The ORION
Or research onto
The Antiquity of the Vedas
Preface to Summary and Book Review
This book was written by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and
published in 1893, is a work of extensive research carried out by him, in
giving out his explanation of the antiquity of the Vedas. He was inspired by
Lord Krishna’s statement, while reading Bhagwat Gita, which led him to inquire
into the ancient Vedic calendar.
He clarifies that this research paper was originally
written for the Ninth Oriental Congress held in London in 1892. However the
document was too lengthy to be presented and, hence only a summary was inserted
in the proceedings. This research paper he later published as a book in 1893.
In the course of his four year research, prior to the
publication of this book, he studied and referred the works of numerous
scholars, Vedic scriptures, texts, their essays. Tilak in his quest to
recognize the Indian Antiquity puts forth his research work way back in 1893
and analysing the very same research scholars who made contributions to the
origin of Indian civilization as per their perception and interpretation.
The whole civilizational debate started when west
wanted to legitimize their existence. Their perception hovers around Aryan
Invasion theory around 2000/1500 BCE and they reconstructed and misinterpreted
the archeological evidences and texts. . One must understand that the knowledge
flowed down the generations verbally. The written concepts came much later but
by then the damage to Indian knowledge was done.
Thus, we are still taught about the Aryan Invasion in
1500BC despite the fact that genetic and archaeological studies find no
evidence for any large-scale migration from Central Asia. The date of 1500BC
was always arbitrary and we have good reason to believe that climate change
caused the decline of Harappan cities five centuries earlier.
The interesting part is that around 65-70 % of these
scholars were foreign/Non-Indians. These scholars had studied Indology,
Sanskrit, and Indian Literature. (Interestingly they studied these subjects in
German, British and other universities). Their views, translation and
interpretation of Vedic texts, are, with a backdrop of Western outlook. All
these works were available in the late 18th and beginning of 19th
century. Needless to say, that, their work was considered more authentic as
compared to native scholars.
Some of these scholars and their works, Which Mr
Tilak, referred to are
1. Albrocht Weber-
“History of Indian Literature”, “Hindu and Chinese systems of Asterisms”
2.
Prof William Dwight Whitney- “Translation and Notes to
Surya Sidhanta and Atharv Ved”
3.
Dr Otto Schrader- “Pre historic Antiquities of Aryans
People”1890
4.
Kaegi’s Rgved as translated by Aerosmith.
5.
George
Cornewall Lewis-“Historical Survey
of Astronomy of Ancients”, 1860
6.
Narrien John-“History of origin and progress of Astronomy”, 1833
7.
Henry Thomas Colebrooke- “Essays on Vedas” and translation of other
texts. 1805.
8.
Max Muller’s various works. (Do read his details in Wikipedia and
anti-Indian stance.
9.
Jean Baptiste François Joseph de Warren-Kalasankalita,1835
10. Krishna Shastri Godbole,
Bhaskaracharya, CR Das, Dr RG Bhandarkar, Dr Dastur Hoshang Jamsap and a few
other Indian Scholars.
11. Bentley-“ Historical view of
Hindu Astronomy”
Tilak does make a case for us to understand the Indian/Aryan
Antiquity and correct the misconception of our rich heritage. This treatise shows how
Indian culture was incorrectly interpreted by European scholars using our own
ancient texts. Mr Tilak uses most of the same references to give his version of
interpretation. He gives out his analysis and the logical conclusion.
My aim is to
generate interest in this subject and motivate you all to read the original
text.
He has put forward his theory for consideration and
further research.
Do read the information on Vedas given in Wikipedia.
One can make out the ambiguity and various opinions
Next articles will cover chapter wise summary of the
book.
Really is a fascinating untold story, Dilip. Great going.
ReplyDeleteAshish Roy