Critique of the West in Indic literature and society

[Anand Venkt Raman]

l.m.fosse at easteur-orient.uio.no (Lars Martin Fosse) wrote:

>On behalf of a colleague, I am looking for information (literature) on
>Indic critique of Western culture and values, preferably of a more
>sophisticated type than the trite criticism of lack of sprirituality etc,
>but anything is of interest.

On these lines, I'd like to offer what is perhaps one of the oldest
Indian criticisms of the West on record! The following is from
Pallad. de Bragmanibus pp.8,20 et seq. Ed. London 1668, translated by
J.W.McCrindle's translation.

King  Alexander, accordingly, when he heard  of  all this, was desirous of
learning the doctrines of the Brahmans, and so  he  sent for this Dandamis
as being   their  teacher  and President...   Onesikritos   was  therefore
despatched to fetch him, and when he  found the great  sage he said, "Hail
to thee, thou teacher  of the Brahmans.   The son of  the mighty god Zeus,
king Alexander, who is the sovereign lord of  all  men, asks  you to go to
him, and if you comply, he will reward you with  great and splendid gifts,
but if you refuse will cut off your head."

Dandamis, with a complacent  smile, heard  him to the end,  but did not so
much as  lift  up his  head  from his  couch  of  leaves, and  while still
retaining his recumbent attitude returned this scornful answer:- "God, the
supreme king, is never the author of insolent wrong, but is the creator of
light, and of peace, of life, of water, of the body of  man, and of souls,
and these he receives when  death sets them free, being  in no way subject
to evil desire.  He alone is  the  god of my homage, who  abhors slaughter
and instigates no wars.  But Alexander is not God, since  he must taste of
death;  and how  can such as he be  the  world's master,  who has not  yet
reached the further shore  of the river  Tiberoboas, and who  has  not yet
seated himself on a throne of  universal dominion? ... Know this, however,
that what Alexander offers me, and  the gifts  he promises, are all things
to me utterly useless; but the things which I prize, and find  of real use
and worth, are  these leaves which are my   house,  these blooming  plants
which supply me with dainty food, and  the  water which is my drink, while
all other possessions and things, which are amassed with anxious care, are
wont to prove ruinous to those who amass them,  and  cause only sorrow and
vexation, with which  every   poor mortal is    fully fraught...    Should
Alexander cut  off   my  head, he cannot   also destroy   my  soul...  Let
Alexander, then,  terrify  with these threats those who  wish for gold and
for  wealth, and who dread  death, for against us  these  weapons are both
alike powerless, since the Brahmans neither love gold nor fear death...

Alexander, on receiving from Onesikritos a report of the interview, felt a
stronger desire than ever to see Dandamis, who, though old and  naked, was
the only antagonist in whom  he, the conquerer  of many nations, had found
more than his match.

Pallad. de Bragmanibus pp.8,20 et seq. Ed. London 1668.

- &

--
# The following record is a random selection from Indhist 1.0
# For more information on Indhist, mail A.Raman at massey.ac.nz
--
In India there  is both  a cultivated  and a wild  barley, from which they
make excellent bread  as well as  a  kind of pottage.  But their favourite
diet is rice, from which a ptisan is prepared like that which is elsewhere
made from barley.

- Pliny, Nat.Hist. Book XVIII: c.10(22)