Kadambi Srinivas - Roots

RootsWritten by Kadambi Srinivasan Published byTirumala Tirupati DevasthanamsTirupati2019ROOTSByKadambi Srinivasan T.T.D. Religious Publications Series No.1181 All Rights Reserved First Print : 2015 Re-print : 2019 Copies:1000 Published bySri Anil Kumar Singhal, I.A.S., Executive Officer, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, Tirupati. D.T.P. Office of the Editor-in-chief, TTD,Tirupati. Printed at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Press Tirupati - 517 507. Foreword A book takes good structure when the author puts his ideas in a proper, sequential and standard way. Here is a book for readers of all ages which enhances the thirst to know about the Indians Ancient living and their contributions to the fields of Philosophy, Mathematics, Astronomy, Medicine, Surgery, Plastic surgery, Veterinary science, Economics, Political science, Education, Literature, Poetry, Drama, so on and soforth.

Our ancestors had a unique and distinct identity in the fields of Medicine, Mathematics, Geometry, Astronomy and Logic. The entire world has accepted that the Indian civilization and its literature dates back to the earliest period of History. Inspite of this, Indians are ignoring the original quality and quantity of the Medha or Intellect of their ancestors. A friend shot a question to the author about What have the Indians been doing? To counteract the oral question the author has answered in a factual written form- I chose to unfold the various facets of Vedic culture including their literature, their philosophy, their learning etc. The entire book has been written with that question in focus. The author has compiled the information collected from different sources from the time of Vedas to 15th Century A.D.

Inspite of such an industrious study, the author humbly says that this book represents just the tip of an iceberg. He also states that there is a large scope for an extensive indepth research in this context. He submissively opines that- A pride should be apparent on every Indians face befitting our cultural background. The Authors statement influences my senses to thinkover it. His valuable ideas are appreciable. I am immensely happy to bring this book to the vision of the public.

I also urge the readers to think widely to imple-ment certain ideas as a supplement to their life style, because Indias glory has attracted the entire world and it is on its journey even today. The author, belonging to the field of Physics and Instrumentation has put forth his best knowledge related to Philosophy and Theism. I wish him all the best and also hope that his dreams come true. In the service of lord venkateswara Executive Officer, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, Tirupati. About the book Work on this book started almost eight years back during the winter of 2006. I was having tea with a group of my friends at Chennai.

The conversations slowly turned towards ancient civilizations. A friend of mine had just returned after a holiday in Egypt. He was very impressed with what he saw and what he heard. He told us about the Pharaonic antiquities and the treasures of King Tutankhamen. Suddenly he turned to all of us listening to him and shot a question in contrast what have the Indians been doing? I felt as if he has slapped us. What have the Indians done? Sitting on their hands? Where shall I begin? Their contributions in Philosophy, literature, poetry, drama, education, Mathematics, Astronomy, Medicine, Surgery, Plastic surgery, Veterinary science, Economics, Political science the list just goes on.

Gone is the old idea of an Aryan invasion. In its place, the world is accepting a continuity of Indian civilization and its literature dating back to the earliest period of history. The work done by the ancient Indian scholars in the fields of Medicine, mathematics, geometry, Astronomy and logic are being recognized to be among the earliest the world has seen. While trying to answer the question of what have the Indians being doing? I decided not to go by a statistical route. Plenty of information to engage in a lively argument is already available. I believe, that the way in which we visualize any particular thing is based on the outlook we entertain in respect of that thing.

Usually we do not have a comprehensive idea of most of the things in this world. When we think about a subject we regard it with some blinkers limiting our vision of that subject, whereby we tend to ignore other aspects which also go to have a strong bearing on the subject. While trying to answer the question what have the Indians been doing, to get a more comprehensive idea, I chose to unfold the various facets of Vedic culture including their literature, their philosophy, their learning etc. The entire book has been written with that question in focus. Slowly, the world has started accepting the Indian civilization to be the earliest leading the rest of the world in spiritual, material and scientific progress. - Will Durant; American Historian (1885-1981) V What I could present in this book represents just the tip of an iceberg. - Will Durant; American Historian (1885-1981) V What I could present in this book represents just the tip of an iceberg.

Will Durant was correct in stating that India was the mother, not just of philosophy, but a majority of other subjects as well. Indias glory was not like a wick that shone for brief period and then got extinguished. It shone for thousands of years shedding light on a number of subjects. In fact, the knowledge it spread, in many instances, was not limited to people within the boundary of Bharat Varsha, but to the entire world. Bhagavad Gita is a typical example. The concept of zero in the counting of numbers is another.

And there are many others as well. In this book I tried to present available information from different sources. The period covered included from the time of the Vedas up to the 15th century AD. Greatest challenge faced was in fixing the dates. More work needs to be done by our scholars in this context. During ancient times the teaching was done at the Ashrams of the sage.

These Ashrams were located far away from the cities. Students, all Brahmacharins, lived at the Ashrams. Subjects were not taught in modules or by a semester system. Typically, the students were taught eighteen Vidyas Four Vedas, six Vedangas, two Mimamsas, one Nyaya and one Puranas / other scriptures; Along with this, four other vidyas are also taught. Ayurveda (1); Dhanurveda (1); Gandharva Veda (1); Artha Shastra (1). This brings the total of vidyas taught equal to 18.

It is my wish to bring about in this book, if not entirely (some of the vidyas were not touched upon, to keep the book within reasonable size), an atmosphere of comprehensive learning available at the Guru Kulas in ancient India. I dont believe the aberration that my friend suffered was an isolated case. It has to be accepted that the knowledge of general public regarding our literature, our contributions has thinned out. I am not for a moment suggesting that the current education / knowledge should be replaced by ancient learning. On the contrary, the current learning should supplement what we have achieved over the many years. A pride should be apparent on every Indians face befitting our cultural background.

I hope this book serves to remind the readers of our contributions in different fields Kadambi Srinivasan June 2014. Sydney vi