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Summing Up
"It is already becoming clearer that a chapter which has a western beginning will have to have an Indian ending if it is not to end in the self-destruction of the human race... At this supremely dangerous moment in history the only way of salvation for mankind is the Indian Way. "
- Dr. Arnold Toynbee
British Historian 1889-1975
The issues dealt with in the various chapters are only an assorted combination of those whose origins are traced to ancient India. Culture the world over is a result of give and take between various peoples. While India has contributed to the enrichment of culture it has also drawn from the efforts of people in other parts of the world with -whom it came in contact.
Guilded Buddha at Bangkok Buddhism has been one of India's ennobling contributions to the World's Culture
Foreign commentators who visited India like Strabo, Megasthanes, Fa Hien, Huien Tsiang, Marco Polo, Pliny, Ibn Batuta, Al Beruni, etc., have noted the progress made by Indians. This can be seen in their writings despite the bias some of the writers had against India.
The Ashoka Pillar symbolizes the 3 virtues of Piety, Charity, and Service Buddhism - the world's first missionary religion nurtured selfless service to humankind which later influenced the Catholic Church
This much is enough to dispel the notion that India has always been a nation dependent on other countries, has been ruled by aliens and has borrowed everything from foreign sources. A nation whose people always thought that other countries represent greener pastures for better education, employment and living.
No, we had universities like Nalanda and Takshashila, metropolises like Pataliputra and Ujjaini, emperors like Chandragupta Maurya and Samrat Ashoka, scholars like Pannini and Kautilya.
Today though India has fallen behind in the race of progress, held back by the dead weight of nearly a millenniuum of alien rule, we have proved to the world that great Indians need not only be, Kalidas, Shusruta or Ashoka but we still have a Tagore, a Raman and a Mahatma Gandhi. India can still do it, it is up to us to prove it.
Author : Shri Sudheer Birodkar
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