My Discovery of INDIA
You Indians are fortunate to inherit such knowledge. I envy you.
While Greece is the country of my birth, India is the country of my soul.
-by: Queen Fredricka
Firstly,
it’s my great love for the country. Secondly, I learned much about the Indian
wisdom when I was introduced to the works of Swami Vivekananda by my father from early age.
Frankly speaking, Vivekananda, Sri
Aurovindo and Mahatma
Gandhi were
my initial eye-openers and inspirations. Their works embedded deeply in my
heart inspired me to read more and explore more.
Here let me narrate how the seed of inspiration sown and how it
germinated which now has taken root to grow into a tall standing tree.
It was a winter day in 1988, when I was travelling
to Delhi I had bought a book “The Discovery of India” by Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru from a newsstand in Guwahati
Railway station. I had heard a lot about this work of Pundit Nehru. It
contained the wealth of knowledge/information as to the country and about the
significance of her ancient heritage.
I read it very
attentively throughout my journey of over 56 hours. What amazed me most was a few
of the quotes in the book by the world-famous western scholars and
philosophers. Those quotes
were in deep appreciation of Indian ancient wisdom, its language and culture.
For months together I felt much haunted by those words of western luminaries.
The second book that fascinated me again was “Autobiography
of a Yogi” by
Paramhansa Yogananda. Here even I had come across such profound opinions by
great thinkers like Ralph Emersion and Schopenhauer who were close to my heart. These quotes had left deep imprints
---- both in my inner mind and heart. I have begun to realize that this country
is far more than what we have known or made to be known as.
But the turning point happened when I read a book
entitled ‘We are not the first’ by an UFO scientist Tomas
Andrew where I
encountered incredible facts. I clearly saw that great many discoveries of
modern times had already mentioned in the ancient scriptures of India. I got
the vivid references and precise theoretical illustration of atomic structures
and the time scales which are far inconceivable to the scientists of even the
early 19th century.
I strongly felt then, these
western scientists would not have applauded and approved of those ancient
wisdom and knowledge had there not been any
scientific validity and significance. I gradually got to know that scientists
like Schrodinger, Julius Oppenheimer,
David Bohm, Heisenberg, David Josephson, etc had sufficiently
got the ideas relative to Quantum
Physics from
Upanishads and Vedas. It dawned upon me that the ancient treatises had
greatly emboldened those scientists to plunge deeper into the atom,
moreover into the inner core of the Quantum Mechanics. Here
are the words of approval by Werner Heisenberg – ‘After
the conversations about Indian philosophy, some of the ideas of Quantum Physics
that had seemed so crazy suddenly made much more sense.’ All these facts consequently
strengthened my conviction about the infallibility of ancient literary
archives.
I kept reading, peering
through the pages. I was constantly on the lookout where I might stumble upon
the great words of great minds. I rummaged through the pages of probably over
100 more such books on ancient philosophy. The works on linguistic, astronomy,
astrology, spiritualism, Ayurvedas, mostly written by the western
scholars also captivated me, intrigued me. Well, the
books like ‘The Tao of Physics’ by a fomous American physicist Fritzof
Capra, ‘Indian and the world Civilization’ by D
P Singhal, Hinduism Invades America, by Wendell
Thomas , ‘Mathematics
for Million' by
Thomas Hogben, ‘The
Secret' by Maurice
Maeterlinck and
so on and so forth added to firming up my determination to do something
unprecedented and substantial for the country. I saw
this great country being much neglected and also underestimated and undervalued
by her own children. With the time I grew more inquisitive and felt that I
should know my Mother before I develop kinship with others mothers.
The thing that pricked my conscience
incessantly was one question. Why in my over 16 years of academic studies in
several prestigious institutions I could not find even the sporadic references
to these amazing facts. Why have these proud truths about ancient knowledge of
the country never been taught to our Indian students while their minds are
stuffed with rather controversial information that only leave behind negative
impression about the country and her ancient heritage? I startled to know that
Pythagoras from Greece came to India to learn geometry and spiritualism, not
from any of my textbooks but from the work of one of the greatest thinkers of
all time Francois Voltaire.
Perhaps the majority of our literate folks
have heard about Ralph Emerson. But
barely a few know this world-renowned poet had written a solemn poem ‘Brahma’ inspired by ancient wisdom. I sense
many things amiss in the country. Yes we in India swell our chest to quote TS Eliot but hardly anyone take their cue from
his world famous poem ‘The waste land’ that ends in Sanskrit word ‘Shanti,
Shanti Shanti’ , and finally speaks of cardinal truths as expounded
in Brihaddaranyaka Upanishad.
