations as one grew up.

A trailer of a recent movie made me contemplate, "Is ignorance truly a bliss?" Isn't the modern approach emphasizing too much on ignorance of many aspects of life in the name of specialization? Can one really ignore learning the survival skills in name of expertise in a financial skill set?

Though I haven't seen the movie yet, but it compels me to think whether staying politically/spiritually/emotionally ignorant a big risk to one's survival itself? 

Indic traditions have always discouraged the mode of ignorance (Tamoguna). As a civilization our focus has always been "Knowledge". Ignorance was always discouraged and one's curiosity towards various issues was kindled. In one of his verses, Acharya Chanakya compares an ignorant man with an army without commander, both being destined for defeat!

The Bhagvad Geeta calls a person with predominance of Tamoguna (mode of ignorance) as a 'Vimudhatma'. Such a person is bound by the clutches of delusion, laziness and sleep; ultimately heading towards self-destruction. Isn't our ignorance of important political or dharmic matters making us a Vimudhatma of some form?

 

If one studies Indian dialectical ( shastric debate) traditions, one realizes that we had a heritage of knowing the opponent's system more then what the opponent himself knew. Knowing one's own subject is good, having awareness of opponent's subject is better, excelling at opponent's subject matter was considered the best. This was the reason that gave rise to such a rich knowledge tradition and heritage.

Isn't it high-time one question one's ignorance of various aspects of life in name of specialization? It's not only limited to political scenario but to things like believing in fake claims on WhatsApp to most important aspects like questioning one's tradition without even making an attempt to study it. The expanse is huge. 

Dr. Karan Mittal 

MBBS, MA(Sanskrit, Clinical Psychology), 

M.Sc (Counselling Psychology), PGDCH, DCHP

Exploring Indian Psychology

Whenever I mention about Indian Psychology to anyone, the immediate response I encounter is, "India never had a concept of Psychology/Psychotherapy". To people who know Indic Traditions usually attribute Indian psychology to Yogasutras alone.

My contemplation over the years over this topic makes me question, a civilization which focussed on physical reality in terms of Yoga and Ayurveda and Spiritual reality with innumerable Shastras starting like Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas; how can it ignore the connecting link between the two : MIND?

Has Bhartiya civilization never focussed on Mind? Have we lost the concerned tradition like we have lost many Veda shakas? Or our focus has been different as compared to modern conventional psychology?

The earliest reference to mental health in written tradition is found in Atharva Veda which lists down 20 different mental afflictions. Acharya Sushruta in his famous treatise on Surgery, enlists 'A happy and contended mind' as a criteria for a healthy person. Needless to say Darshan shastras like Sankhya, Yoga, Vedanta (Bhagvad geeta is a part of Vedanta darshan) have discussed mind, its associated functions and personalities quite exhaustively. Ayurveda considers Bhuta vidya i.e treatment of Psychological afflictions as one of the 8 branches of Ayurvedic treatment modalities. 

With prominent limbs of Indic civilization discussing mind in some form or the other, it can't be an ignored aspect in our tradition. Probably, our compulsive need to legitimise any of our knowledge systems based on its equivalence with modern Western knowledge is a problem!!

Let us explore the Indic mind traditions in the next few articles to dive deeper into this unexplored and yet important aspect of our civilization 

Dr. Karan Mittal 

MBBS, MA( Clinical Psychology, Sanskrit), MSc ( Counselling Psychology), PGDCH, DCHP.

Arsha Astronomy! ☀️🪐⭐⛈️

Arsha Astronomy

The word 'Jyotish' is often misunderstood as an exclusive fortune-telling branch. But in its true sense, fortune-telling forms a small part of this ancient branch of knowledge. Jyotish in Vedic context formed an important part of Vedic Literature and is considered as one of the six Vedangas (limb of Vedas) thus was attributed as the 'Eyes' of Vedas. It was imperative to understand these six Vedangas to delve deeper into Vedas. Out of the many sub- components included in Jyotish, Astronomy ( Siddhant) formed one of the most significant one.

The influence of celestial entities on various dimensions of human life was known to Vedic people since time immemorial. Movements of Sun, Moon, Stars and other entities played a very important role in the Vedic tradition. Even a superficial study of Vedic Literature points at knowledge of Solar year, Lunar year, constellations, eclipses etc existing in that era.

