The First Spring, Part 2

Title: The First Spring, Part 2 – Culture in the Golden Age of India

Author: Abraham Eraly

Publisher: Penguin, 2014 (First published 2011)

ISBN: 9780143422891

Pages: 461

This book on culture in the golden age of India is an eminent continuation to its first volume in ‘The First Spring’ series on life in the era. Introduction to the series and the author may be seen in the review of the first volume which can be read here and not repeated in this post. This volume dwells on the sciences, philosophy, literature, arts and religion in the classical age of India, which is defined as the period from 500 BCE when the heterodox religions sprouted, to 500 CE, at the end of the Gupta dynasty. The time frame is rather a flexible one, as the author narrates details that are considerably later than this interval, but somehow culturally intertwined with it. The volume is noteworthy also for the encyclopedic nature of the content where the author has taken great pains to bring out lesser known ideas to the limelight. The treatise on Tantrism (both the Hindu and Buddhist types) is quite original in the amount of information made available, though overladen with open description of occult practices which include sexual acts that go against the established code of conduct on such matters. This volume is not as lively as the first, but the quantum of valuable information provided by it is quite impressive.

Unlike the first part of the work, this volume is more of a handbook than discourse and analysis. Throughout the text, the author bemoans the eclipse of creativity by the end of the Classical Period. This is attributed to the decline of Buddhism, which was said to be rationalistic, liberal and possessing urban ethos that was far more conducive to innovation and creativity than the fatalistic, pietistic, and rustic ethos of Puranic Hinduism which eventually replaced it. We encounter some inconsistencies in the argument on account of the lavish praise heaped on the heterodox religions. Eraly states that Hinduism was an inclusive religion which could accommodate the folk deities and rituals of the peninsular people in its capacious lap, which neither Buddhism nor Jainism could do. This goes against the grain of the argument that Aryanisation of the South took place under the zealous missionary activity of Buddhist and Jain monks that lasted nearly five centuries before Puranic Hinduism came along. So, without accommodating the local culture or at least reaching a working arrangement with them, how could Buddhism and Jainism stay ascendant for so long? The book does not offer a convincing solution to this question. A good discussion on Sankara’s philosophy is included, from which it may be deduced that Sankara actually helped to preserve many of the Buddhist concepts by integrating them into Advaita philosophy. What swept Buddhism out of India was the Hindu devotional Bhakti cults which were intellectually at the opposite end from Advaita.

The book presents a detailed description of the science, literature, philosophy and art of the Classical Period. Indians excelled in mathematics and astronomy, but lagged behind in physical sciences. One reason cited for this backwardness is that Indian intellectuals strived for identifying the ultimate principles behind any phenomenon, which meant broad theorizing and discouraged rigorous empirical investigation. The upper varnas which constituted the bulk of the intelligentsia scorned physical exertions of any kind in search of knowledge. This is evidenced by the low status attributed to physicians as they have to treat all castes and handle impure substances emitted from patients’ bodies. No great preceptor after Susrutha in the 4^th century arose in Ayurveda. This branch of ancient Indian knowledge is given a prominent place in the book for which a long chapter is dedicated. It may surprise many followers of yoga that Patanjali’s Yogasutra, considered to be the ultimate reference for all yogic practices, pays very little attention to asanas and pranayama as these are thought to be aids of meditation which is the advanced form of yoga.

As mentioned in the review of the first volume of this book, what differentiates Eraly from others is the prominent place he allots to South India and its languages, culture, literature, arts and architecture. A keen narrative on the development of language explains the mechanism by which Sanskrit came to be in the lofty position it now enjoys. Prakrit was the language of the people and Buddhist Pali was one of its dialects. Sanskrit had a renaissance in the Gupta age, since many of the rulers of this era were foreign in origin and they wanted to obtain legitimacy for their dynasty by placating Brahmins and encouraging Sanskrit scholars. Even Mahayana Buddhism took to Sanskrit as its own language of liturgy. However, with Bhakti movements in the early-Medieval period, Sanskrit turned into a dead language as the Bhakti saints encouraged vernacular languages by producing hymns which common people could understand. Even at its inception and zenith, Sanskrit was not the language of the people, but a literary language which was the preserve of the elite. This is in contrast to Tamil, South India’s oldest tongue. Sangam Age of the South coincided with the Classical period in the North. Though the word ‘Sangam’ itself is Sanskrit that might’ve denoted a Jain order, its literature is of the common people in their living language. Eraly states that this made them fresh and vigorous as compared to pretentious sophistication, hyperbolic literary conceits and stuffy pedantry of Sanskrit court literature.

