Indian Sculpture and Painting, Illustrated by Typical Masterpieces, with an Explanation of their Motives and Ideals c7.30

c7.30

Before we can hope to understand either Indian art or literature we must first of all come down from the pedestal of superiority from which we love to declare that the oriental mind is inscrutable. It is not really so incomprehensible as it seems to be at that elevation, and, as Sir M. Monier-Williams pertinently observes: “Unless we seek to understand the inhabitants, unless we think it worth while to study their ancient literatures, their religious ideas, and their time-honoured institutions, unless we find in them something to admire and respect, we can never look forward hopefully to the time when the present lamentable partition wall which obstructs the free intercourse of social relations between European and Asiatic races will be entirely removed.”¹