|
India?s science heritage
Science in Samskrit, Samskrita Bharati (author and publisher), pp 147, Rs 100.00
First of all let me clarify that by Samskrit the publisher means the Sanskrit language, which is not just a language but the ?voice of Bharat?s soul and wisdom? and ?is the fountainhead of our national life spring?, to quote from the book.
We in India consider both Sanskrit language and literature as a great repository of knowledge, encompassing every walk of life?be it in science and technology, agriculture, sculpture, astronomy, architecture, medicine, metallurgy, mathematics, management, economics and ecology. This colourful booklet gives a glimpse of the rich and vast scientific heritage of India hidden in the ?treasure-house called Sanskrit.?
Sanskrit was the medium of communication, education, law, administration, trade, commerce, art and intellectual debates till a few centuries ago. Our knowledge of astronomy was much more advanced than that of the West. This is proved when we read the Rig Veda where some of the following points have been expounded on:
- The elliptical path through which all the celestial bodies move is ?imperishable and unslackened?.
- The mean planets move on their orbits and the true planets in eccentric circles.
- The cause of eclipse is that the moon that covers the sun and the shadow of the earth covers the moon.
- The influence of comets increases rapidly in the autumn and spring seasons as these naturally exist in the solar rays.
- In the eighth region of the sky there are 3,07,03,2212 comets.
- The moon is a satellite of the earth revolving around its mother planet.
- The radius of the earth is 800 yojanas.
- Massive celestial bodies are attracted towards the earth by her gravitational force.
- Bhaskaracharya discovered the nadivalayam which helped people to determine the time
- The shanku yantram was discovered to trace the sun?s path and find time.
Similarly, Sanskrit revealed our ancient knowledge of physics?the speed of light as 2,202 yojanas in half a minute; the sequence of the creation of matter is as follows: akasha, vayu, agni, apa, prithvi; units of measurement, electricity generation by using copper plates and chemicals kept in earthen pots; formation of rainbow, motion, lens, elasticity, etc. The book also talks of the discoveries our ancients made and recorded in Sanskrit for subjects like chemistry, metallurgy, mathematics, medicine, agriculture, cosmetics, art and culture, yoga and architecture.
The book tries to stress that we need Sanskrit more than ever before to preserve our moorings and to bridge the ancient and the modern, to unravel the knowledge contained in our ancient texts, to protect our Intellectual Property Rights, to explore new avenues of innovations and lead India to the forefront in future knowledge of the world.
(Samskrita Bharati, Mata Mandir Gali, Jhandewalan, New Delhi-110 055.)
|