The influence of Kalidasa on classical literature is uncontested and he is sometimes referred as the Indian Shakespeare, on account of the poems and dramas he has penned. This book analyses the possible influence of Greek drama on its Indian counterpart and discounts any possible imprint. It is true that Greek kings ruled over the north-western regions of the country and Greek influence is evident on other aspects of the culture. It is even possible that the stage curtain, which is called ‘yavanika’, owes its name to Ionia in Greece, but the two theatrical traditions are entirely unlike each other in ethos, structure and presentation. Aristotelian aesthetics of Greek drama that mostly handled tragedies was totally different from Indian theatre.

This book treats the definition of the Classical Age in a somewhat loose form. While it is generally agreed that the classical period extended only till 500 CE, the flowering of Indian architecture took place only around 1000 CE and thereafter, with magnificent temples built by the Cholas, Pallavas, Chandellas and Hoysalas. This is in contradiction with the author’s refrain that India went into a dark age with the downfall of Buddhism and rise of Puranic Hinduism after 500 CE and all forms of culture suffered a decline. To tide over this too apparent incongruity, the author treats that period as late-Classical when discussing architecture alone. This clearly shows the pitfalls of blanket classifications against which authors should always be on their guard. Eraly places Buddhism on a towering pedestal and assigns on it the reason behind the growth and development of Indian culture. Elsewhere, it is also stated that it was a religion of the elite, with no deep roots among the teeming masses with their own primitive systems of beliefs and rituals. It is precisely because of the elitism of Buddhism that it declined in the post-Classical period when Puranic Hinduism rose upon its innate strength to seamlessly absorb the numerous folk cults into its fold. As the author himself notes, Buddhism played no indispensable role in the lives of the common people, and people had no indispensable need for Buddhism. Worship of Shiva and Vishnu are the two pillars on which modern Hinduism rests, but there is a subtle but definite tilt to Shaivism everywhere you look in India. This book is silent on how this bias came about. It mainly bases its discourse on religious texts alone which is dominated by Vishnu worship and an unsuspecting reader may even be mistakenly led to believe that Vaishnavite temples outnumber those of Shiva.

The author hails from Kerala and has included many references to it and to South India in general. His assertion that Madhava, the preceptor of dvaita philosophy (dualism) who lived in the 13^th century was influenced by Christianity is dubious. The sage’s ideas carry some clear signs of affinity to Christian concepts and Udupi, his birth place, was frequented by Syrian Christians from Kerala. However, this is not sufficient proof of any ideological indebtedness of Madhava. When we come to the modern period, the social reformation of Kerala is noted for the slogan, ‘One Caste, One Religion and One God for Mankind’ propounded by the social reformer, Sree Narayana Guru. Eraly includes a quote from Tirumular (also known as Sundaranar), a Shaivite mystic, in which an echo of the modern slogan is evident. Tirumular exhorted his disciples to keep in mind that there is only one caste and one god (onre kulamum oruvane devanum). Any possible influence is for the scholars to bring out.

This book is a fairly large one, even though it is only the second volume. When this book came out as a single tome, it must have been really huge. Many repetitions from the first part is visible in the text, which is written much in the mould of A L Basham’s ‘The Wonder That Was India’. The diction is generally hearty and interesting, but the very long narratives on religion and philosophy is somewhat boring. The book contains an extensive section on bibliography and an excellent index.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star