The Role of India in Human Civilization

One of the most striking features of Indian civilization which has made unique in the history of world is that it has brought us freedom from bondage. Numerous wars and invasions have been fought on her soil. Whatever the political and economic ties and affinities that India has entered into, there are certain essential and lasting characteristics of Indian civilization. The fundamental aim of civilization has been the cultured evolution of the individual as a part of a society, yet retaining his or her innate originality, with an eventual expression of freedom, freedom not only political but also economic, intellectual and spiritual.

In order to understand and appreciate aright the role of India in human civilization, it is necessary at the very outset to define civilization. In the words of Winston Churchill, civilization means a society based on the opinion of civilians in which freedom, comfort and culture grow continually with brotherhood of man as its ultimate goal. To Aldous Huxley, civilization connotes nothing more than a series of conventions which keep up appearances of culture, prosperity and good manners. Mahatma Gandhi understands civilization as a fusion of various cultures represented by different faiths and influenced by geographic and other environments. The example of Indian civilization has led John Woodroffe to define true civilization as an organisation of men in society through their material and mental vehicles with a clear recognition of the Almighty as its beginning and a conspicuous manifestation of the soul in its various forms.

Civilization embraces all the three aspects of philosophy, viz., the natural, the social and the moral and it is measured in terms of advancement in all the three spheres. Progress of civilization should always be accompanied by the corresponding spiritual evolution with a clear comprehension of the coherence between the different realms of philosophy. A civilization which misses the paramount importance of the soul in all ramifications of human endeavor is not a true civilization. True progress of civilization therefore lies in the increasing manifestation of the soul through a gradual perfection of the body, mind and intellect.

The Indian civilization continues to have the hallmark of metaphysics indelibly impressed on its culture. Culture is the inter-action of the various ingredients of philosophy. Culture is thus the golden thread which runs through the entire texture of civilization of a society, establishing the indubitable inter-dependence of the various components of civilization and at the same time highlighting the importance of the particular factor which the society cherishes as the core of its civilization. Thus the core of the old Greek civilization had a culture which was highly intellectual. The old Roman civilization had a culture with a high degree of refinement of mental faculties. The Chinese civilization had a purely ethical complexion about its culture. Western civilization, on the other hand, has a bias for material advancement with a special emphasis of natural philosophy.

Though the culture of India has been proclaimed to be spiritual, due importance has been given to the concurrent development of the material as well as the intellectual aspects. In the political sector, the Panchayat system which exemplifies self-government with well-conceived Raja Dharma and Praja Dharma exists even now in its pristine purity. On the economic front, India has produced many literary and industrial giants most successful in industry and commerce and whose activities extended as far as Japan in the East and Rome in the West. From the time of Greek and Roman civilization to the eighteenth century, the industrial attainments of India have been world-renowned. Among intellectuals, India can take legitimate pride in having produced world-renowned poets such as Valmiki, Vyasa and Kalidasa, who have given to the world their classical literature of lasting importance and which gloriously enshrines the various aspects of Indian life from the highly sensual to the highly intellectual and spiritual. On the spiritual side, Vedanta provides the living force of the country from the Vedantic period to the present times. Vedanta interprets culture as self-restraint and prescribes that work should be performed in a spirit of detachment as duty performed in dedication to God. Industrialization came to be recognised as an inevitable and important step in the progress of the civilization of this country.

Huxley is very emphatic that there can never be a civilization which ignores appearances and is wholly spiritual. According to him, if appearances are not insisted on, the majority of human beings would rapidly become barbarous; spirituality to him is only a product of climate. He sums up his conclusion thus: “If Western civilization is unsatisfactory, it is because we are not materialistic enough. The remedy is more materialism and not as false prophets from the East assert more spirituality; more interest in this world, not in the other.” On the contrary Gandhi has ruled that our civilization, our culture and our Swaraj depend not on multiplying our wants–self-indulgence but on restricting our wants–self-denial.

The values which Indians cherish as the core of their civilization, on the other hand, present an entirely different picture. Such values are all included in the term Dharma. The concept of Karma and Varnaashrama and other vitalising features have welded themselves into the Hindu Dharma, reflecting the values cherished by the Indians from time immemorial. The entire gamut of Hindu Dharma is enshrined in the epics, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Srimad Bhagavata. Indian civilization, in short, has evolved on the exalted principle of ‘simple living and high thinking’ and on the nobility of ‘service’ with universal happiness as its consummation.

In addition to the basic difference in the approach to life, there are several other factors which have contributed to the wide difference in the civilizations of the East and the West and they are as follows: heavy concentration of population in the East; origin of all world religions; political and racial exploitation of the Eastern countries and the consequent uneven economic development of the East and West during the last few centuries; the advent of heavy industries, etc. However, with the establishment of increased channels of communication between the East and the West, the two cultures are now in a state of despair, each trying to overrule the other. There is no doubt that the spiritual values of this country that withstood the ages of vicissitudes from alien cultures will not only continue to exist in undiminished splendour but also actively participate in the evolution of a unique world culture.

Phaenician, Carthagian and Babylonian civilizations are dead and gone. The Confucian civilization in China is in the decadent stage. The Stoic civilization founded on the doctrine of Logos died a natural death, as it failed to recognise the ascendency of the soul in all activities of human nature. India, however, still lives with her peculiar civilization because her concept of life is based on soundly scientific and spiritual values. Though pessimists may be sceptical about the establishment of a world culture to create a world society, India has demonstrated amply through her accomplishments, both in the past and in the present, that such a scepticism is wholly unwarranted.

India is the abode of several races, several religions and several languages. Despite such diversities, it has been only through its cohesive cultural force that Indian civilization has remarkably survived through the ages with uninterrupted continuity and unimpairedunityand stands as a sparkling example to other nations. Indian civilization has always been broadbased and has laid more emphasis on the essentials of life and joy than on the propensities leading to sorrow and death. The role of India in human civilization is therefore very vital, in as much as its example as a nation founded on the principle of unity in diversity stands as a source of perennial inspiration to the world with racial, political and religious multitudiousness for the production of a pattern of world civilisation which realises the concern for the welfare of all human beingsfor many centuries to come.