This book is a compilation of essays exploring various aspects of the Vedic tradition, including the interpretation of Vedic hymns, the significance of divinities and their actions, ritual and meaning, as well as art and temple architecture. It delves into the historical dimensions of the tradition, tracing its roots through astronomy, the archaeological record, and the spread of Indic ideas beyond the Himalayas and across the seas to Central Asia, Europe, and Southeast Asia.
The book also examines the connections between the inner and outer worlds, using these insights to explain the nature of the mind in Vedanta and the design of the Sri Cakra. The enduring relevance of these ideas is underscored, especially as conscious-ness is now recognized as the final frontier of science.
SUBHASH KAK is a scientist and historian, currently serving as Regents Professor at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater. He has also held visiting appointments at Imperial College, London, and Curtin University in Perth, Australia. His research interests span artificial intelligence, the history of art, and the philosophy of consciousness.
He is the author of 30 books, including his two most recent works, Whispers from the Past: Art and Wisdom of Kashmir and The Age of Artificial Intelligence. Subhash Kak is also a member of the Indian Prime Minister's Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
The idea of this collection of essays was suggested to me by Chanceller H.R. Nagendra of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana in Bengaluru, which is popularly known as S-VYASA University. The collection consists of many published papers that have appeared in various journals, not all of which may be readily accessible to the researcher or the interested layperson.
The essays have been divided into six parts to cover different aspects of this tradition that presents its enduring influence not only on the intellectual and lived life in India, but also on the rest of the world. These are: (i) Overview; (ii) Large Connections; (iii) Sanskrit and the World; (iv) Inner and Outer Cosmoses; (v) Reality and Art; and (vi) Science and Consciousness. Apart from essays on the earliest layers of the Vedic tradition, there is material on its pervading influence on modern science. Many will be intrigued by how quantum theory, the deepest theory of physics that we know, is seen by scholars to be consistent with Vedanta, and may like to explore primary sources for themselves. Each chapter comes with its own references.
The first part begins with essays on how to read the Vedas and the discovery of its insights through different disciplines of Yoga, along with the translation of seven hymns from the Rgveda. The other essays describe the Goddess in the Rgveda and in neighboring civilizations, many-faced Visņu and Śiva images, the Śiva Sutras, how the Buddha on his deathbed accepted the notion of the atman, and how the six darsanas may be increased to nine.
The second part has two chapters on archaeoastronomy of Indian temples and monuments, the practice of shamanism, and Vedic ideas beyond the Himalayas in Central Asia, the Slavic world, and in Indonesia.
The third part has essays on the Indo-European language family and how it was misused by European scholars to futher nineteenth-century colonial ends. It also has a chapter on the notion of India within the Indian tradition and a reading of Brahmi letters on a figure that has implications for our understanding of the history of Indian writing. The essays of the fourth part are on the notions of space and the design of early temples, the Garbha Upaniṣad, deeper connections between ritual, masks, and sacrifice, and logic in Indian thought. The fifth part begins with an essay on early architecture followed by material on art and cosmology and idea of Panini and Bharata Muni on grammar and art. There is an additional essay on the architecture of the inner cosmos as described by the Sri Cakra.
The last part of the book is devoted to science and consciousness. It begins with a brief history of Indian science and how it has influenced moden science in surprising ways. There is a chapter on the history of Indian physical and chemical thought with focus on the Vaisesika system. The very last essay is a proof of the existence of Isvara in the perspective of contemporary physics and computer science.
The original publication information is provided on the first page of each essay. The published material has only been corrected for typographical errors and the selection has been made to keep the overlap in the material to a minimum. The style across the essays is not always consistent since the publication requirements of different journals are often different.
Vedas (1182)
Upanishads (493)
Puranas (624)
Ramayana (741)
Mahabharata (354)
Dharmasastras (165)
Goddess (496)
Bhakti (242)
Saints (1503)
Gods (1290)
Shiva (370)
Journal (187)
Fiction (60)
Vedanta (362)
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