 |
| The Hindu Phenomenon |
|
A UNIQUE PHENOMENON |
|
|
|
|
| The
sources from which the Indian populace came to be constituted are
strangely enough, still a matter of debate. Theories of Aryan
invasion/migration and of pre- Aryan indigenous Dravidian people and
civilization survive despite the absence of worthwhile evidence.
There can, however, be no question that there had come into
existence within, more or less, the present boundaries of South Asia
a civilization pervasive enough and deep enough to give rise to a
people who can be said to possess a collective psyche.
Such a civilization existed in India at least on the eve of the Christian era. Evidence in support of a substantial Buddhist-Jain presence in Tamil Nadu by the second century B.C. and of the fusion of the supposedly Aryan-Dravidian features to produce one homogeneous civilization is by now well documented.5 I am not persuaded of the existence of a separate Dravida-speaking community in India. I share the views of the well-known archaeologist, Dr. S.R. Rao, that the Indus Valley civilization was a Vedic civilization.6 But I do not wish to press this viewpoint in this presentation, though I would like to make two points in passing.
|
|
|
|
