The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c13.5

c13.5

At the threshold of the period that we are now starting, namely, that from the Vardhana Empire to the Chola Empire, or from Harṣa to Hemādri, from, say, A.C. 600 to 1300 let us once more get oriented to this fundamental fact of Hindu culture-history. Without reference to the exact dates of the final redaction of the texts we have to remember that among the master-minds of Śākyasimha's age (c. 600 B.C.)¹ there were grammarians of the Pāṇini cycle, whose comprehensive work on Sanskrit language stands the most rigorous test of modern philologists as a monument of logical insight and thorough-going research. There were the chemists, botanists and zoologists of the Charakan school whose encyclopaedic work in *Āyurveda* (the science of life) continues to be the basis of Hindu medical practitioners even today. Then there were the sociologists who, following the lead of the eponymous culture-hero Manu, were the compilers of the *Dharmaśāstras*, *Smritiśāstras*, *Nītiśāstras* etc., each of which is at once the Hindu *Yi-King* and *Li-King* and partly also the *Shu-King*. It was out of this class of literature that about two hundred years after Śākyasimha Kauṭalya derived materials for the Hindu *Chou-li*, called the *Arthaśāstra*. We have also to call attention to the discussions on the human anatomy, physiology and psychology as well as psycho-analysis (?) initiated by the Nandis, Śvetaketus, Bābhravyas, Dattakas and others which were in the course of centuries to constitute the foundations of Vātsyāyana's *Kāmasūtra* (science of enjoyment with special reference to love). There remain still to be mentioned the students of the *Upaniṣads* and *Darśanas*, those systems of psychology, logic and metaphysics whose name was legion. Last but not least come, again, the Vyāsas, eponymous heroes, the compilers of Vedic literature, and subsequently also of the *Mahābhārata*.