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Science and Technolo...
Science and Technology in Ancient Indian Texts
by: Bal Ram Singh , Girish Nath Jha , Umesh Kumar Singh , Diwakar MishraA compilation of seminar papers by Indian and foreign experts brings alive ancient Indian developments in science, technology and medicine. The book presents Vedic quest in science and metaphysics with a special emphasis on ancient science and contemporary ideas.
$40.00
ISBN: 9788124606322
Year Of Publication: 2012
Edition: 1st
Pages : xvii, 318 p.
Bibliographic Details : Index
Language : English
Binding : Hardcover
Publisher: D.K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.
Size: 23 cm.
Weight: 650
The volume comprises seminar presentations by experts from India and abroad involved in the study of development of the natural sciences in ancient India. It offers eighteen papers from the seminar that showcase and project the Vedic literature as a treasure trove of vast knowledge that covers various branches of learning. The papers in particular discuss the ancient developments in science and technology: logic, mechanics in Sanskrit literature, Indian mathematics and its application in the Vedas, besides production technology and mechanical engineering, environmental science and roots, applicative wonders and scientific validation of Ayurveda. They involve a deep study of the Vedic understanding and description of sound and speech as para, pashyanti, madhyama and vaikhari. They also deal with the Indian perspective on the spirit and some mahakavyas of Indian philosophy. They scrutinise various theories on matter, causation, metals, dreams and motion, according to the Vaisheshika philosophy and underline the relevance of ancient knowledge to the contemporary world, especially in relation to the Vedic physics, environmental science and Ayurveda. They reiterate in unison the scientific vision of the ancient sages who held the keen eye of a poet-artist even while bringing to light modern and advanced ideas. The papers include references to various commentaries and studies on scientific and mathematical treatises, like Katyayana’s Shulbasutra and Vaimanikashastra of Bharadvaja.
The book will interest Indologists, particularly concerned with the study of ancient science, technology and mathematics, as they evolved in ancient India.
Introduction
Part I: Conceptual
1. Scientifying the Science: The Art of Making Everything a Science
— Bal Ram Singh
2. Spirituality, Logic and Science in India: A Philosophical Perspective
— R.P. Singh
Part II: Physical Sciences
3. Vaisheshika Insights into Science
— Shashiprabha Kumar
4. Fourfold Description of Sound: A Vedic View
— M.G. Prasad
5. Relevance of Vedic Physics in the Contemporary Society
— Sadasiva Biswal
6. Concept of Agni in the Rigveda in the Light of the Physical Sciences
— Soma Basu and R.K. Saha
7. Mechanics in Hindu Literature
— P. Priyadarshi
Part III: Mathematical Sciences
8. Numbers and Zero in Vedic Suktas Some Applications and China Contacts
— Bhu Dev Sharma
9. An Unpublished Commentary of the Katyayana Shulbasutra
— Nabanarayan Bandyopadhyay
Part IV: Chemical Sciences, Environment
and Metallurgy
10. Rasashala, the Ancient Indian Pharmacy: A Study on its Construction (Arrangement
of Rasashala, List of Required Apparatuses and Koshthiyantras)
— Dillip Kumar Kar
11. High Technology in Ancient Sanskrit Manuscripts
— C.S.R. Prabhu
12. Environmental Science: Vedic Perspective
— Shashi Tiwari
13. Contribution of Ancient India in Production Technology and Mechanical Engineering
— Chandrabhan Prajapati
Part V: Yoga and Ayurveda
14. Personality Traits of People Born in Different Samvatsaras and their Comparison with
Modern Psychological Personality Traits: A Study
— Melukote K. Sridhar
15. The Applicative Wonders of Ayurveda: The Mother of All Life Sciences
— Vaidyaratnam R. Raghavan
16. Ayurvedic Medicines: Ancient Roots and Scientific Validation
— Yamini Bhushan Tripathi
Part VI: Text and Information Encoding
in Human Brain and Computer
17. Unicode Standard for Vaidika Sanskrit: Efforts and Status
— Swarn Lata, Manoj Jain
18. Sanskrit, Whole Brain Learning: And its Importance in the Super Accelerated Learning Theory (SALT)
— Pandit Ramadheen Ramsamooj
Contributors
Index
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Bhagavad-Gita $32.00
This Exposition on the Bhagavad-Gita is an exception to the traditional translation of and commentary on the scripture. It covers all the eighteen chapters of the Gita in the form of essays, with English translation of almost all verses and commentaries thereupon. In addition, the essays do contain the reflections of the author who has analyzed the topics in the light of modern thought in a broader spectrum. The Sanskrit text in Devanagari script, with Roman transliteration, has been appended to the main text.
The Gita is not a religious book. It does not belong to any single faith. In the language of Aldous Huxley, it is the perennial philosophy of mankind. Keeping this context in view, the book has been addressed not only to the present citizens but also to the whole mankind which will inhabit the earth in the future.
