The book Indian Knowledge Systems: Nature, Feature and Philosophy is an outcome of the intellectual exercise occasioned by the International Conference on 'Bharatiya Knowledge Traditions: Continuity and Significance from 01 to 03 February 2024 at Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar. The book covers various notable areas and discussions on the meaning, significance, historicity and unceasing continuity of the Indian knowledge traditions, epics, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, hermeneutics (Tantrayukti), Kashmir Shaivism, indigenous methodologies of social science research, Yoga, indigenous cultural ethos and structures, Vedic education, ecology, dharma, sustainability, temples as centres of culture and comprehensive social well-being, Ayurveda, Arthasastra, geometry, Shanti Parva of the Mahabharat, the Bhagavad Gita, ancient Indian weather science, etc. The book foregrounds Bharat's various knowledge traditions.

However, it isn't easy to accommodate the unsurpassable treasures of Bharat's knowledge traditions within the space of a book. This book is a humble but effective attempt to include scholarly discussions on various aspects of Indian knowledge traditions.

Knowledge constitutes the core of Bharat's civilisational journey from the unknown antiquity to its unceasing continuity at present. The Brahmasutra, in this connection, presents the quintessential character of the Bharatiya mind and civilisation in the first sutra, 'Athato brahma jijnasa'. Enquiry (jiynasa) characterises the essence of the Bharatiya mind. Bharat's uncompromised attention to the pursuit of knowledge is well-illustrated through its production of a vast body of intellectual texts, manuscripts, schools and thinkers. Its scale, depth and extensiveness stand unparallel. The areas in which the Indians achieved exceptional depth include philosophy, metaphysics, mathematics, ethics, aesthetics, economics, psychology, sociology, literature, architecture, sculpture, poetics, politics, logic, astrology, medicine, surgery, metallurgy, mining, ship-building, veterinary science, agriculture, trade and commerce. The list seems unending. This shows the extraordinary depth that Bharat could achieve by enriching its knowledge traditions. However, the continuity of Bharat's knowledge traditions was interrupted by foreign invasion and European colonisation.

The British rule of Bharat made very specific attempts to break the continuity of Bharatiya knowledge traditions and replace them with European variants foreign to Bharat. They were found to be entirely contrary to Bharat's civilisational aspirations. It alienated the Indian minds from its civilisational depth and greatness. Currently, the US takes the lead and produces social theories to reify the people from the Global South from their civilisational roots. Wokeism, cancel culture, equality lab, etc., are seen to have festered the social fault lines that the colonial bureaucracy had made definitive attempts to bring to the open to serve colonial teleology. Indian academia, especially in the social sciences, is flooded with Euro-American social theories, which hardly address the Indian social problems but, on the contrary, intensify them.

Therefore, these complex developments that disturb social cohesion call for an urgent revisiting of the Indian knowledge traditions to secure continuity with its civilisational past and to de-colonise the Indian mind. Therefore, this book is crucial in incorporating scholarly discussions on the importance of Indian knowledge traditions and their continuity in the present to reverse the Euro-American epistemological predominance. The essays included in the book cover multiple areas of knowledge to underline the incomparable depth, gravity and extendedness of Indian knowledge traditions. Moreover, the editors express their deep gratitude to the knowledge partners and sponsors such as the Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR), Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), Gujarat University, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Shree Somnath Sanskrit University, Gujarat Tourism, Mythic Society, Bengaluru and Gujarat Sahitya Academy, and sincerely acknowledge their support, contribution and inspiration for the successful completion of the International Conference and the production of this book.

Bharat is a knowledge civilisation. Its distinct civilisational mark constitutes the unceasing continuity of the great traditions of thinkers, texts and schools. The quantum of manuscripts that survive today entails the saga of a great knowledge civilisation. This is illustrated in the first line of the Bhamasutra - Athato brahma jijnasa. Enquiry is the core of Hindu civilisational thought. The 'Gayatri Mantra' of the Rig Veda emphasises the illumination of intellect. Sri Krishna tells the hesitant Arjuna on the battlefield that knowledge only purifies and liberates the self. Therefore, the knowledge heritage of Bharat is rich and profound. No civilisation stands near Bharat because of the sheer length, breadth, and depth of knowledge it has produced and continues to produce today. Civilisations have come and gone, but Bharat's civilisational roots remain firmly anchored in the deep soil of its tradition. Here, tradition and modernity complement and interact. The toxic modernity of the West has not percolated the Indian topsoil. It comes and floats away without leaving a distinct mark on Bharat's civilisational foundations. The flow of this eternal civilisation remains unaltered. The Prabah Nityata is its quintessence. The unceasing flow of the sacred Ganga physically illustrates Bharat's civilisational perenniality. The rational and speculative enquiry goes unabated.

Kapil Kapoor writes in his edited book Indian Knowledge Systems, "Three terms are closely connected in all discussions of knowledge darsana, jnana and vidya. Darsana, philosophy, is the "system", the point of view, which yields/leads to jnana, knowledge. When knowledge gathered about a particular domain is organised and systematised for purpose of, say, reflection and pedagogy, it is called vidya, "discipline". Knowledge embodies the ability to distinguish what is not knowledge. It offers clarity of thought and vision. It discloses reality, tearing up the film of Maya or the illusion. The film of superimposition recedes to give space for the real to remain visible. Bhartrihari's Vakyapadiya underlines the constitution of knowledge through the mediation of indriya (senses), mana (mind), buddhi (intellect) and chitta (self). In the Indian conception of knowledge, the internal overrides the external. Reflection, speculation and meditation acquire distinct space in Hindu epistemological systems. Therefore, Bharat bears strong meditative traditions. The aim of every contemplative process is to return to the deep sleep state of the Self, where the subject-object binary never exists. V. S. Sukthankar's On the Meaning of the Mahabharata constitutes the core of Sri Krishna's teaching in the Bhagavad Gita. Sri Krishna envelops the civilisational consciousness of the Hindus. He is the Hindu future. Contradictions coexist in Sri Krishna. He is the whole and rejects none. He accepts life in its entirety. He synthesises the dialectics. Contrary to the Abrahamic history-centrism, the Sanatana civilisational essence is to break the chains of iteration. It does not necessarily imply the denial of history. The Hindu concept of incarnation entails the fulfilment of a specific objective. Therefore, the negation of history in the Hindu soteriology marks the deficit of nuanced reading.