Page 90 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

hinduism 909

We don’t see things as they are, we see them
as we are. • Anais Nin (1903–1977)

reaching spiritual fulfillment.The practice of medicine as darsana, the Yoga system of Patanjali, which dates to
a form of charity was widely recommended and sup- around 200 BCE, is wholly based on it.
ported by Hindu rulers. It was considered a charitable Vaisesika, the third of the six darsanas, offers a theory
act to provide medicine to the sick free of charge, and it of atomism that is possibly more ancient than that of the
was one of the activities in which monks were encour- Greek philosopher Democritus (c. 460–c. 370 BCE), as
aged to participate.Two Indian medical handbooks, the well as a detailed analysis of qualities and differences. It
result of centuries of development, became famous in the also developed the notion of impetus.
ancient world far beyond India: the Caraka samhita (dat- Adhyatma vidya (the term refers to spirituality in gen-
ing from 200 BCE to 300 CE) and the Sushruta samhita. eral—not a specific system), the spiritual or inner sci-
Ayurveda was also applied to animals and plants; there ences, which relate to Brahma, the supreme reality, was
is an ancient handbook for professional gardeners and a considered the highest: It employed personal experience,
text for cattle-veterinarians. Other texts deal with veteri- a coherent epistemology, and the exegesis of revealed
nary medicine relating to horses and elephants. Ancient utterances. The Upanishads mention thirty-two vidyas,
India also had veterinary hospitals as well as animal clin- paths leading to the goal of all science. The knowledge
ics. Goshalas, places in which elderly cattle are provided aimed at through these was of a particular kind, involv-
for, are still popular in some parts of India.The scientific ing a transformation of the student. The ideas of the
value of Ayurvedic pharmacology is being recognized Upanishads were further developed into the system of
today by major Western pharmaceutical companies, who Vedanta philosophy laid down mainly in commentaries
apply for worldwide patents on medicinal plants dis- on the Brahma sutras ascribed to Badarayana (first centur-
covered and described in ancient Indian texts. ies CE). Beginning with Shankara (eighth century CE) and
continuing with Ramanuja (c. 1017–1137) and Mad-
Philosophy hava (1296?–1386?), the greatest spiritual minds of
India does not know the division between philosophy India have endeavored to cultivate that science of the
and theology that characterizes much of modern Western eternal reality of the spirit.
intellectual history. It is natural for Hindus with an
enquiring mind to analyze and investigate the teachings Hinduism in World History
of their traditions, and professional philosophers with a Membership in the Hindu community was for many cen-
Hindu background deal also with religious issues in a turies restricted to those who were born from Hindu par-
philosophically meaningful way. Hindu philosophical ents and who had undergone the various sacraments that
systems are not mere abstract constructs, but paths for made a Hindu a full member of the Hindu community
the realization of the highest purpose of life. Among the both here and in the beyond. Hinduism was always a
qualifications required for beginning philosophical study “world religion” due to the fact that India has always
is the earnest desire to find liberation from the sufferings been a densely populated, large country and thus home
of the cycles of rebirth and death, which are caused by of a considerable part of humankind. In its heyday (prior
ignorance of the true nature of reality. to the Muslim invasion which began in the eighth cen-
Among the six orthodox systems of philosophy tury CE) India attracted students and pilgrims from all
(darsanas) is Samkhya, which teaches a general theory of over Asia who studied at the large indigenous universities
evolution based on the interactive polarity of nature and or visited holy places associated with such figures as the
matter on the one hand with spirit and soul on the other. Buddha.
All reality is subsumed under five-times-five principles During the first half of the first millennium Hinduism
that originate from one substratum.The twenty-five cat- also spread into most of Southeast Asia, as mentioned ear-
egories to which Samkhya reduces the manifold world lier.This period was followed by a prohibition to cross “the
became widely accepted in Hindu thought. A second black seas” under threat of loss of caste.This prohibition