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Philosophy
"In religion, India is the only millionaire .... The One land that all men desire to see and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for all the shows of
all the rest of the globe combined".
- Mark Twain
- American Author 1835-1910
Philosophy, logic, theology are areas which have become typecast with India. To a person from outside India, this culture has nothing to offer other than the knowledge about these areas. As far as material culture goes, India had nothing to contribute, is the popular impression among people from the rest of our globe today as also among most Indians. The foregoing chapters have thrown light on the advances made by this country in the material sciences and the transmission of these advances abroad.
This image of Buddha
from Kashmir dates back to the 8th Century. Through Buddhism and Hinduism Indian values such as non-violence (Ahimsa), renunciation (Tyaga), piety (Shraddha), charity (Dana and Dakshina) influenced other cultures especially early Christianity.
Originally the plan of this author was to talk only about the advances in the material sciences and arts that had existed in India. This objective had been set to dispel the notion that India is only a land of Sages, Seers, saints and Philosophers. But after having spoken at length about the achievements of Indians in the physical sciences, this chapter on Philosophy has been included only to complete the discussion on the topic 'India's Contribution to Our World's Culture'.
In this chapter we shall examine India's contribution in mainly three areas viz. Non-violence, Renunciation and Religious Tolerance.
Author : Shri Sudheer Birodkar
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