One wonders why Indians never get to learn such higher facts about the country
and her rich heritage from the prescribed academic books. It’s bewildering,
such profoundly lofty data are missing from the textbooks. So, it’s no strange
now our children grown to have less respect for our own heritage and values.
Well, to me nothing would be more
intriguing than to know that Erwin Schrodinger (the Nobel laureate, the father
Quantum Mechanics), David Josephson and Robert Julius Oppenheimer (father of Atomic Bomb), Jack
Sarfatti --- who
held the Indian literature in the highest esteemed, had studied Upanishads,
besides Bhagavad Gita thoroughly and had drawn lots of ideas
relative to Modern physics and other research works. Schrodinger had even supported his theory in
his revolutionary work on Quantum Physics by the phrases of Upanishads. He
boldly pointed out in his famous work ‘My view of the World’ – “ In all world there is no kind of framework within which
we can find CONCIOUSNESS in the plural; this is simply something we construct
because of the temporal plurality of individuals, but it is a false
construction.... The only solution to this conflict in so far as any is
available to us at all lies in the ancient wisdom of the UPANISHADS.” Thanks
to the works of Ravindranath Tagore whose Vedantic wisdom spellbound even
Albert Einstein, while Vivekananda's speeches bewitched Nicholas Tesla, Romain Rolland.
Of course I started casually collecting such
quotes about 22 years ago. But making a book occurred to me while reading the
world famous book – ‘The Tao of Physics’ and ‘Uncommon Wisdom’ by Frijtof Capra for the second time in 1995. Yes, it
really put me in the most pensive mood and got me lost in the depth of thoughts
for years together when I had come upon Oppenheimer’s bombshell-like quote -- 'What
we shall find in Modern Physics is an exemplification, an encouragement and a
refinement of old Hindu wisdom.' This statement so deeply touched me
wherein I clearly saw great messages by the ‘father of Atomic Bomb’ --- not only for the modern
scientists but for the whole mankind. I deeply felt that this must be spread
among every citizen of India who is less aware of the higher truths about the
ancient treasure troves. At least to make the citizens aware, who otherwise tend to dismiss the ancient literature as a
load of myths and superstition or irrelevant to the modern time, as often
depicted --- as being scientific, universal and secular to the core.
The years 1996-98 saw me frantically
preoccupied. I exhaustively work for this compilation. I would regularly visit
a number of libraries like State Central library, RK Mission library, St.
Anthony Library, NEHU library and the like. Because, I didn't have enough money
to buy books. I can’t miss to mention
here, apart from our own bookstall, how I frequented the junk yard – a popular second
hand market just
near our shop in Shillong. This was my preferred rendezvous. I had come across
a rare collection of books here. I got to read the works of great intellectuals
-- like the translated works of, Voltaire,
Gottfried Herder, Sir William Jones, Fredrick Hegel, Max Muller, Henry David
Thoreau from a few shops in this shabby market of Bara Bazar, Shillong.
Life is not always a bed of roses.
The dreams one cherishes often meet with stumbling block of adversaries. No
matter however I tried I could not save enough money to publish the book for
many years though the compilation was ready in 1998 itself. Family
responsibilities had begun to weigh heavily on me. Thank God, however, my weary
and dreary wait of over 11 years brought a sunny light of hope. Yes, with a
little improvement in my economy I could see my treasured dream fulfilled. At
last I published the book in glossy format in 2009. I was delighted, the book
was instantly gloried, --- so appreciated that Governor of
Meghalaya heartily consented to release it in the most fitting manner.
I have reasons to feel blessed. The work
immediately caught the attention of the scholars from across the world. A
shower of compliments began to pour in. To my immense delight I received
phone-calls even from great many eminent scholars, writers throughout the
world. I was too thrilled when Prof. A. V. Murali, an eminent NASA scientist,
called me to express his gratitude for the work. He remarked –
"This
compilation is simply outstanding! I never knew that such a compilation exists
and we all should be thankful to the reseacher! These great quotes should be
embossed on plaques and displayed on the walls of our Parliament, State
Assembly Halls, and at all our educational institutions. Most importantly, the
material should be made a compulsory reading for all the school students
(elaborating more on ‘ who is who’ and the monumental contributions of these
intellectual giants)."
Prof.
A. V. Murali, Ph. D,
Former NASA scientist, Houston, Texas
Lastly my prayer -- may this
ancient wisdom of the country evoke awe and reverence among intellectuals. Let
no children of the country speak ill of the mother whose womb gave birth to those mystic rishis whose
works mesmerized even the great minds like Voltaire, Hegel, Goethe, Einstein.
---Salil
Gewali,
Shillong,
Meghalaya,
Email:
sgewali@gmail.com
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