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Introduction to Indian
Knowledge Systems
Chapter 1
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Defining IKS
• Indian: The indigenous sources of knowledge generated by the Indian
society. “Indian” points to the undivided Indian subcontinent
(Akhaṇḍa Bhārata)
• Knowledge: Emanating from the wisdom and insights arising out of
deep experiences, observation, experimentation, and analysis and
validated, improved, and augmented further
• Formal repository of knowledge available in literary sources
• Pervades all three domains: spiritual, religious, and others addressing
social and day-today issues
• System: A structured methodology and a classification scheme to
access the available corpus of knowledge
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IKS – Rise and Fall
• Dating of the Indian Civilisation
• Modern western scholars - At least 5000 – 8000 years
• Indigenous sources and belief systems - A very ancient period, almost time immemorial
• A country with a long-surviving civilisational history ought to have accumulated
knowledge over its long period of existence
• The Indian “wootz” steel was used to manufacture what was famously known as “Damascus
blades” and despite several attempts by the metallurgists in the past, it was not possible to
replicate the properties of the wootz steel.
• Indian’s contributions in the fields of Number Systems, Mathematics, and Astronomy in the first
millennia of CE percolated into the West via the Arabic countries
• The ancient knowledge in India was preserved and transmitted “orally” until a
few centuries back
• Due to major changes in the educational system introduced in India about 200 years back, there
was an abrupt end to this process of knowledge transmission and the continuity is mostly lost
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Why bother about Indian Knowledge System
(IKS)?
• IKS is not about merely knowing about some ancestral knowledge
• Protecting received wisdom, economic security, and national pride
• Documenting traditional knowledge, to provide evidence of prior
knowledge
• An US company was awarded a patent for neem as a pesticide
• We failed in our efforts to get the US patents on products of the
neem tree cancelled
• India's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
successfully forced the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to
revoke a patent it granted on the use of powdered turmeric
(Curcuma longa) for wound healing
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Importance of IKS
• Defines the context for several aspects of the
day-to-day living of every individual
• Manifestation of human intellectual
achievement regarded collectively by society
over time
• Without the continuity of thoughts, it is very
difficult to make further progress in terms of
new ideas
• Avoiding “reinventing” the wheel
• Transforming knowledge into economic value
has been fully formalized with the global
intellectual property rights regulations and
patent laws
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The IKS Corpus
IKS
Non-
Literary
Literary
Sanātana Other Dhārmic Oral
Regional
Dharma Traditions Traditions
Core Other
• 14 Vidyāsthāna • Basic & Applied Sciences • Buddhist • Wealth of • Art forms
• Works of several • Engineering, Technology, • Jain religious and • Health
religious leaders Architecture, Alchemy other literature • Food & Life
and Philosophers • Aesthetics, Kāvyas, Arts in all major Practices
• Health, Wellness, Psychology Indian Languages • Folklore
• Public Administration
• Code of Living etc.
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Sanātana-dharma - Other literature
• Basic and applied Sciences - Mathematics, Astronomy, Plant Sciences
• Engineering and Technology - Metalworking Technology, Shipbuilding, Dams and Waster-shed
management, Alchemy, Cosmetics, Perfumes, Dyes, Town planning, and Architecture
• Health, Wellness, and Psychology
• Three important works on Āyurveda (Caraka-saṃhita, Suśruta-saṃhita, and Aṣtāṇga-
hṛdaya) provide a wealth of information on health and wellness
• The philosophical systems such as Yoga and Sāṃkhya and the Upaniṣads have discussed
the issue of psychology.
• Nīti-śāstras informs the society of the good code of living
• Sāmānya-nīti deals with elements of good living, and the role of ethics and morality
• Rāja-nīti, deals with public administration and governance
• Aesthetics, Kāvyas, and Performing Arts is another area with rich contributions
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Other Dharmic Traditions
• Buddhist and the Jain literature have contributed right from 500
BCE to IKS
• Religious and philosophical part of the literature is based on the
respective tenets of the school
• Other literature has applications in areas of science, technology, and
others
• Buddhist works:
• Many issues such as mathematical concepts, maritime activities and
alchemy
• The work of Nāgārjuna, Rasaratnākara in the 1st century CE is an early
contribution to alchemy.
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Other Dharmic Traditions – Jain Works
• Jain sacred literature consists of canonical texts
• Mathematics is an integral part - “Gaṇitānuyoga”, a portion of
their literature dedicated to mathematics.
• Tattvārtha-sūtra, composed by Umāsvāti during 2nd – 3rd century
CE is an important Jain literature.
• Jain texts dealing with mathematics include Anuyogadvāra-sūtra,
Vyavahāra-sūtra, and Sūrya-prajanapati.
• Māhavirācārya’s work, Gaṇita-sāra-saṃgraha (850 CE) is one of the
important contributions to the development of mathematics in India.
