India’s education system stands at a crossroads, as calls grow for a civilizational shift to integrate the Indic Knowledge Systems (IKS) and redefine the nation as Bhārat, aligning education with its cultural roots and dharmic heritage.
There is little doubt that the time is ripe for an educational revolution in India. For too long, we have struggled with a system that had its roots in the Macaulay dictum, and was then further corrupted after independence by a situation where a very limited amount of funding was available to educate a population that was just around 12-18% literate. This number has risen to 77% today but let us remember that being technically literate does not mean that one is educated. We still limp along and there is little connection between formal education as expressed by a school or college degree and employability.
The economic problem more or less spontaneously led to a social problem with the limited funding available for education being cornered by special interest groups with political influence—an educational jati system. This was formalised in the institutionalisation of reservations, initially for the SC ST communities but later going up to a minimum of 49.5% across the country with the inclusion of the OBC group, and further delinking merit from outcomes (in Tamil Nadu this number is an absurd 69%). Realising these almost insurmountable contradictions between aspirations and abilities, the governments of the day sporadically instituted various commissions to look into the education system and make recommendations, specifically in 1948, 1964, 1986 and most recently in 2020, the National Educational Policy (NEP 2020). Most of the recommendations of these committees never saw the light of day.
It is in this disappointing context that one must look at the Indic Knowledge Systems (IKS) initiative, which attempts in its own way, a reversal of the education pattern to a system that is more reminiscent of what prevailed in this country before Macaulay, in other words to go back to a cognitive system that relied on holism, inductive logic and intuitive thinking. Holism is the essence of IKS and embodies ancient India’s holistic and integrative wisdom, covering diverse domains like science, art, medicine, philosophy, and spirituality. Unlike modern Indian education, which often focuses on rote memorization and standardised testing, IKS nurtures critical thinking, contextual knowledge and values-based education.
Rooted in texts like the Vedas and Upanishads, Indic Knowledge Systems emphasises experiential learning, ethics, interconnectedness, and lifelong inquiry. There is no doubt that IKS is derived from Sanatana Dharma and no one should artificially try to conflate it with woke ideas of Nehruvian secularism or try to integrate it with concepts that are unique to the Abrahamic faiths. The twain do not intersect, and IKS is and will only be a part of the Hindu Rashtra that is eagerly awaited by an overwhelmingly large section of our population, namely the 80% Hindus. IKS is based in the Hindu religion and as such it cannot be interpreted within the rubric of Abrahamic faiths.
IKS is intimately connected with our ancient scriptures. The Nyaya darshana, or school of thought, centres on logic and epistemology, emphasising rational inquiry to attain knowledge and truth. Key features include methods of debate, valid sources of knowledge (perception, inference, comparison, and testimony), and techniques to distinguish valid reasoning from fallacies. Its foundation is in Indian philosophy for developing rigorous logical methods. IKS is similarly based on a methodology of rigorous questioning and rejection of fallacies that fail the tests of logic. In the context of the scientific disciplines, the Vaiseshika darshana focuses on categorising reality into fundamental elements or dravyas. It emphasises atomism, proposing that all physical substances are composed of indivisible atoms. Key features include exploring six categories or padarthas: substance, quality, action, generality, particularity, and inherence, aiming for liberation or moksha through knowledge of these universal principles. The strong influence of holism is again shared with IKS which should be imparted with the goal of being able to solve advanced scientific problems of the modern age.
India’s NEP 2020 suggests integrating the Indic Knowledge Systems into the educational curriculum to promote a deeper understanding of the country’s traditional wisdom, sciences, languages, and cultural heritage. This includes learning about ancient sciences, arts, linguistics, philosophy, and environmental conservation practices, along with modern subjects. The goal is to foster holistic education, instil pride in India’s diverse heritage, and bridge the gap between traditional knowledge and contemporary learning methods. Now, all this is very well but it simply restates what is known about the nature of IKS. How exactly do schools and colleges go about in this business and is it really possible to integrate IKS within a Macaulay system that is fundamentally different, in that the very cognitive processes in the two systems are diametrically opposite?
For IKS to be a practical reality in India, we need a civilizational reworking, in other words integrating India’s re-awakening with respect to its identity. IKS cannot be treated as a purely educational exercise, nor even as a sub part of the overall educational policy of the country as most recently articulated in NEP 2020. IKS can only have viability and relevance when a nation state, namely India, remakes itself as a civilisational state, namely Bhārat. This is a major exercise that needs reforms in all aspects of governance: the judiciary, the executive and the legislature. The reforms should be directed towards a redefinition of the country as a Hindu Rashtra. For, if Sanātana Dharma lives, Bhārat lives—if Sanātana Dharma dies, Bhārat dies. Education can and must be viewed as a part of a grand design in which a country comes out of a millennium of physical, mental, intellectual and above all, civilisational servitude.
The colonial mindset that has persisted even after 75 years of independence from Britain has been a really serious problem in India partly because the upper echelons of decision makers, the highest level politicians and bureaucrats, were largely Macaulayist in their thinking till the mid-1970s, conservatively speaking. The diplomatic and organisational aspects of governance were, inter alia, gravely impaired. The matter of the rediscovery of India and its remaking as Bhārat its origins in the very nature of Sanātana Dharma.
The civilisational revolution is an immediate and short term priority. The several policy and governmental changes during the past decade can only increase the feelings of self confidence and self pride among vast sections of Indians. We are mostly concerned here with the effects of the civilisational and cultural revolution on bringing in a dharmic educational system, governance institutions, and overall social regulation that mwill give a long-term, resilient thrust to India’s economic expansion. It is in this context that IKS should be considered and its practitioners should ideally be aware that the synergy of IKS with the overall movement towards a Hindu Rashtra can certainly lead to a fundamental change in our educational policies for the better.
Gautam Desiraju is Professor Emeritus in the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
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