Indic Knowledge Landscape

General Information about the curriculum

This curriculum offers Caturdaśa-vidyāsthānas – Topography of disciplines – Classification of Indic knowledge disciplines – Basis of classification – Philosophy behind the basis. This course has been designed keeping in mind the needs of MSc Vedic Sciences students and their future needs. All the modules discussed in the curriculum are highly essential and help to outline of Indic Knowledge Landscape. Thorough research has gone into the design of the curriculum.

Program educational Objective(s) 

• This is meant to be a foundation course, which means this is a common prerequisite for any course in Indic knowledge studies.

Course Outcome

At the end of the course the student will be able to –

1. Outline and articulate what is knowledge in terms of Vedic sciences to an audience understanding knowledge from a contemporary perspective
2. Describe the acculturation of the contemporary understanding of knowledge so as to grasp knowledge in Vedic sciences from the insider’s perspective.
3. Explain the most comprehensive possible bird’s eye view of the Vedic side of Indic knowledge systems 
4. Explain for a student pursuing a specific area or stream of Vedic sciences, this helps to be able to identify one’s own specific area within that big picture
5. Explain the original context and utility of each Indic knowledge discipline
6. Describe critical understanding that the current or potential use of the given Indic knowledge discipline need not necessarily be the original context of it

Curriculum

Module I

Knowledge – Vedic and contemporary contexts: 

• • Words for and concepts related to Knowledge in Vedic literature /Sanskrit: Veda, vidyā, jñāna, kalā etc.
  • Contemporary words ‘knowledge’ and ‘skills’, ‘Arts’ as in the university titles; semantic change, ‘academic’ and ‘professional’ ‘education’. Education as HRT Vs Knowledge for knowledge sake (Liberal Arts view)

• Vedic context of knowledge and contemporary context of knowledge

• Contemporary studies of Vedic Knowledge; mapping, researching, validation, application etc. 

Module II

Sources of Indic (Vedic) Knowledge: 

• Oral (memory) sources and written (manuscript and published) sources
• A bird’s eye view of sources: Vedas, Vedāṅgas, Darśanas, Śāstras etc.
• Gathering /figuring out Vedic knowledge in ‘lost’ sources from the available (oral and written) sources 

Module III

Vedas: 

• Mantra, Brāhmaṇa, Āraṇyaka, Upaniṣad (Upaniṣads as part of Brāhmaṇas and Āraṇyakas):  Brāhmaṇas and Āraṇyakas as meta-Veda (Veda about Veda) and fountainhead of Mīmāṁsaka, Vedānta and other interpretations of Veda (as the earliest texts of interpretative science)
• Discussion around oral and written
• Discussion around counting Mantras: finite and infinite Vedas; Finiteness or infiniteness of knowledge or Vedic texts
• Classification of Vedas: Implications of classification of Vedas for Indic Knowledge Studies
• Vedas as containers of Knowledge (contrast to the view as spells for rituals): 

• Traditional view as revelation /discovery of fundamental principles underlying later developments; guiding spirit for later developments. 
• Modern view (e. g. Arya Samaj Dayananda Saraswati) as a source of all satya-vidyās (true sciences) viewed in the model of modern sciences. Śrī Aurobindo’s view

Module IV

Vedas and Yajñas

• Vedas and Yajñas – Yajñas as Knowledge: 

• Intense mutuality between Vedas and Yajñas
• ‘Use’ of Vedas in Yajñas 
• Vedas as motivating factor for Yajñas: Mīmāmsā view

 

 

• ‘Science’ and ‘Technology’ of Yajña: 

• Nature as yajña (as the life process or processing by Agni in Virāṭpuruṣa’s body; “yajñena yajñamayajanta devāḥ”), human yajña as imitation of natural yajña (“tāni dharmāṇi prathamānyāsan”)

• Classification of Yajñas: 

• Nitya, Naimittika and Kāmya yajñas
• Śāntika (medicinal/healing) and Pauṣṭika (tonic /nourishing) yajñas

Module V

Vedāṅgas

• Vedāṅgas: Original context and so far identified contemporary knowledge aspects: 

• Śikṣā: 

• Original Context: Protection of Vedic pronunciation
• Contemporary knowledge: Origin of the contemporary phonetics and phonology; study of phonation/articulatory phonetics; origin of Varṇamālā as a scientific table of phonemes in all Indian languages.

• Chandas

• Original Context: Protection of Vedic oral text and its prosody 
• Contemporary knowledge:  Mathematics; binary number calculations; origin of zero; combinatronics etc. 