This scripture had its birth in a battlefield. Symbolically speaking, everybodys life is a battleground. Arjuna represents all members of the human species. In a situation of agony and dejection, being utterly perplexed, he could not decide what to do and what not to do. The Gita provides practical solutions to the problems of life and leads the path to liberation. It humanizes and divinizes man. The present book gets success if it helps man ascend humanely and spiritually. -
Brhadaranyaka Upanisad Vol. 2 Muni Kanda $32.00
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is one of the ten major Upanishads. A dialectical narration that unabashedly stands up to the rational scrutiny of the modern mind, it is directed towards both the individual aspirant caught up in the dark morass of confusion and the philosophic thinker in search of rare pearls of wisdom from humanitys treasury. Guru Nityas matchles commentary will enable the reader to discover the ancient seers timeles insights, to appreciate a fully-developed, integrated system of thought, and, most importantly, to learn to connect with what is real and enduring in his or her own essence. Schematically, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad a brilliant discourse from the Yajur Veda is set out in three volumes, entitled: Madhu Kanda, Muni Kanda and Khila Kanda. In his planned three-volume thorough-going, meticulously analytical commentary. Guru Nitya distills the wisdom teaching of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, drawing on his intimate understanding of the human psyche, as well as both Eastern and Western philosophy, science, art and literature. Dwelling in turn on each of its 435 mantras, its poetic charm, myths, metaphors, images and symbols, Guru Nitya recreates and expands the Upanishadic vision of our own nature, human interaction, and the cosmos, and their relation to the unmoved essence of all. With highly useful appendices and a comprehensive index, the commentary will hold an enduring appeal for both scholars and discerning readers.
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Kautilya Arthashastra $34.00
कौटिल्य-अर्थशास्त्र प्राचीन भारतीय आर्थिक परम्परा का आधारभूत ग्रन्थ है। भारत का प्राचीन आर्थिक इतिहास सामाजिक संरचना, राजनीतिक मान्यताओं इस ग्रन्थ में जो प्रतिनिधिक वर्णन मिलता है, वह किसी भी अन्य ग्रन्थ में दुर्लभ है। सत्ता एवं शक्ति, न्याय एवं दण्डनीति, वार्ता एवं आन्वीक्षिकी, नगर-जनपद-ग्राम्य की संरचना से लेकर सुचारू अर्थव्यवस्था, स्वर्ण-नीति, मौद्रिक-नीति एवं लोक-कल्याणकारी तथा निष्टकण्टक राज आदि सिद्धान्त, कौटिल्य-अर्थशास्त्र को विश्व के आर्थिक इतिहास में महत्वपूर्ण ग्रन्थ के रूप में प्रतिष्ठित करते हैं। कौटिल्य के अर्थशास्त्र में विषय-वस्तु की गहनता एवं ऐतिहासिक कालक्रम में उनका इदम्प्रथमतया प्रणयन कौटिल्य को विश्व में अर्थशास्त्र का पुरोधा घोषित करते हैं।
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Lalita-Sahasranama A Comprehensive Study of One Thousand Names of Lalita Maha-Tripurasundari $50.00
In the Hindu sacred literature, Sahasra-namas: the texts embodying literally “the Thousand Names” of a deity, constitute a genre in their own right. And Lalita-Sahasranama (LS) is a veritable classic in the traditional writings of the kind — a classic widely acknowledged for its lucidity, clarity and poetic excellence. A medieval work of unknown authorship eulogising Shakti: the Mother Goddess, this Sahasranama is not just a masterly exposition of Shri Lalita’s cult, but also sets out the deity’s diverse epithets — like, for instance, Kundalini, Nirguna, Saguna, Parashakti or Brahman — which continue to evoke reverence as mantras with ‘mystic powers’. Also included among these names are the goddess’s other panegyric descriptions that have come to have profound, esoteric connotations in tantric practices — epitomizing, thus, the fundamental tenets of tantrashastra. Here is a brilliant critical edition of Lalita-Sahasranama meticulously analysing, for the first time, each of Shri Lalita’s thousand names — by a variety of themes, like the Goddess’s conceptual representations, anthropomorphic forms, disposition, abodes, kinships/consorts, ritualistic worship, and her supremacy in pantheonic hierarchy. Also explaining and interpreting anew these thousand names on the basis of time-honoured commentaries, Dr. Joshi under-scores the high importance of Lalita-Sahasranama in philosophy, tantra, yoga, sahasranama literature, and rituals of various descriptions. The book includes the original Sanskrit text of LS, its romanised transliteration and, additionally, an Appendix listing Sri Lalita’s thousand names in the A-Z sequence.
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Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali $20.00
Patanjali’s Yoga-sutra, one of the most well-known works in the Indian classical tradition, is recognised as the primary text of Yoga philosophy. Here, Dr. Bhaduri adopts a simple but unique approach in his study of the text to make it more suitable to the needs of the Indian students. This English translation of the Yoga-sutra by Dr. Bhaduri under the guidance of Prof. Kapil Kapoor in shastra Group of Centre of Liguistic and English, at Jawaharlal Nehru University, retains many Sanskrit terms, adding the English equivalents in footnotes and the glossary to avoid making inadequate renderings of Sanskrit technical terms. It translates only what is stated in the concerned sutras without elaborate commentaries in order not to confuse the reader and to allow him to draw independent conclusions. Presenting the sutras in original Sanskrit form along with their Roman transcription, it examines the Yoga philosophy in relation to the other five orthodox systems of classical Indian philosophy and analyses the manner in which it deals with issues of cognition and signification.