The Nidan sutra and Latyayan Srautasutra text of Samaveda have clear references to Solar and Lunar years of 360 days and 324/351 days respectively depending on the method of calculation. Due to the difference in the number of days in the Solar and Lunar calenders, an additional month was considered every 3rd year to bring uniformity in both the calendars and prevent widening of gap between both the calenders.This arrangement today is called as the Purushottam month or the Adhik month. As a result, we usually observe that Indian festivals usually fall around the same time in the modern Gregorian calender.

Aitreya Brahman and Kaushtiki Brahaman have clear indication of knowledge of winter and summer solstice and it was used extensively to decide timings of longer sacrifices. The year was divided into two halves of 6 months each; longer sacrifices (Mahavrata) were performed in winter-half while Vishuvat was observed in summer-half. Vedanga Jyotish also records the location of these solstices to be middle of Ashlesha constellation and Dhanistha constellation respectively, which coincides with the time period of that era.

Vedanga Jyotish had also calculated the duration of the day in both the solstices. The shortest day in winter-half is of 12 muhurats and in summer-solstice the longest day is of 18 muhurats ( Muhurat is a unit of Vedic time measurement which is equivalent to 48 minutes approximately).

Astronomy has always been an integral part of Indic tradition. It was not only highly instrumental in professions like agriculture and animal-husbandry but it also played a major role in determining the influence of these celestial bodies on one's day to day activities.


Dr. Karan Mittal
MBBS, MA(PSYCHOLOGY) , MA (SANSKRIT) 

Drishti of Darshans!

Mankind has always contemplated on higher questions of reality, creation, beyond life from the beginning of its existense in a variety of ways. Stability and security paved the way to curiosity and inquiry into various higher dimensions of life. This tradition of inquiry led to the development of various theories of philosophy at different times in different parts of the world. 

The word 'Philosophy' literally means 'love of knowledge' and it is regarded as 'Queen' of all knowledge systems by medieval scholars. It dwells on many questions beyond normal human perception and makes an to answer them in all possible ways. 

 

The word 'Philosophy' in Indian context brings scriptures like Bhagvad Geeta, Upanishads, Vedas to one's mind. But is  the Indian Philosophy confined only to these? Have the Indian Rishis contemplated on other aspects of Philosophy like the Western or Greek schools?

The Indic term for Philosophy is 'Darshan'.

Originating from the root ' Drsh', the word Darshan means ' to see/perceive' as the study of Darshans gives one a perspective to life. Indian Darshan systems have contemplated on practically all topics of human existence in some form or the other. Cognition, Linguistics, Psychology, Atomism, Health, Aesthetics and much more have been discussed over the long tradition existing for thousands of years.

The Indic tradition attributes Vedas to be at the root of all knowledge systems. But strikingly, we have schools of Darshan which don't hold Vedas as the authority and have conflicting views with Vedas ( Heterodox/ Nastik systems).Orthodox systems (Aastik systems) on the other hand consider Vedas as the supreme authority and are considered to originate from Vedas. There are 6 such schools of Indian Philosophy and their main subject matters are:

1. Nyaya : Cognition, Causation, Reality

2.Vaisheshika : Primordial discussion on Atomism, Matter

3. Sankhya: Creation, 3 gunas, Physical reality etc. 

4: Yoga : Mind, Meditation, States of Consciousness 

5.Purva-Mimansa: Linguistics, Analysis of Vedas. 

6: Uttar-Mimamsa: Liberation, Soul, Metaphysics etc. Bhagvad Geeta and Upanishads are a part of this school. 

Contrary to the popular belief, the word Aastik and Naastik in Indic context are meant to signify the ones who consider Vedas to be the supreme authority and the ones which do not. Certain Aastik Darshans don't believe in existense of God (the present day concept of God to be specific), and had full liberty to do so since their advent.

Indian Philosophy has always been a very rich tradition of discussion and contemplation. Considering Indian Darshan to be of a handful of selected scriptures is disregarding this rich tradition of scholars and Rishis. As inquisitive souls of this rich tradition, one needs to realize the benefits of studying these Darshans are way beyond just philosophy and make an attempt to understand their basics. 

Dr. Karan Mittal 

MBBS, MA (Sanskrit) MA (Clinical Psychology). 

To be continued...

The unknown History of Hypotenuse

The unknown History of Hypotenuse

"Sum of squares of two sides of a right-angled triangle is equal to square of its Hypotenuse ".... A theorem which we have learnt all throughout our school days, popularly known as the 'Pythagoras theorem' .
But, was there any reference to this great inseparable theorem of Geometry in ancient India?

