Upanishads-The Bedrock Of Indian Culture ( Indian Science And Indian Education)

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The Vedanta Kesari, p. 583-587, December 2007

Upanishads And Indian Science

Now let us consider how the Upanishads have shaped the Indian approach to scientific temper. Here is a verse from the Kena Upanishad (I,1-2)

The Pupil asks: "At whose wish does the mind sent forth proceed on its errand? At whose command does the first breath go forth? At whose wish do we utter this speech? What god directs the eye, or the ear?'

The Teacher replies: "It is the ear of the ear, the mind of the mind, the speech of speech, the breath of breath, and the eye of the eye.'

This is an apt example of how the Indian mind has been imbued with a spirit of inquiry right from its early days. India's approach and methodology in scientific research has been deeply influenced by the spirit of inquiry which pervades the Upanishads. The Rishis whose inquisitive minds set out to know the unknowable were able to break the secrets of matter. While science is an unending quest for knowledge, the Vedic mind searched for the ultimate source of all matter and energy. Many of the modern day scientists have found several parallels between the Upanishadic truths and the scientific discoveries.

The ancient text of Sulbasutras, containing many geometrical theorems and Ayurveda, were also contributions of the same Vedic culture of which the Upanishads form an integral part. Unlike modern science which limits itself to perceivable phenomena and dismisses subtle phenomena as unscientific, the quest of the Vedic seers encompassed even the non-physical worlds.

Upanishads and Indian Education

The Upanishads are mostly a record of teacher-student dialogue. The following prayer from the Upanishads sums up the excellent relationship that existed between them.

"May both of us together be protected. May both of us together be nourished. May we work together with great energy. May our study together be brilliant and effective. May we not hate or dispute with each other. Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

The Upanishads laid the foundation for the loving and respectful relationship between the teachers and students which prevailed in India till the modern education system ruined it with money, competition, hatred and disharmony. The Upanishads contain touching stories of exemplary students like Uddalaka, Upamanyu, Satyakama Jabali, Shvetaketu and Nachiketas and also great teachers like Yajnavalkya. While the modern system emphasizes mainly developing one's intellectual capacities, the Upanishads emphasised the development of character as the most important part of education.

The Upanishadic teachers themselves led ideal lives and hence inspired their students to live lofty lives. Swami Vivekananda considered the Upanishadic method of living together with ideal teachers as the best form of education. Institutions like Sannyasa, which later on came to occupy central place in classical Hinduism, also have their basis in the Upanishads. The Upanishads glorify renunciation but they do not impose it on all. They well recognize the evolutionary needs of different people.