[INDOLOGY] Scientification in India

[Dominik Wujastyk]

Dear Axel,

Madhusudana Ojha
<https://archive.org/stream/BrahmaVidyaRahasyam1/Brahma%20Vidya%20Rahasyam-1#page/n1>
(1866-1939) was an important early-twentieth century voice in popularizing
this view.  He published a lot of material, like *Indravijaya*, some of
which still circulates I believe.  I once visited his former home in
Jaipur, and many of his unpublished papers and diagrams were still there,
and the family was keeping alive a devotion to his cosmic visions and
scientist message.  One of Ojha's students was Vedavācaspati Paṇḍit Motilal
Śāstrī (1908-1960) who continued to publish in the same vein, as do others
<https://archive.org/stream/CosmicMatrix/Cosmic%20Matrix#page/n3>.

Some notes from my visit in 2011:

*Manvashram *(map <https://goo.gl/maps/Kp1Rkk2rzi12>)
Shree Krishna Sharma, Gopalpura Mode, Tonk Road, Jaipur.
A little , quiet, grassy enclosed courtyard with a grazing cow.  Various
buildings around, labelled "university," printing press," etc., as if it
were a small campus.  And a rusting 1903 English printing press at the
front.
Not a single Sanskrit MS, though.  The story of the place is quite
interesting, nevertheless.  *Vedavācaspati Paṇḍit Motilal Śāstrī*
(1908-1960) was the spirit of the place, and the father of the present
occupant.  Motilal wrote 80,000 pages of materials on the interpretation of
the Veda and on the Śatapathabrāhmaṇa.  He discovered a special code or
cypher that explained everything.  He also developed a series of coloured
geometrical drawings that showed a kind of evolutionary and hierarchical
cosmology.  It turns out that his teacher was *Madhusudana Ojha*
(1866-1939), which explains all the pseudo-science and back-to-the-vedas
ideology (independent of the Arya Samaj, as far as I know).
Motilal Śāstrī's father Balendu (I think) had the first printing press in
Jaipur.

Best,
Dominik

--
Professor Dominik Wujastyk <http://ualberta.academia.edu/DominikWujastyk>
,

Singhmar Chair in Classical Indian Society and Polity
,

Department of History and Classics <http://historyandclassics.ualberta.ca/>
,
University of Alberta, Canada
.

South Asia at the U of A:

sas.ualberta.ca



On Tue, 11 Sep 2018 at 01:33, Michaels, Axel via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear all,
>
>
>
> In the course of the recent WSC discussions on this list, Dr Iris Iran
> Farkhondeh recently mentioned a little brochure by the RSS: “There was also
> this little booklet produced by the RSS (samskrit samsthan and not svayam
> sevak even though it seems now that the two RSS are getting nearer and
> nearer) with a mention of astrolomy (sic) and all the other sciences that
> for sure originated in ancient India.” Unfortunately, she did not keep this
> booklet. Since I am co-editing a book on this topic, I would be very
> grateful if someone who attended the conference could share the brochure
> with me.  I would also be interested in relevant and serious literature
> focusing and the wide-spread claim that all science is rooted in India.
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Axel Michaels
>
>
>
> Prof. Dr. Axel Michaels
>
> Seniorprofessor | Vice President Heidelberg Academy of Science and
> Humanities |
>
> Director Research Unit "Historical Documents of Nepal" (नेपालका पूर्व-
> आधुनिक कालका लिखतहरू), Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
>
> South Asia Institute
> Im Neuenheimer Feld 330
> 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
>
>
> http://www.haw.uni-heidelberg.de/forschung/forschungsstellen/nepal/index.de.html
>
>
>
>
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