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Caturdaśa- Vedas
Vidyāsthāna
• Caturdaśa in Sanskrit means fourteen
• The components of the 14-part
knowledge contain
• Four Vedas (and their Upa-Vedas) Purāṇas,
Itihāsas
• Six Vedāṅgas,
• Purāṇas (and Itihāsas) Dharma
• Dharma Śāstras (and Smṛtis) Śāstras, Smṛti
• Nyāya in its detailed form
• Mīmāmsā (both Pūrva and the Uttara Vedāṅgas Darśanas
portions)
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Sl. No. Name of the work Key Word 1 Key Word 2
Before 3,000 BCE
1 Vedas
2 Purāṇas* Dharma (Code of Living) Several other topics
3 Mahābhārata, Rāmāyaṇa
3,000 BCE to 500 CE
Historicity of IKS
1 Vedāṅga-jyotiṣa Astronomy
2 Manu-smṛti Public Administration Dharma (Code of Living)
3 Śulba-sūtras Mathematics Dharma (Code of Living)
4 Suśruta-saṃhitā Health Wellness
Sample IKS repository
5 Aṣtādhyāyī, Nirukta Linguistics Grammar
6 Nātyaśāstra Art Forms Dance, Theatre
7 Buddhist Texts Philosophy Mathematics
8 Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika Sūtras Logic, Epistemology Knowledge Framework
9 Jaina Mathematical works Mathematics
10 Arthaśāstra Public Administration Finance, Foreign Policy
11 Chandaḥ-śāstra Metrical Pattern, Prosody Binary Maths Ideas
12 Yoga-sūtras Control of Mind Philosophy
• Dating of the Indian knowledge becomes conservative, 13 Kāmasūtra Art Forms Dharma (Code of Living)
approximate 14 Mahā-bhāṣya Sanskrit Language Grammar
15 Rasaratnākara Alchemy
• Most of the Indian knowledge repositories in the 16 Caraka-saṃhitā Health Wellness
17 Sāṃkhya-darśana Philosophy Psychology
BCE were oral 18 Amarakośa Linguistics Lexicography
• Earliest available sources in the form of temple 19 Sūrya-siddhānta
20 Bṛhat-saṃhitā
Astronomy
Astronomy, Mathematics
Mathematics
Several other topics
inscriptions and palm leaf manuscripts are 500 CE to 1,800 CE
considered reliable by contemporary researchers 1 Āryabhaṭīya, Ārya-siddhānta Astronomy Mathematics
2 Pañca-siddhāntikā Astronomy
• Useful source of data to fix the date of the Indian 3 Mayamata Architecture
4 Brāhmasphuṭa-siddhānta Astronomy Mathematics
knowledge is the astronomical references found in the 5 Mānasāra Architecture Town planning
texts 6 Āryabhatīya-bhaṣya, Mahābhāskarīya Astronomy Mathematics
7 Nārada-śilpa-śāstra Architecture Iconography
• Using Skymap Pro software studies suggest that 8 Gaṇita-sāra-saṅgraha Mathematics
the Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa ought to have been 9 Siddhānta-śekhara
10 Yukti-kalpataru
Astronomy
Shipbuilding Several other topics
written sometime around 3000 BCE 11 Samarāṅgaṇa-sūtradhāra Architecture Several other topics
12 Siddhānta-śiromaṇi Astronomy Mathematics
13 Kāśyapa-śilpa-śāstra Temple Architecture Iconography
14 Aṣtāṅga-hṛdaya, Rasaratna-samuccaya Alchemy Health, Wellness
15 Kerala School of Mathematics Mathematics Astronomy
16 Graha-lāghava Astronomy
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Unique aspects of IKS
• Nuances of an Oral Tradition
• The entire knowledge is to be transmitted orally and committed to
one’s memory
• Need to be concise and multi-dimensional
• A single work can provide simultaneously ideas on three streams
seamlessly: Spiritual, Religious, and Secular (day-to-day societal
issues and applications)
• In a work on mathematics, we may find apart from mathematical
concepts, poetry, and philosophy
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Unique aspects of IKS
• Typical Presentation Style – Verses, Sūtras, Encryptions
• Verse for value of Pi
चतुरिधकं शतम�गुणं �ाष��स्तथा सह�ाणाम ् ।
अयुत�य�वष्कम्भस्यासन्नो वृ�प�रणाहः॥
caturadhikaṃ śatamaṭṣaguṇaṃ dvāṣaṭṣistathā sahasrāṇām |
ayutadvayaviṣkambhasyāsanno vṛttapariṇāha ḥ ||
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 62832
This verse computes the value: 𝜋𝜋 = = = 3.1416
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 20000
• Mnemonics (sūtras) are employed to convey complex messages and ideas
• The Kaṭapayādi system, and the Bhūta-saṃkhyā system to represent numbers
in unique ways
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Chapter Organisation in the book
Part I Part II Part III Part IV
Indian Foundational Concepts in IKS Science, Engineering &
Knowledge for Science, Engineering & Humanities & Social
Technology in IKS Sciences in IKS
Systems (IKS) Technology
5. Linguistics & 8. Mathematics
1. Introduction 13. Health, Wellness &
Phonetics Psychology
9. Astronomy
2. Vedic Corpus 6. Number System and
Unit of Measurements 10. Engineering & 14. Governance &
3. Philosophical Technology (Metals Public Administration
Systems (Darśanas) 7. Knowledge:
& Metalworking)
Framework &
Classifications
4. Wisdom from the 11. Engineering &
Ages (Purāṇa, Technology (Other
Itihāsa, Nīti Śāstras) Applications)
12. Town planning &
Architecture
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