The Things We Don't Know by Tarun Betala

Author:Tarun Betala
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: universe, history, religion, chinese, war, philosophy, humanity, christian, roman, indian
Publisher: Tarun Betala

Chapter 6

In The Heart of India

“Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life's search for love and wisdom.”—Rumi

Over the course of their respective histories, the eastern and the western world developed quite differently. Each region developed its religions, values, philosophies, material wealth, depending on what each of the societies deemed to be important. But they didn’t develop in a total vacuum. The east and the west have been known to be connected as far back as the second millennium BCE through a trade route called the Silk Road. Trade of gemstones, artworks, and horses already took place much before many of the empires, dynasties and kingdoms mentioned here even came into existence. Lying in between the east and the west, on the Silk Road, was the Indian Subcontinent. The philosophies of this region, lying in the center of the two disparate worlds, developed differently still.

On one of these routes, in the heart of India, was founded a treasure trove of knowledge. Nalanda, one of the oldest teaching institutions in the world, was a Buddhist monastery that grew over the course of seven centuries from 500 CE to 1200 CE. Religious practice at Nalanda, and indeed the region, was not limited to a deep understanding of religious literature only. Monks who lived in the monastery were learned in a wide range of subjects from grammar to logic to Buddhism; the library consisted of large volumes of books in subjects like astronomy, logic, grammar, astrology, literature, and medicine34.

Growing from a flourishing village on a major trade route in Central India to harboring one of the world’s oldest and largest institutions, Nalanda was, at its peak about 12 hectares, or the equivalent of 30 football fields. Nalanda grew to become one of the largest ancient systematic teaching institutions in the world, following the formalized methods learned from the Vedas.

Almost 500 years before the first Christian university, Nalanda was founded. This kind of a teaching system was possible because of the secularity that was promoted by the Gupta Empire, which ruled a majority of the Indian subcontinent for a little more than three centuries leading up to the founding of the university. While the kings of the Gupta regime followed Hinduism, they patronized other contemporary religions as well—Buddhism and Jainism.

Outside of the patronization of the different religions, scholars and works that focused on science, astronomy, engineering and arts were supported. In many cases, these were not mutually exclusive: Patronizing religion meant patronizing science since many of the religious monks took it upon them to understand the physical and metaphysical world. The three-century rule of the Gupta Empire is referred to as the Golden Age of India, and for no small reason. Many unprecedented scientific, artistic and literary innovations took place over the course of the three-century rule of the Guptas.

In the field of literature, this period gave us the Kama sutra. Kama Sutra is a work that is now synonymous with creative sexual positions, and was written during this period by Vastyayana.

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