On 19 October 1946, Pandurang Vaman Kane delivered a momentous speech at the 13th Session of the All India Oriental Conference at Nagpur. In it, he clairvoyantly predicted the impending destruction of Sanskrit learning and Indology after India attained Independence. It has come true in a nightmarish
In the concluding episode we examine some fundamental contrasts with the Western framework of Indology and offer a few guides to decolonise the Hindu psyche.
A survey of the history and consequences of Western intellectualism and how its blind adoption by the Indian power elite after independence derailed the trajectory of decolonisation that had begun during the New Indian Renaissance.
This episode fleshes out the training, character and the legacy of the luminaries of the New Indian Renaissance. They shaped their era almost from the scratch, having no past masters to help and guide their work.
A little-studied period of recent Indian history is the Golden Age of the New Indian Renaissance spanning the mid 19th to the mid 20th century. The jaw-dropping contribution of this period to Hindu decolonisation is a sure shot guide for our own time.
The second part of this series narrates how the Sanatana Community kept Sanskrit alive during oppressive Islamic regimes by maintaining Pathashalas. The era of universities established during British rule gave a huge boost for Sanskrit revival.
