The Vedas and Upanishads don’t just ignore the production process and its contribution, but in certain sections negated “production” as pollution. The Dalitist narrative of ancient India, which focuses a great deal on production and science, is also extremely relevant to the discourse of development today.Īncient India, for example, was known for producing scientific tools and instruments that enhanced the country’s productivity. Equally important are the materialist discourses of Charvakas, which injected the earliest rational thinking among our ancestors. But along with such portions from Vedas and Upanishads, the egalitarian teachings from the Buddhist Suthas and Pitakas, and Jain theories of non-violence should also be included. No one should have any objection if those sections of Vedas and Upanishads which focus on human equality in the realm of spiritual systems of India are included in the text books. The so-called Vedic view is nothing but the Brahminic view. There is not just one view of ancient India. According to reports in the media, lessons from Vedas and Upanishads will be incorporated in the text books to educate the student community about ancient Indian civilisation and culture. To this effect the ministry of human resource development, it appears, is taking steps. The Modi government seems to believe that a change should be brought in school curriculum by re-working the text books that NCERT brings out. When a religion treats the labouring castes as impure, naturally the indignity of labour becomes the essence of the nation.
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