World Civilizations - An Indic View
India is unique, but how is its uniqueness defined in relation to other civilizations? This course will contrast the various civilizations of past and present and bring out the Indian position.
Overview
This course is where we unpack all this and more. This is World Civilizations - An Indic View
Contents
Day 1
What is Civilization? :
What is civilization, in general and as a subject of scholarly inquiry? How have civilization and culture been compared to each other? What is the Indian word for either? And is that even a right question to be asking?
Day 2
Origins, Influential Thinkers and Leading Models :
A general survey of the origins, influential thinkers and leading models of civilizational thought. We go over the work of Toynbee and Spengler, and peek into some broad models.
Day 3
Comparisions :
Deep diving into comparative civilizations, studying the available literature on its own merit. We learn here of essential śatrubodha and svayaṃbodha found in the Western gaze of civilization; and in turn identify how it can inform our fundamental bodhas. The predictive value of this is also appraised.
Day 4
Comparative Analysis :
How has comparative civilizational study looked at India? What should we infer if we find differing usages of ‘India,’ ‘Hindu,’ ‘Buddhism’ or other terms- all of which would be part of a single civilizational existence from our POV? Does any of this contain a view of us that we ourselves have not considered?
Day 5
Civilizational Models :
We present substantive reasons to reject and refute the existing models of civilizational thought. The inherent biases and blind spots are called out in detail. Prof. Balagangadhara’s framing of all modern social sciences as essentially “western civilization in conversation with itself” is explained and substantiated.
Day 6
Indian Civilizational Thinkers :
Here we pay homage to those that guide our path. Rṣis such as Shri Aurobindo, and scholars such as Shri Rajiv Malhotra, Prof. Balagangadhara, and Shri KM Munshi are studied, and the Indian view of itself is laid out to detail.
Day 7
Caturasūtra of Indian Civilizational Thought :
A new model, built on the shoulders of giants visited in the previous section, is articulated using native terminology. Bhāratīya Sāṃskṛtika Cetanā is now completely shaped. We do this with a successive hierarchy of 4 essential aphorisms, the Caturasūtra of Indian civilizational thought.
Day 8
Way Forward- An Indic View :
The new model is then applied in reverse. This is the Indian position on comparative civilizations. Having understood our view of ourselves, we ask under a new light- what is the Western civilization, or the Chinese, or Islamic? Are they civilizations as we would define them? To what degree and with what measures?
Session Recordings
Day 1
What is Civilization?
Day 2
Origins, Influential Thinkers and Leading Models
Day 3
Comparisions
Day 4
Comparative Analysis
Day 5
Civilizational Models
Day 6
Indian Civilizational Thinkers
Day 7
Caturasūtra of Indian Civilizational Thought
Day 8
Way Forward- An Indic View
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Key Takeaways
Essential Svayṃbodha and Śatrubodha
An informed understanding of Indian civilizational consciousness and of Western civilizational thought.
Core Lexicon
The key words, terminology and definitions that constitute the field of comparative civilizations.
Precise Pūrva Pakṣa
The Indian mind is traditionally tuned to truth-seeking, and this course will equip participants with both the merit and the critique in the prevailing Western models for civilization.
New discoveries
Śrī Aurobindo explained how “The human mind, in its progress, marches knowledge to knowledge, renews and enlarges previous knowledge- often obscured or overlaid, seizes on old imperfect clues and is led by them to new discoveries.” This course will give participants an exercise in enlarging previous knowledge and being led by that to new discoveries.
Who is this course for?
- We aim to lay essential ground here, a reclamation of distorted memory and the assertion of renewed civilizational identity. Deep to the far horizon of the future must our gaze extended, the dṛṣṭī rooted in a wisdom accumulated over millennia. And we will do so with clarity. With the confident lamp of truth and knowledge. This course is structured as a comprehensive literature review followed by attempted new thinking. Anyone interested in the prevailing understanding of ‘civilization,’ the ways in which Western thought has looked at India, and how a line of dedicated Indian thinkers have asserted the Indian view with consistency will find significant takeaways for themselves. As a wide-ranging study it will cover several fundamentals and frame new articulations, which will interest those keen on meta-thought and analysis. The content will provide rich context to anyone looking to develop a confident and informed position on the matter of ‘civilization state.’ Finally, with the design framed as pūrva pakṣa - khaṇḍana - siddhānta, this course is for any Indian who wishes to have an intellectually and academically solid insight into the biases inherent in the Western view of other civilizations; and/or on the unique and global value of being informed by the Indian gaze on comparative civilizations.
Know your Instructor
Amritanshu Pandey
Amrit combines more than a decade of professional experience rooted in product development, with a lifetime of engagement with ancient Indian history. He writes on history, civilizational thinking and design.
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