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This is a well-known and popularized myth about the ancient scriptures which plays on patriotic feeling by claiming "uniqueness" and advancement in ancient Indi

This is a well-known and popularized myth about the ancient scriptures which plays on patriotic feeling by claiming "uniqueness" and advancement in ancient India. It is manifestly not true or based in fact that any of these technologies existed at the time - there's simply too many holes (why didn't any other culture reproduce these fantastic feats or obtain access to these? where is the archaeological record? why did no other text from the time corroborate this story?), and the best "evidence" the scriptures even talk about this are generous translations that don't accord with the actual historical or linguistic data. This sort of myth is yet another distortion of the past in favour of a narrative enshrining pre-modern India as superior that has taken ahold of my country. Only in India will people claim Valmiki's is the only valid version of the Ramayana (there are hundreds of versions of the Ramayana, some told as far as Thailand, of which Valmiki's is just one - see A. K. Ramanujam's "Three Hundred Ramayanas"); make homeopathy derived from Ayurveda a nationally accredited field of medicine despite overwhelming clinical evidence it is no better than a placebo; and claim the Vedas predicted the inventions we take for granted today. It is misplaced reverence untempered by an awareness of how to interpret historical documents, and all it serves is to blind people to facts and common sense.

hderms 5y ago
Yeah it's unnerving because there are many great, real accomplishments from people in India, and no doubt many more to be found in the future. But dreaming about a special destiny inherited from the past doesn't necessarily require the dreamer to think about the here and now and what responsibility they may have to bring about the future we all desire. It's dangerous because it simultaneously pacifies people towards the active role they should take in creating the world they will live in but also promises them they are the would-be inheritors of some mythical past, and that others are unlike them in that way. As always we gotta work together and look towards the future, not the past. Basically, if you want to live in Star Trek, at least.
- samarthr1 5y ago
  At the same time, one must remember these stories form a significant party of Indian culture. The telling of hari katha in order to inculcate good values, the recital of the Vedas, the teaching of the Upanishads, the chanting of the various stotrams all have great benefit. I make that statement from personal experience. Many habits that have been passed down the generations have helped make us the society we are today. As the next generation, it is our duty as a whole to preserve this for our descendants. For history one forgotten is tough to be retrieved. It would be a shame for one of the oldest cultures in the world to die out.

hderms 5y ago

Yeah it's unnerving because there are many great, real accomplishments from people in India, and no doubt many more to be found in the future. But dreaming about a special destiny inherited from the past doesn't necessarily require the dreamer to think about the here and now and what responsibility they may have to bring about the future we all desire. It's dangerous because it simultaneously pacifies people towards the active role they should take in creating the world they will live in but also promises them they are the would-be inheritors of some mythical past, and that others are unlike them in that way. As always we gotta work together and look towards the future, not the past. Basically, if you want to live in Star Trek, at least.

samarthr1 5y ago
At the same time, one must remember these stories form a significant party of Indian culture. The telling of hari katha in order to inculcate good values, the recital of the Vedas, the teaching of the Upanishads, the chanting of the various stotrams all have great benefit. I make that statement from personal experience. Many habits that have been passed down the generations have helped make us the society we are today. As the next generation, it is our duty as a whole to preserve this for our descendants. For history one forgotten is tough to be retrieved. It would be a shame for one of the oldest cultures in the world to die out.