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Ancient wisdom shows the way

Essays on Indology (Vicaravaibhavam)

By Dr. V.R. Panchamukhi

Publishers: Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupathi

Price: Not Mentioned.

THE book under review is a compendium of the speeches delivered and articles indited by the author spanning over several years. The themes packed in this publication are refreshingly variegated

encompassing such esoteric subjects such as relevance of dharmashastra in modern times, Vedic model for economic development, Bhagvad Gita and Management at one end of the spectrum with edifying discourses dealing with the Sanskrit world which also offer s some innovative ideas about the ways and means of popularising Sanskrit in the modern world.

At the outset the author maintains that in the sequential causal linkages of factors leading to maximum welfare, the foremost factor is that of dharma, a value-based system. But the modern economic theory of welfare sidesteps the intermediate factor of Dharma and formulates welfare as a function of income alone, thereby injects the danger of fostering a value-less system by overstressing and overstretching the role of capital in economic development.

Conceding that the induction of dharma in practical life is a moot point, the author contends that this could be overcome if a faithful effort is made to grasp the nettle of Dharma Sastra model of economic development. The author avers that Dharma Sastra is not averse to the process of capital accumulation if such a pursuit is to subserve growth.

In fact, Atharva Veda (Kanda 3 Sukta 24) clearly spells out the process of capital formulation and then allocation of resources are the twin pillars of development. Dr. Panchamukhi argues that modern economic science is beset with the thorny issue of agg regation and the conflict between private profit and social benefit.

The entire theory of project evaluation techniques based on shadow prices and comparison with a normative perfective competitive benchmark are premised on these conflict perceptions. But in the Vedantic approach, these conflicts are not allowed to be gen erated, since welfare and redistributive justice are explicitly incorporated in the individual's welfare function which has to be maximised by the individuals actions. The author makes bold to claim that the role of government in this integrated paradigm is kept to the minimum because there is greater stress on the voluntary nature of the human behavior. ``If we follow the Vedantic paradigm of development, there is no room for huge budget or fiscal deficits or excessive internal or external borrowings'' , the author writes.

In yet another novelty in persuasion, the author states that while modern management science basically consists of the theory and practice of conflict prevention, conflict prediction and conflict resolution, the Bhagvad Gita also deals with the situati ons of conflicts, contradictions and confusions and provides guidelines for their resolutions in such a way that eventually the right and the truth triumph.

Debunking the misconception that the links between Sanskrit and physical sciences including medicine are superficial, the author recalls how a medicine based upon turmeric as an insecticide was patented in the United States and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR) argued the case in the US maintaining that this knowledge was already available as a community knowledge in India with the CSIR took the help of the Sanskrit scholars to argue its case and finally won in the US courts.

Another fascinating detail mentioned by the author is that many experts from India and abroad have demonstrated that the Astadhyayi Sutras of Panini in grammar, the Sabdabodha of Tarkasastra and Kullak methodology of Aryabhatta and many other methods are of great utility in the development of computer language. A computer expert named Vyas Housten and a Macintosh Computer expert David Lawin and many other Indian experts acknowledged the usefulness of Sanskrit for computer language.

Finally the author claims that globalisation, a much used and abused word in the post-cold war period, means global action for individual benefits since the concept as propounded by western countries means enunciation of global rules which would enable t he expansion of the economic advantages of a few puissant entities. In contrast to this, the Sanskrit economic treatise has advocated individual actions for the realisation of maximum global welfare or summum bonum.

The book is replete with such refreshing vignettes and convincing case for safeguarding the glory of the Sanskrit language and its eternal relevance for the country in which it was originated and from this perspective it makes a compelling reading for al l eclectic people, both lay and learned.

G. Srinivasan