• Vyākaraṇa

• Original Context: rakṣohāgamalaghvasandehāḥ prayojanam
• Contemporary knowledge: Linguistics; origin of many modern general linguistic notions such as sandhi, internal and external sandhi, morpho-phonemics 

• Nirukta

• Original Context: Protection of semantics of Vedas
• Contemporary knowledge: Origin of many contemporary linguistic ideas, etymologies, theories of origin of words from noun and verb roots, multiple interpretations of the same expression, hermeneutics etc.  

• Kalpa

• Original Context: Protection of Yajňa procedures
• Contemporary knowledge: Mathematics, particularly geometry etc. 

• Jyotiṣa

• Original Context: Protection of space and time knowledge in Vedas
• Contemporary knowledge:  Astronomy, meteorology etc.  

Module VI

Vedārtha-darśanas

• Vedārtha-darśanas: (Pūrva-)Mīmāṁsā and Vedānta (Uttara-mīmāṁsā) – Original context and so far identified contemporary knowledge aspects:

• Mīmāṁsā

• Original Context: Interpretation of Vedic texts towards Dharma and Karma (Yajňa)
• Contemporary knowledge:  Methods of exegesis, interpretative techniques, a certain approach of Vedic linguistics, linguistic cognition, knowledge organization, knowledge management etc.  

• Vedānta 

• Original Context: Interpretation of Vedic texts towards Brahman and Mokṣa
• Contemporary knowledge:  Vedic Psychology 

Module VII 

Other Vaidika-darśanas:

• Second Pair:

• Nyāya

• Original context, Contemporary applicability

• Vaiśeṣika 

• Original context, Contemporary applicability

• Third Pair: 

• Sāṅkhya

• Original context, Contemporary applicability

• Yoga

• Original context, Contemporary applicability

• Sphoṭa as the 7th Vaidika-darśana

• Original context, Contemporary applicability

Module VIII 

Itihāsas, mahāpurāṇas and upapurāṇas as books of Knowledge – Knowledge aspects of Kāvyas:

• Direct knowledge in non-narrative sections 
• Direct Knowledge in narrative sections 
• Indirect Knowledge in narrative sections (Epics and personalities, environmental understandings etc.)
• “Encyclopaedic Literature” –Northrop Frye
• ‘vyavahāravide’ of Kāvyas (contextual discussions of knowledge aspects)

Module IX 

Śāstra-granthas: A survey

• Artha-śāstra, Kāma-śāstra, Nāṭya-śāstra, Saṅgīta-śāstra, Alaṅkāra-śāstra, Ayurveda, Vāstu, Citra-sūtra, Dhanurveda etc. 

Module X 

Traditional Classifications of Indic Knowledge systems: 

• Catuṣṣaṣṭi-vidyāsthānas model:

• Three cleansing sciences model: 

• Āyurveda – body cleansing
• Yoga – mind cleansing 
• Vyākaraṇa – speech cleansing

• Upaniṣadic (ādhyātmika/mokṣa-centric) model: Parāvidyā – aparāvidyā, vidyā-avidyā

Module XI

Contemporary classification: Objective, Subjective, Knowledge courses model

• Subjective Sciences

• Objective Sciences

• Knowledge Sciences 

• Contemporary classification: ‘Vedic Sciences’ model:                                                                                                   

Vedic Health /Wellness Science	Āyurveda
Vedic Linguistics	Language study in Vyākaraṇa
Vedic Mathematics	Mathematics in Chandas, Sulba-sūtras
Vedic Science of Aesthetics	Alaṅkara-śāstra
Vedic Science of Logic	Nyāya
Vedic Science of Public Administration	Artha-śāstra
Vedic Science of Psychology	Ideas drawn from Yoga, Upaniṣads etc.
Vedic Science of Ethics	Ideas related Dharma drawn from various Vedic sources

Module XII 

Oral textual and non-textual (found in practice) knowledge: 

• Scope for research on Vedic Knowledge systems through fieldwork, ethnography and other qualitative research methods

Evaluation & Assessment Methods Used 

Formative Assessment: 

• • Continuous Evaluation (Continuous Assessment) 
  • 100% weightage: 100 marks 
  • Formative Assessment will be based on a continuous comprehensive pattern 

• There shall be assignments and quizzes 

Formative Evaluation – The answer sheet of the formative examination will be shown to individual students, and the student will be guided on how to improve upon the performance. 

References

1. Holiness Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekendra Saraswathi, Hindu dharma, a note the Students, B.I.T.S. Pilani,
2. Keerti Jhoshi, Glimpses of Vedic Literature, Standard Publishers, New Delhi, 2006
3. Sabhlok PK, Glimpses of Vedic Metaphysics, Notion Press 2021