IND I C VI S I ONS “Indic Visions is V. V. Raman’s magnum opus. In ten succinct chapters, he traces the development of Indian religion and philosophy from its distant origins to its most recent evolutions in an age of science. Comprehensive, scholarly, and eminently readable, this work explores the great questions of humankind: the origins of life and the cosmos, the mind-body relation, the quest for knowledge and liberation, and the nature of the Ultimate. The more I immersed myself in these pages, the more my respect grows for the unparalleled achievements of Indian civilization—past and present—and the incredible author who has brought this altogether in this outstanding volume.” —Philip Clayton, Claremont School of Theology “Steeped in science and soaked in spirituality, V. V. Raman blends vast scholarship and deep insights into the rich heritage of India with the great promise of modern science. This book gives a general architecture for constructing a global culture. Timely, stimulating, scintillating . Indic Visions should interest both scholars and students of science and culture in the East and the West.” —Ramakrishna Rao, Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi “In his usual lucid style, V. V. Raman presents a variety of Indic visions . A must-read book for students, scholars, and enthusiasts who are interested not just in Indian culture and philosophy, but who are willing to contribute to the current intercultural and interdisciplinary discussions.” —Sangeetha Menon, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India. “A truly remarkable and much-needed book. Clear, concise, and highly informative.” —Loyal Rue, Luther College, Iowa “Indic Visions is a superb synthesis. After reading it, one will be compelled to discard the uncritically repeated textbook narratives on Indian religion and science. The book will be invaluable to laypersons and scholars alike.” —Subhash Kak, Oklahoma State University “V. V. Raman’s Indic Vision offers a fascinating panoramic view of a vast terrain stretched across space and time . With its lucid literary style and easy flow of language, the book makes for an enjoyable yet profitable experience. It is highly recommended to both beginners and experts.” —C. V. Vishveshwara, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore “In approaching India today and its many contributions to our emerging global civilization, we need not be blind men and women or partial perceivers of a greater truth. We have in the person of V. V. Raman, a king who grasps the whole elephant. Raman is a gifted and gracious guide, who helps us understand the whole fabric and see the rich details of Indic civilization in this age of universal science. In so doing, he offers us also a way out of dangerous culture wars and clashing civilizations . And no matter where you were born, what languages you speak, what beliefs you profess, what disciplines you practice, India is your civilization too. It is time you got to know her better.” —William Grassie, Metanexus Institute IND I C VI S I ONS In an Age of Science Varadaraja V. Raman Metanexus Copyright © 2011 by Metanexus. Library of Congress Control Number: 2011909488 ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4628-8364-6 Softcover 978-1-4628-8363-9 Ebook 978-1-4628-8365-3 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Any and all free use sanctioned by this license must include the following attribution: “Reproduced by permission of Metanexus Institute, www.metanexus.net.” All online uses must hyperlink the aforementioned attribution to the following URL: http:// www.metanexus.net. This book was printed in the United States of America. Published by: Metanexus Institute New York, NY www.metanexus.net Printing and distribution by Xlibris.com 98505 May auspicious thoughts come to us from everywhere. —Rig Veda I.89.1 Contents Contents ....................................................................................................................... 9 Foreword by William Grassie ..................................................................................... 11 Foreword by E. C. G. Sudarshan ................................................................................ 15 Preamble..................................................................................................................... 17 I. Deep Roots, Spreading Branches: History and Commentaries ....................... 21 II. Universal Science and the Subcontinent.......................................................... 47 III. Mythos: Origins and Ends ............................................................................... 74 IV. Mind: The Science of the Self ......................................................................... 98 V. Knowing: Indic Postmodernism .................................................................... 121 VI. Classical Philosophies in New Light ............................................................. 137 VII. Classical Texts: Interpreting the Upanishads and the Gita Today .................. 161 VIII. Mythic Inklings of Future Science ................................................................ 184 IX. Global Science and Modern India ................................................................. 200 X. Science in Context: Debates within Transnational Civilizations ................... 221 Selected Bibliography .............................................................................................. 241 Index ........................................................................................................................ 259 A Foreword BY WILLIAM GRASSIE The Indian subcontinent is a cradle of human civilization with a rich history stretching back some five thousand years. Today it is home to a quarter of the world’s population. While the boundaries and identities of the modern states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives are recent inventions, the history, cultures, languages, and religions of South Asia are a single tapestry woven from many colored threads over the long millennia of cultural evolution. South Asia is home to four great religious traditions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism—but it also has the largest population of Muslims in the world. South Asia is home to many Christians who trace their lineage back to the apostle Thomas, who is said to have settled in Kerala in 52 CE. A scene of epic wars and foreign invasions, the conquerors and colonialists were invariably themselves won over and were as much changed by India as they themselves changed India’s history. In turn, missionaries and traders from the Indian subcontinent—Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim—spread their religions and cultures throughout Southeast and East Asia, leaving a profound mark on the cultures of Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. Today, South Asia is a nexus in a global civilization, its children and grandchildren having traveled to every corner of the world, frequently joining the educated elites abroad and making significant contributions to arts and letters, science and industry, politics and finance. The continued story of Indian civilization is now a global and cosmopolitan enterprise and can no longer be contained in geographical boundaries in one corner of the world. The history and complexity of this cultural tapestry is daunting to the outsider unfamiliar with the geography, languages, and idiosyncrasies of the region. And even those raised and schooled in South Asia generally only grasp a small portion of the whole fabric. To this we must add the recent exponential growth in scientific knowledge 11 INDIC VISIONS and the new understandings that this science and history bring to our different regional and religious narratives. All of this is also accompanied by new technologies and new values that threaten to undermine traditional cultures. India, Pakistan, and the other countries of the subcontinent are in the throes of fundamentalist reactions to modernity and globalization, much as we find throughout the world today in other settings and other idioms. Understanding Indian civilization today brings to mind the ancient story of the blind men and the elephant—a fable whose origins are uncertain and which is appropriately claimed by Hindus, Sufis, Buddhists, and Jains as their own. Each blind man perceives only a piece of the elephant, and thus an argument ensues. As put to verse by John Godfrey Saxe, the story ends: And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long, Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right, And all were in the wrong! The story typically involves a king, a seer who stands outside the debate, who provides perspective and understanding, and then pronounces the moral of the story: So oft in theologic wars, The disputants, I ween, Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean, And prate about an Elephant Not one of them has seen! Fortunately in approaching India today and its many contributions to our emerging global civilization, we need not be blind men and women or partial perceivers of a greater truth. We have, in the person of Varadaraja V. Raman, a king who grasps the whole elephant. In this book, Raman is