About MIT IIKS

The founders of the Institute for Indic Knowledge Studies (IIKS) believe that for all-round welfare and elevation of the society, it is essential to foster a deep and dispassionate understanding and application of India’s knowledge heritage. In addition, keen acumen (called Viveka in Samskrit) is required to apply Indic insights in the current context. India’s native educational tradition has excellent methodologies to cultivate the necessary intellectual and emotional culture among youth. However, mainstream education system has so far ignored the Indic dimension.

IIKS has been launched to impart the necessary culture to the next generation of individuals and prepare them for this noble work ahead. We feel that the time is ripe, since the primary passion of youth is broadening from economic prosperity to societal impact.

Mission

  • Education, research and consultancy in ancient Indic knowledge for contemporary audience
  • Study of the knowledge aspects of ancient Indian textual and cultural sources
  • Study of Vedic, Buddhist, Jain, folk and tribal knowledge traditions (oral and written)

Scope

The scope of the institute’s activities is open-minded, systematic study of any subject of Indic origin or Indic methodology of inquiry in order to explore its relevance and value to the future society. This includes the study of subjects that deal with natural laws, faith, intellectual or spiritual inquiry, arts, puranas, shaastras etc, provided the objective of the study is to classify and cross-correlate their knowledge to unearth their value for the future. The concepts they deal with may or may not have a parallel in modern science. The method of inquiry may be Indic or modern or a combination. 

Emphasis is placed on evidence-based reasoning of the validity of concepts – either through empirical or theoretical methods – using both Indic and modern methods as appropriate.

As a result, the following are not within the scope of IIKS activities:

  • Mere elucidation and publication of a subject of faith with the purpose of practice, unless accompanied by attempt to gather reproducible evidence about its effectiveness.
  • Understanding and memorizing rituals for practice
  • Publication or translation of Indic texts without commentary and comparative analysis.

Subject Matter of Study

For the purpose of IIKS, we use the term Indic knowledge system to denote the system of knowledge and methodology of systematic inquiry that is at the basis of India’s culture which had blossomed over several centuries or millennia in and around the Indian subcontinent. Some of it is expounded in classical Samskrit literature, while the rest has manifested in diverse regional practices and expressions around the subcontinent. An example of the latter includes knowledge of local ecology in various regions of Bhaarat that is transmitted across generations through tradition.

Current State of Indic Knowledge Studies

The Societal Need

Currently, there are three distinct actors whose interests are not yet bridged well enough to enable sustainable cross-fertilization of Indic and western ideas.

  • Actor 1: Traditional experts in Indic knowledge interested in preserving it for posterity
  • Actor 2: Society (people, students, educators) interested in economic prosperity and innovation that modern education offers
  • Actor 3: Mainstream researchers interested in exploring new insights that Indic knowledge can offer

For society to employ and benefit from Indic perspective, shaastra experts  and modern researchers  must learn to work with each other to produce new insights from Indic knowledge with appreciable value to the society. The challenge today is that they do not understand each other’s domain well. Though there are several stalwarts who exhibit dual scholarship, there are not enough of them to scale the system. We need a steady supply of trained young professionals who can help bridge the gap between these traditional experts and modern researchers.

The prime objective of IIKS is to equip students of modern education with enough Indic perspective to bridge the gap and scale up  value creation.

Existing Options and Gaps

We outline the current landscape of Indic Education in India and elsewhere to see how well it fulfils the societal need.

Indology Departments:

There are several institutes and research centres pursuing Indic and Indology studies. Their subject matter is usually the study of history, literature, culture and traditions of the Indian subcontinent. They often have very little emphasis on Indic knowledge systems at at times even carry negative prejudice and bias towards the study of Indic knowledge systems. More often than not their discourse is heavily dominated by the western (outside-in) perspective. At MIT IIKS we believe Indic knowledge has much to offer if approached without overlooking its native context.

Vidya peethas (under religious Mathas, Gurukulas and Govt Samskrit Universities):

A goal of the traditional Vidya peethas is to preserve the purity of the traditional gurukula system and its pristine shaastra study as a primary career option. Such schools are crucial in order to maintain the authenticity and integrity of native Indic sciences. However, currently they do not focus adequately on inter-disciplinary education for the masses and articulation of relevance to the modern context.

Reputed professional institutes

(IITs, IIITs) are also establishing curricula and research centers to explore Indian shaastra knowledge and to introduce them to a technical audience. To sustain interest among students, they need faculty trained to understand both disciplines in depth. Currently, there is paucity of such talent.

We believe that imparting rigorous Indic science education alongside a well-established mainstream curriculum provides the right ambience for inter-disciplinary training of modern students, while addressing their near-term employability concerns.

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