The Shulba Sutras of Vedic Literature are the texts of Ancient Indian Geometry. Out of the many available Shulba sutras composed by different Rishis, Baudhayan Shulba sutra (c.800 BCE) has one of the earliest references to this theorem in context of Geometric applications.This was about 300 years before the date of historical Pythagoras of Samos.The verse in the text is as follows:

दीर्घचतुरस्रस्याक्ष्णया रज्जुः पार्श्वमानी तिर्यग् मानी च यत् पृथग् भूते कुरूतस्तदुभयं करोति ॥

A rope stretched along the length of the diagonal produces an area which the vertical and horizontal sides make together.
In other words: a2=b2+c2

Later in the course of time, Apastambha Rishi and Katyayan Rishi also give reference to these rules in their Shulba sutra texts and elaborate them further.

Although by the Sutra (Aphorism) nature of Shulba texts, its difficult to expect any elaboration of these rules in the texts. But, its certain that the composers of Shulba sutras definitely knew about this theorem.
An unique feature about the composers of various Shulba sutras was that all of them were Rishis and have various Ritual texts (Shraut sutras, Grihya sutras) attributed to them apart from these Geometric texts. Another unique feature being, these mathematical findings were made to arrive at accurate dimensions for creating Yagya Vedis for Fire sacrifices ( Such a high standard for perfection even in Religious rituals!!!). Since these fire rituals were necessary for all householders, it would be safe to assume that people in Vedic era knew the application of this theorem in construction of Yagya Vedis atleast.


There are definitely evidences of knowledge of Pythagorean triplets in Babylonian and Egyptian civilizations. Even the historicity of Pythagoras himself is debated in academic circles.
In Indic context,  with the passage of time, many Sutra texts of Ancient Indian literature have disappeared and many still remain untouched as manuscripts in various museums and libraries. There is still a huge amount of literature which needs to be studied and deciphered.

We as a civilization need to acknowledge our contributions to the journey of scientific achievements of mankind and strive to continue this legacy further!

Life of perfect irrational π

Bharat Musings

Life of perfect irrational π

Geometry lessons are always incomplete without the use of the unique number 'π'. As complicated as its multiplication is, so is its tradition of coming to the value of 3.1416.....

The earliest reference to this value is found in civilizations of Egyptians, Babylonians, Chinese and many more. But where is the contribution of India in this tradition? Have we read about the contribution of Indic scholars in this life of Pi or do we assume it to be completely a discovery of west? 

Indian Vedic literature's component 'Shulba Sutras' (c.800 BCE)  are ancient texts of Indian Geometry. Written for construction of altars for Yagya with precise measurements, these texts contain the earliest material of Indian Geometry. Each of the 4 Vedas have multiple Shulba Sutras under their domain attributed to various Rishis like Apastambha, Baudhayan, Manava and many more. 

The earliest approximation to the value of π in the Indic context comes in Shulba Sutras. Manava Shulba Sutras (c.750 BCE) has mention of approximate value of π to 3.125. In the Baudhayana Sulbasutra (c. 800 BCE) , various approximate values given are 676/225, 900/289 etc. In different Sulbasutras, the values 2.99, 3.00, 3.004, 3.029, 3.047, 3.088, 3.1141, 3.16049 and 3.2022 can all be found. There are various values of π given in Mahabharat, Shatpath Brahaman as well. 

Aryabhatta ( c. 400 CE) in his text Aryabhatiya gives the the accurate value of upto 4 decimal places and also mentions it to be an approximation ( recognising the never ending decimal places). The verse in Aryabhatiya is as follows :

चतुराधिकं शतमष्टगुणं द्वाषष्टिस्तथा सहस्त्राणाम्।

अयुतद्वयस्य विष्कम्भस्य आसन्नौ वृत्तपरिणाहः॥

Add 4 to 100, multiply by 8 and add to 62,000. This is approximately the circumference of a circle whose diameter is 20,000.

(100 + 4) x 8 + 62,000 = 62,832

62832÷20000= 3.1416 = π

Later in 14th century, Indian Mathematician, Madhav gave the correct value of π upto 11 decimal places. This was about 300 years before Gregory and Lebnitz proposed the series to arrive at the value of π. Therefore many historians now call this series of numbers as Madhav-Gregory-Lebnitz series. 

Bharat always had a rich tradition of Rishis who have contemplated on Philosophy and Science both together. The expert town planning of Indus Valley civilization points to existence of advanced mathematics in some form as well. It's essential that one recognises this rich scientific Indian heritage and takes pride in being one. 

Dr.Karan Mittal 

MBBS, MA (Clinical Psychology), MA (Sanskrit).