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Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c46.s3: Scientific Attitude in Ancient India: The Irrational Trends

Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c46.s3

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Scientific Attitude in Ancient India: The Irrational Trends

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Chattopadhyaya has articulated in great detail (1976,1977,1982, 1986) what he considers to be ‘living (scientific) and what is dead (unscientific) in Indian philosophy’. According to him the Indian materialistic philosophy of the Lokāyata was systematically denigrated in India by the anti-scientific and Brāhmaṇic philosophy of the Vedānta. Prafulla Chandra Ray had earlier (1902, 1909) developed the same theme, and criticised the Brāhmaṇic tradition for introducing the pernicious caste system and the anti-reason theological stranglehold in our sub-continent.

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Much of their criticisms are valid. The early casteless Ṛgvedic society gradually introduced a rigid caste system and sanctified it by the so-called ‘divine sanction’. The isolation of the low-caste artisans from the high-caste scholars affected Indian science since the early days. We have mentioned in chapter 3 an ancient tradition that the ritual milking pot was not to be prepared by a low-caste potter! Even metals like gold, copper and newly discovered iron were considered to possess decreasing social status. The concept of hereditary caste permeated into the subject of classification of minerals. According to Rasaratnasamuccaya (RRS), diamond could have four colours or ‘castes’! What was worse, such a classification theory for materials, based on caste, was claimed to have universal applicability :

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पदार्थेषु अखिलेषु अपि
padārtheṣu akhileṣu api
(RRS, 4.29-4.31)

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We find the excellent compilation Amarakośa categorising the materials in four caste-categories, the metallurgical equipments falling under śūdravarga. Even the scientifically oriented intellectuals like Caraka, Gotama, Praśastapāda, though not conforming to all the Vedic tenets, tacitly accepted the varṇāśrama and the caste-system. The famous Vedāntist Śaṅkara not only supported the caste-injunctions of Manu, but also criticised the atmoic theory of Kaṇāda (Brahma-Sūtrabhāṣyam, 2.2.17):

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तस्मात् एवम् असारतर्कसंद्धत्वात् ईश्वरकारणश्रुतिविरुद्धत्वात्
. . . परमाणुकारणवादे . . . श्रेयोर्थिभिरिति वाक्यशेषः
tasmāt evam asāratarkasamdrabdhatvāt
īśvarakāraṇaśrutiviruddhatvāt
. . .paramāṇukāraṇavāde . . . śreyo'rthibhiriti
vākyaśeṣaḥ

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Such frontal attacks inhibited free-thinking of scientifically minded but god-fearing intellectuals and diffusion of knowledge across caste barriers.

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That the śūdras should not be allowed to read the Vedas was almost fully accepted in ancient India. There was a cult of secrecy, of course nurtured by vested interests. The alchemical and Iatro-chemical research was marked by professional secrecy, and the astounding claims were made:

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रसविद्या दृढं गोप्य मातृगुह्यमिव ध्रुवम्। भरेत् वीर्यवती गुप्ता निर्वीर्या च प्रकाशनात्।। रोगिनां बहुभिर्ज्ञातं भवेत् निर्वीर्यम् औषधम्। न रोगविदितं कार्य बहुभिर्विदितं तथा।। rasavidyā dr̥ḍhaṁ gopyā māturguhyamiva dhruvam । bharet vīryavatī guptā nir vīryā ca prakāśanāt ।। rogināṁ bahubhirjñātaṁ bhavet nirvīryam oṣadham ।। na rogaviditaṁ kārya bahubhirviditaṁ tathā ।। (RRS, 6.71-72).

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That ‘scientific knowledge remains powerful when kept secret and becomes useless when made public’, and that ‘the medicine becomes ineffective when its identity is revealed to the patient’.

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The insular attitude in India resulted in over-compartmentalisation of technology. Only specific tribes like muṇḍas practised iron-making (hence the name muṇḍaloha), bhīls practised zinc-making, turis gold and diamond-washing, kāṁsārīs bell-metal trading; there were low-caste gem-engravers and even the rasaśāstra experts dealing with plant and mineral-based medicines were known as vaidyas or fallen brāhmaṇas. (Roy, 1946) The different castes practising different aspects of trade rarely exchanged informations, only which could result in faster growth of science and technology in India. It has been well said that ‘the evils that caste system engendered cannot be over-estimated’.

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During Varāhamihira’s time there was a healthy respect for foreign scholars (Br. Sam., 2.4 and 2.32), but in the eleventh century AD, Al-Beruni observed in India an insular attitude and the vice of vainglory amongst the contemporary Indian scholars. (Sachau, 1910, 1983, Vol.1, pp. 22-23)

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At the same time, Al-Beruni noted another reason for the decline of Indian Science: ‘Mahmud utterly ruined the prosperity of the country . . . .Hindu sciences have retired far away to other places’. Even earlier, the barbarous invasions of the Huns, Scythians and Saracens had stunned the growth of Indian sciences and arts. Ray (1902, 1909) and Chattopadhyaya (1986) have glossed over this aspect of Indian history.

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