Author: Francois Gautier
Publication: The Indian
Express
Date: August 28, 2000
It was always thought
that India was a melting pot of different influences coming from the West,
either by trade or through invasions, and that she owes many of her achievements
- her sciences, philosophy, or religion - to outside influences, whether
by the way of the Aryan invasions, or via the Greek incursions. But
more and more discoveries, both archaeological and linguistic, are pointing
to exactly the opposite direction: in the millenniums before Christ, it
is Indian civilization which went gradually westwards and influenced the
religions, the sciences and the philosophies of many of the civilizations
which are considered today by the West as the cradle of its culture and
thought.
American mathematician
A. Seindenberg, for instance, has demonstrated that the Sulbasutras,
the ancient Vedic mathematics, have inspired all the mathematic sciences
of the antique world from Babylonia to Egypt and Greece. "Arithmetic
equations from the Sulbasutras were used in the observation of the triangle
by the Babylonians and the theory of contraries and of inexactitude in
arithmetic methods, discovered by Hindus, inspired Pythagorean mathematics",
writes Seindenberg. In astronomy too, Indus were precursors: 17th
century French astronomer Jean-Claude Bailly had already noticed that "the
Hindu astronomic systems were much more ancient than those of the Greeks
or even the Egyptians and the movement of stars which was calculated by
the Hindus 4500 years ago, does not differ from those used today by even
one minute". What about philosophy? French historian Alain Danielou
noted as early as 1947 that "the Egyptian myth of Osiris seemed directly
inspired from a Shivaite story of the Puranas and that at anyrate, Egyptians
of those times considered that Osiris had originally come from India mounted
on a bull (Nandi), the traditional transport of Shiva". But it is
mainly Greece that was most influenced by the myth of Shiva: many historians
have noted that the cult of Dionysius (later known as Bacchus in the Roman
world), definitely looks like an offshoot of Shivaism. There is also
no doubt that the impact of the Vedas and subsequent Hindu scriptures,
such as the Vedanta and Upanishads, was tremendous on the different philosophical
sects which flourished at different times in Greece. We know that
the Greek Demetrios Galianos had translated the Bhagavad-Gita. And
even William Jones, the 18th century linguist of British India, noted that
"the analogies between Greek Pythagorean philosophy and the Sankhya school
are very obvious". German philosopher Shroeder had also remarked
in his book òf40óPythagoras und die Inder that nearly all
the philosophical and mathematical doctrines attributed to Pythagoras are
derivedfrom India.
It also seems very clear
that ancient India played an immense role in the making of Christianity,
particularly the writings of the Gospel. Alain Danielou thus notes
that the structure of the Christian church resembles that of the Buddhist
Chaitya, that the rigorous asceticism of certain early Christian sects
reminds one of Jaina practices, that the veneration of relics, or the usage
of rosaries are all Hindu customs". Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder
of the Art of Living, which is practised in more than eighty countries,
also remarks that Jesus sometimes wore an orange robe, the Hindu symbol
of renunciation in the world, which was not a usual practice in Judaism.
"In the same way," he continues, "the worshipping of the Virgin Mary in
Catholicism is probably borrowed from the Hindu cult of Devi". Bells
too, which cannot be found today in synagogues, the temples of Judaism,
are used in churches and we all know their importance in Buddhism and Hinduism
for thousands of years. There are many other similaritiesbetween
Hinduism and Christianity: incense, sacred bread (Prasadam), the different
altars around churches (which recall the manifold deities in their niches
inside Hindu temples); reciting the rosary (Japamala), the Christian Trinity
(the ancient Sanatana Dharma: Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh), Christian processions,
the sign of the cross (Anganyasa). Hindu and Buddhist philosophies
had also a great influence on 19th century Europe, particularly in Germany,
where philosophers, such a Frederich Shlegel, said that "there is no language
in the world, even Greek, which has the clarity and the philosophical precision
of Sanskrit," adding that "India is not only at the origin of everything,
she is superior in everything, intellectually, religiously or politically
and even the Greek heritage seems pale in comparison". Shopenhauer
agrees with him and writes in the preface of his "The World as a Will and
as a Representation": "According to me, the influence of Sanskrit literature
on our time will not be lesser than whatwas in the 16th century Greece's
influence on Renaissance. One day, India's wisdom will flow again
on Europe and will totally transform our knowledge and thought".
This is an excerpt from
Gautier's just released book `Arise O India' (Har Anand)
India played an immense
role in the making of Christianity
