Vivekananda on the Vedas (part 188)

[Guest guest]

Earlier postings can be seen at http://www.vivekananda.btinternet.co.uk/veda.htm

 

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ON THE VEDAS AND UPANISHADS

By Sister Gayatriprana

part 188

 

 

2. The Reactionary Western Orientalists Read Greek Influence into Everything Indian

The earliest schools of Sanskritists in Europe entered into the study of Sanskrit with more imagination than critical ability. They knew a little, expected much from that little, and often tried to make too much of what little they knew. In those days, even such vagaries as the estimation of Shakuntala as forming the high-water mark of Indian philosophy were not altogether unknown! These were naturally followed by a reactionary band of superficial critics, more than real scholars of any kind, who knew little or nothing of Sanskrit, expected nothing from Sanskrit studies, and ridiculed everything from the East. While criticizing the unsound imaginativeness of the early school (to whom everything in Indian literature was rose and musk) these, in their turn, went into speculations which, to say the least, were equally unsound and indeed very venturesome. And their boldness was very naturally helped by the fact that these over-hasty and unsympathetic scholars and critics were addressing an audience whose entire qualification for pronouncing any judgement on the matter was their absolute ignorance of Sanskrit. What a medley of results from such critical scholarship! Suddenly, one fine morning, the poor Hindus woke up to find that everything that was theirs was gone: one strange race had snatched away from them their arts, another their architecture, a third, whatever there was of their ancient sciences; why, even their religion was not their own! Yes - that, too, had migrated into India in the wake of a Pehlevi [Persian] cross of stone! After a feverish period of such treading-on-each-others’-toes of original research, a better state of things has dawned. It has now been found out that mere adventure without some amount of the capital of real and ripe scholarship produces nothing but ridiculous failure, even in the business of Oriental research, and that the traditions of India are not to be rejected with supercilious contempt, as there is really in them more than most people ever dream of.(25)

Professor Max Muller says in one of his books that, whatever similarities there may be between the Greeks and Hindus, unless it be demonstrated that some Greek knew Sanskrit, it cannot be concluded that ancient India helped ancient Greece in any way. But it is curious to observe that some Western savants, finding several terms of Indian astronomy similar to those of Greek astronomy, and coming to know that the Greeks founded a small kingdom on the borders of India, can clearly read the help of Greece on everything Indian - on Indian literature, Indian astronomy, Indian arithmetic. Not only so; one has been bold enough to go so far as to declare that all Indian sciences as a rule are but echoes of the Greek!

On a single Sanskrit shloka - "The Yavanas [ionians or Greeks] are mlechchhas [non-Vedantins]; in them is this science established, (therefore) even they deserve worship like rishis"… how much the Westerners have indulged their unrestrained imagination! But it remains to be shown how the above shloka goes to prove that the Aryans were taught by the mlechchhas. The meaning may be that the learning of the mlechchha disciples of the Aryan teachers is praised here, only to encourage the mlechchhas in their pursuit of the Aryan science!

Secondly, when the germ of every Aryan science is found in the Vedas and every step of any of those sciences can be traced with exactness from the Vedic to the present day, what is the necessity of forcing the far-fetched suggestion of Greek influence on them?…

Again, every Greek-like work of Aryan astronomy can be easily derived from Sanskrit roots. I cannot understand what right the Western scholars have to trace those words to a Greek source, thus ignoring their direct etymology.