Recently, we saw a shocking spectacle of a celebrity in social circles shamelessly showering undeserving encomium on the Delhi sultan Humayun for his fraternal affection to Rani Karnavati while explaining the origin of ‘Raksha Bandhan’! Of course, on observing the intensity of the feedback, she attempted to deflect the focus and explain that it was just one of the many stories she had learnt while growing up.
We hasten to clarify that this article is neither about any individual celebrity, any Delhi sultan nor any Rajput queen. This is about truth; about history. On the element and extent of truth in historical narratives thrust on us. All of us have been fed in our school days with the same rotten, routine, repetitive reporting by Marxist/Nehruvian historians over several decades and consequently, we continue to carry the corrupt chronicle till we stumble upon the true rendition from various sources at a much later stage.
Therefore, the news item is no surprise. Now, a new problem crops up as to verifying the veracity of the version in the net, since the virus of falsehood and fakery fiction has spread into the net also. Still, finally, we sift and sort the data thus received and arrive at the proper judgement.
But the problem is this: When we realize that we had been wickedly subjected to a dishonest deception during our school days, we imagine ourselves to be sober and mature enough and are inclined to condone such lapses as trivial aberrations and we continue to go about our routine affairs. It is too late. The stable was wide open and the horses had bolted.
Whereas if we had received proper knowledge during our formative years, we, being young and energetic, would have been definitely and justifiably bubbling to the brim with patriotic spirit with our heads held high and that natural feeling of frenzy and fervour would have reflected in every one of our activity wherever we happened to function in life, contributing as a result, maximum output to national wealth and prosperity. Now, what is happening is that we are trying to close the stable after the horses have left. The pity is that the exercise has not even started in full swing.
It is not only in history, but in all other academic subjects also, this dishonest deceit has spread its tentacles. For instance, why should we continue to give false credit in our science, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and other textbooks to those fellows Newton, Archimedes, Pythagoras, Fibonacci, etc. when all those inventions were already known to us centuries earlier through our Vedic texts and from our greatest brains like Aryabhatta, Varahamihira, Charak, Susruta, Brahmagupta, Kanada, Baudhayana, just to mention a few.
Instead, should we not record those genuine facts and their bona fide authors in detail, describing how our ancient greats had invented them eons ago and with a small footnote indicating that they are all surreptitiously being attributed to Western scientists of later ages by the West? This precious knowledge is not confined only to the Samskritam language alone.
It is spread in all our local languages since this wisdom is a common denominator of all the natives of Bharat. For instance, there is a Tamil couplet: அணுவைத் துளைத்தேழ் கடலைப் புகட்டிக் குறுகத் தறித்த குறள்.
ஒளவையார்.
[Here Avvaiyaar, a Tamil poet of ancient times, while eulogizing Tirukkural says that it is so profound in its import that it is like breaking an atom and inserting seven seas in it. Now, it proves that we possessed the knowledge of the Atom centuries ago; that it can be broken; and that when broken it releases a behemothic quantum of energy, and that there are seven orbits in it!]
Such scientific references are found in plenty in other Tamil literature like திருமந்திரம் [Tirumandiram], பரிபாடல் [Paripadal] etc.
Similarly, if we take care to examine the literature in our native languages and discuss it with the seasoned village folks, we can unearth a voluminous wealth of native knowledge that can profitably be included in all our textbooks.
At present, unfortunately, we come to know just a few of these only much later through individual search and it is of no use at all. As a result of such a fundamentally faulty start, our students today are more Westernized than the Westerners themselves. On the other hand, they have started evincing deeper interest in our systems and values like yoga, pranayama, etc. Is it not a pity? This exercise of complete revamping of all our textbooks should therefore start without any further delay from the elementary stage onwards in the schools so that the young, nascent mind should start feeling justifiably proud of our ancient rich heritage. They will grow up as true proud, patriotic Bharatiyas.
Here is a quote from Francois Gautier:
We remember that when Murli Manohar Joshi tried to reform education, there was such an outcry that the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had to backtrack. But the thing is, the more you wait, the more difficult it is going to be because religions other than Hinduism have radicalized themselves in the last two decades. It is a must that in his third term if PM Modi comes back to power, he Indianises education to stem this huge brain drain and keep in India the best minds so that the country benefits from their intelligence.
Mr. X is standing in a railway station waiting for the train. He keeps his suitcase on the floor and is talking to his friend. A thief comes, snatches the suitcase, and runs. The friend, noticing this shouts in excitement. Our X was unperturbed. He says, ‘Don’t panic. The key is with me!’. Don’t laugh. Are we any wiser?
Parasuram Sharma is a retired bank officer and an octogenarian whose interests include Sanathana Dharmam, Samskritam, history and politics.
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