Ancient India Quotes

“Once upon a time, there was a civilization in the eastern side of the world. It was one of the most advanced civilizations on the planet that existed during that time.
This civilization was the glorious Indus valley civilization. No, I am not talking about India. I am talking about the land of greatness that got lost in time. Today, in the same geographical location of that great civilization, we have a piece of earth, which is known as “India”. But do not mistake it to be the same glorious land that existed thousands of years ago, along with other magnificent civilizations, such as the Greeks, the Mayans, the Egyptians, the Babylonians etc.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Prescription: Treating India's Soul

“I am pain-stricken to say, since the moment I was born, I have found nothing extraordinary in this ancient land of greatness to be exceptionally proud of. I am not a proud Indian. India at its present condition has given me no reason to feel proud.
However, I do feel proud of the ancient Indians, just like I feel proud of the ancient Greeks, the Mayans, the ancient Egyptians, the Babylonians and so on. Scientists are beyond borders, just like the ancient scientists of India, whom you prefer to call as sages.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Prescription: Treating India's Soul

“What India expected of its artists was craft skill, not creativity; conformity to tradition, not originality”
― Abraham Eraly, The First Spring Part 2: Culture in the Golden Age of India

“At most periods of her history India, though a cultural unit, has been torn by internecine war. In statecraft her rulers were cunning and unscrupulous. Famine, flood and plague visited her from time to time, and killed millions of her people. Inequality of birth was given religious sanction, and the lot of the humble was generally hard. Yet our overall impression is that in no other part of the [Page 9] ancient world were the relations of man and man, and of man and the state, so fair and humane. In no other early civilization were slaves so few in number, and in no other ancient lawbook are their rights so well protected as in the Arthaśāstra (p. 152f). No other ancient lawgiver proclaimed such noble ideals of fair play in battle as did Manu (p. 126). In all her history of warfare Hindu India has few tales to tell of cities put to the sword or of the massacre of noncombatants. The ghastly sadism of the kings of Assyria, who flayed their captives alive, is completely without parallel in ancient India. There was sporadic cruelty and oppression no doubt, but, in comparison with conditions in other early cultures, it was mild. To us the most striking feature of ancient Indian civilization is its humanity.”
― Arthur Llewellyn Basham

“Get rid of your useless ceremonials and be educated like your ancient ancestors – Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta, Susruta and others. Make education your purpose of life and spread it among the masses.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Prescription: Treating India's Soul

“While Indian CEOs in Non-Indian companies are getting all the praise and admiration from the Indians, startups born on Indian soil remain unrecognized - this is not a matter of pride, it's a matter of shame, especially for a population whose history is replete with mathematical, scientific and philosophical achievements.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Every Generation Needs Caretakers: The Gospel of Patriotism

“A king will come under the power of as many people as he reveals a secret to, becoming powerless because of that act.”
― Kautilya (Author), Arthashastra

“An arrow unleashed by an archer may kill a single man or not kill anyone; but a strategy unleashed by a wise man kills even those still in the womb (10.6.51)”
― Kautilya (Author), Arthashastra

“The day India stops being secular, she'll stop being India.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Bulletproof Backbone: Injustice Not Allowed on My Watch

“There is no such thing as Hinduism - the actual phrase is Sanatana Dharma, which is not a religion, but an everyday sense of oneness or advaita - which is the very backbone of the Indian society. Only in India people celebrate Eid with as much enthusiasm as they celebrate Diwali - they celebrate Christmas with as much enthusiasm as they celebrate Nanak Jayanti - and that's Sanatana Dharma for you.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Bulletproof Backbone: Injustice Not Allowed on My Watch

“The wilderness was a paradisical place of exquisite natural beauty. It was an unpredictable place inhabited by fierce and belligerent tribes. It was an abode of ugly, frightening demons. It was a place of involuntary and unhappy exile from the world of power and pleasure. It was an ideal place for the release from the burden of worldly existence. In exploring the forest as a site of political conflict, killing, and violence, we have to understand all the other things that it was and was not. In doing so, we are taken to the heart of ancient Indian political processes, to fundamental ideas about political and cultural identity, and to the definition of the self and the other.”
― Upinder Singh, Political Violence in Ancient India

“The forest chieftains were not considered part of the circle of kings by the political theorists, but they were recognized as a generic po- litical force that kings had to deal with. The ultimate triumph of mon- archy and empire involved the destruction of the oligarchies and the partial subjugation of the forest tribes. Along the way, the latter be- came recognized not only as cultural others, but also as political adver- saries as well as potential allies, although usually of an inferior kind.”
― Upinder Singh, Political Violence in Ancient India

“Ancient India gave to to the world its religions and philosophies: Egypt and Greece owe India their wisdom and it is known that Pythagoras went to India to study under Brahmins, who were the most enlightened of human beings.”
― Pierre Sonnerat

“Even two hundred years ago, when the British finally defeated


the divided yet dominant Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War


of 1817, India was a very static place. Most Indians could not have


just packed their bags and easily relocated from Maratha Pune to


Mughal Delhi, or from British Calcutta to Sikh Lahore—much less


from a small fort–town in Rajputana to rural Mysore.


Besides logistics, language was a significant barrier and so


were social acceptance and job opportunities. The average Indian


had almost nothing to fall back on without backing from the biraadri


or gotra. The farm and the local market defined most people’s lives,


punctuated occasionally by a rare long-distance pilgrimage. Large-


scale relocations mostly happened during times of distress. Marrying


contrary to parental wishes was unimaginable. Life was ‘nasty,


brutish and short’, to borrow the famous Hobbesian description, and


solace was found in the Gods.”
― Harsh Madhusudan, A New Idea of India: Individual Rights in a Civilisational State