Akṣapāda Gautama-Father of both deduction & induction
Pracetasa Manu-Earliest teacher of political philosophy
Visnugupta Kautilya-Father of Economic thought
Pāṇini Dākṣīputra-Father of linguistics
Nāgārjuna-Creator of tetra valued logic
Bhartṛhari-Sphoṭa theory of sound
Good thing our forefathers don't have graves. Or they'd be turning in it everyday, seeing how their 5000 years worth of effort has gone waste on this generation.
*Gangeśa Upādhyāya was the founder of Navya-Nyaya who lived in the 13th century. Composed Tattvacintāmaṇi. His analytical methods surpassed the ancient Nyaya system of Aksapada Gautama and revived logic in India.
Who was Tura Kavaseya?
Here is a paper I published with Voronezh university of Russia. As per Upanishadic testimony, he is the earliest teacher of Vedanta philosophy. I have attempted to gather information of him from Vedic texts. Enjoy! #KnowYourRishis
The most radical thinkers produced by ancient India. Each opened a new branch of learning or caused paradigm shifts in prevalent thinking of society-or sometimes- the whole species.
Clarity on chronology-even if imperfect-helps you appreciate the evolution of the Indic intellect
"Whence came this creation?
Did he create it, or did he not?
He who surveys in the highest heaven knows.
Or perhaps he may not know...."
-Parameṣṭhin Prajāpati~2000 BCE
Rig Veda 10.129
"There is only one supreme god. He is Ahura Mazdā"
-Atharvan Zaratuštra~1900 BCE
(North west frontier province-Rangha/Bactria)
The first monotheist
Influenced Judaism
Contributive to Indo-Iranian civil war & permanent schism
Destinies of the last two IE tribes diverged forever
"When the Bodhisattva Avalokiteswara
was coursing in the deep Prajna Paramita
he perceived that all five skandhas are empty
O Sariputra,
form does not differ from void,
for form is void, and the void form
The same is true of feelings,
perceptions, volition and consciousness
O Sariputra,
All dharmas are marked with voidness
They are non-arising, non ceasing,
Neither tainted nor pure
They do not increase, do not decrease
Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feelings,
perceptions, volition or consciousness
There is no ignorance or ending of ignorance
There is no truth to suffering,
No causes of suffering or ending to suffering
There is no truth of the path
There is no wisdom
There is no attainment whatsoever
For there is nothing to be attained,
The bodhisattva has no obstruction
The rationale for dating Baudhayana to ~1800 BCE is that he was near contemporary to the well known Indo-Iranian schism which happened around 2000-1800 BCE.
Otto Neugebauer(1899–1990) is regarded as the foremost historian of science. His guiding principle is this-Unlike soft sciences, it is UNLIKELY that complicated mathematical models can be replicated by two cultures independently.
His student is the famous David Pingree. This man's life mission was the subordination of the Siddhanta tradition of India under the purported primacy of the Greek. His conclusions & fantasies are rampantly circulated as mainstream history,even among Indians. How does he do this?
1. Use Neugebauer's law to argue that the similarities between the Ptolemaic and Siddhanta astronomy is because of flow of knowledge.
2. Use this as 'proof' of Greek primacy.
3. Claim that Aryabhatta and Varahamihira learned astronomy & trigonometry from Hipparchus & Ptolemy!
-State shall constantly expand & hunt new capital
-Economic activity=revenue & prosperity
-Keep private sector out of critical areas
-Free trade & foreign goods benefit citizens
-Centralization & standardization
-Low taxes~20%
The Father of Economic thought
In an ideal world Adam Smith & Karl Marx should be compared to Kautilya. Not the other way around. This is not one man's ideas. This is most ancient statecraft & accumulated wisdom inherited from one of the three cradles of civilization-Sindhu-Saraswathy.
Why should India-and the world-be perpetually stuck in the violent 'Socialism vs Capitalism' paradigm? Why are the complexities & possibilities of the world restricted like this ? Why should the standards and definitions be immutably fixed in their colonial forms?