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nds, its, in, Chapter -3, we, as, THE WONDER THAT WAS INDIA, he, A. L. Basham, ht, Hindu civilization will, we believe, retain its continuity. The, Bhagavad Gita will not cease to inspire men of action, and the, Upanisads men of thought. The charm and graciousness of the, Indian way of life will continue, however much affected it may be, by the labour-saving devices of the West. People will still love the, tales of the heroes of the Mahãbhārata and the Rämayana, and of, the loves of Dusyanta and Sakuntalã and Purúravas and Urvasí., The quiet and gentle happiness which has at all times pervaded, Indian life where oppression, disease and poverty have not, overclouded it, will surely not vanish before the more hectic ways, of the West., Much that was useless in ancient Indian culture has already, perished. The extravagant and barbarous hecatombs of the Vedic, age have long since been forgotten, though animal sacrifice, continues in some sects. Widows have long ceased to be burnt on, their husbands' pyres. Girls may not by law be married in childhood., In buses and trains all over india brãhmans rub shoulders with the, lower castes without consciousness of grave pollution, and the, temples are open to all by law. Caste is vanshing; the process, began long ago, but its pace is now so rapid that the more, objectionable features of caste may have disappeared within a, generation or so. The old family system is adapting itself to, present-day conditions. In fact the whole face of India is altering,, but the cultural tradition continues, and it will never be lost., The whole of South-East Asia received most of its culture, from India. Early in the 5th century B.C. colonists from Western, 1

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India settled in Ceylon, which was finally converted to Buddhisn, in the refg of Ashoka. By this time a tew Indian merchants had, 22 U English Language and Indian Culture, probably found their way to Malaya. Sumătra, and other Dari, South-East Asia. Gradually they established permanent settlemenr., often, no doubt, marrying native women. They were followed, brähmans and Budhist monks. and Indian influence graduali, leavened the indigenous culture. until. hy the 4th century, Sanskrit was the official language of the region, and there ar, great civilizations, capable of organizing large maritime empires, and of building such wonderful memorials to their greatness as the, Buddhist stúpa of Borobodúr in Java. or the Saivite temples of, Angkor in Cambodia. Other cultural influences. from China and, the Islămic world, were felt in South-East Asia. but the primary, impetus to civilization came from India., cotto, chess, notat, in th, on th, of t, follo, Bud, Test, of w, and, thes, espe, Indian historians. proud of their country's past often refer to, this region as "Greater India" and speak of Indian "colonies". In its, usual modern sense the term "colony' is hardly accurate, however., Vijaya, the legendary Aryan conqueror of Ceylon, is said to have, gained the island by the sword. but heyond this we have no rea!, evidence of any permanent Indian conquest outside the bounds of, India. The India "colonies" were peaceful ones. and the Indianized, kings of the region were indigenous chieftains who had learnt, what India had to teach them., deej, alw., me, Selk, Ind, Con, ViSi, at /, and, Northwards Indian cultural influence spread through Central, Asia to China. Faint and weak contact between China and India, was probably made in Mauryan times, if not before, but only, when, some 2.000 years ago, the Han Empire began to drive its, frontiers towards the Caspian did India and China really meet., Unlike South-East Asia. China did not assimilate Indian ideas in, dir, in, ad, every aspect of her culture, hut the whole of the Far East is in, India's debt for Buddhism, which helped to mould the distinctive, civilizations of China. Korea, Japan and Tibet., or, fo, SOY, As well as her special gifts to Asia, India has conferred, many practical blessings on the world at large: notably ri, in, R:

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The Wonder that was India U23, hism, cotton, the sugarcane, many spices, the domestic fowl, the game of, chess and most important of all. the decimal system of numeral, notation. the invention of an unknown Indian mathematician early, in the Christian era. The extent of the spiritual influence of India, on the ancient West is much disputed. The heterodox Jewish sect, of the Essenes. which probably influenced early Christianity., followed monastic practices in some respects similar to those of, Buddhism. Parallels may be traced between passages in the New, Testamant and the Päli scriptures. Similarities between the teachings, of western philosophers and mystics from Pythagoras to Plotinus, and those of the Upanisads have frequently been noticed. None of, these similarities, however. is close enough to give certainty., especially as we have no evidence that any classical writer had a, deep knowledge of Indian religion. We can only say that there was, always some contact between the Hellenic world and India., mediated first by the Achaemenid Empire. then by that of the, Seleucids. and finally. under the Romans. by the traders of the, Indian ocean. Christianity began to spread at the tinme when this, contact was closest. We know that Indian ascetics occasionally, visited the West. and that there was a colony of Indian merchants, at Alexandria. The possibility of Indian influence on Neo-platonism, and carly Christianity cannot be ruled out., had, S of, nts,, by, ally, es., he, of, nd, ry, to, Is, e, Many authorities may doubi that Indian thought had any, etfect on that of the ancient West but there can be no doubt of its, direct and indirect influence on the thought of Europe and America, in the last century and a half. though this has not received, adequate recognition. This influence has not come by way of, organized neo-Hindu missions. The last eighty years have seen the, foundation of the Theosophical Society of various Buddhist, societies. and of societies in Europe and America looking for, inspiration to the saintly 19th century Bengali mystic, Paramahamsa, Ramakrishna. and his equally saintly disciple. Swami Vivekananda., Lesser organizations and groups have been founded in the West by, other Indian mystics and their disciples, some of them nohle.

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whom are of great intellectual and spiritual calibre; but whateye, knowledge of Sanskrit and first-hand Indian experience, have tried, much Indian religious literature in translation, and exerted immense, More subtle. but more powerful has been the influence of Mahatma, there Westerners themselves, sometimes armed with a working, Emerson, Thoreau and other New England writers avidly studied, earnest and spiritual, others of more dubious character. Here, cannot claim that they have had any great effect on our civilization, to convert the West to a streamlined Yoga or Vedanta. We would, in no way disparage these teachers or their followers, many of, 24 U English Language and Indian Culture, and, Whitman. T, their turn, through ma, and Edwar, Thot, we may think of the Western propagators of Indian mysticism, and Ameri, century ca, and all of, Gandhi, through the many friends of India in the West who Wor, impressed by his burning sincerity and energy. and by the ultima, success of his policy of non-violence in achieving India, independence. Greater than any of these influences. however. hs, been the influence of ancient Indian religious literature through, philosophy., who medi, years or 1, It i, Europena, cultures, hours' jo, disappea, The pioneers of the Asiatic Society of Bengal quickly gained, a small but enthusiastic following in Europe. and Goethe and, many other writers of the early 19th century read all they could of, ancient Indian literature in translation. We know that Goethe, borrowed a device of Indian dramaturgy for the prologue to, "Faust" and who can say that the triumphant final chorus of the, second part of that work was not in part inspired by the monism, of Indian thought as he understood it? From Goethe onwards most, of the great German philosophers knew something of Indian, philosophy. Schopenhauer, whose influence on literature and, psychology has been so considerable, indeed openly admitted his, debt, and his outlook was virtually that of Buddhism. The monisiis, of Fichte and Hegel might never have taken the forms they did n, it had not been for Anquetil-Duperron's translation of the Upanisaos, and the work of other pioneer Indologists. In the English-speakine, world the strongest Indian influence was felt in America. wne, and com, will hav, differen, cultural, grow as, For thi, ancient, the her, Comp, 1., influence on their contemporaries and successors., notably Wall, 4

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24 U English Language and Indian Culture, earnest and spiritual, others of more dubious character. Here ana, there Westerners themselves, sometimes armed with a, knowledge of Sanskrit and first-hand Indian experience, have tried, to convert the West to a streamlined Yoga or Vedanta. We would, in no way disparage these teachers or their followers, many or, whom are of great intellectual and spiritual calibre: but whatever, we may think of the Western propagators of Indian mysticism, we, cannot claim that they have had any great effect on our, More subtle, but more powerful has been the influence of Mahatma, Gandhi, through the many friends of India in the West who were, impressed by his burning sincerity and energy, and by the ultimate, success of his policy of non-violence in achieving India's, independence. Greater than any of these influences, however, has, been the influence of ancient Indian religious literature through, philosophy., working, Whitma, their tu, through, and Ed, and Ar, civilization., century, and all, who m, years (, Europ, culture, hours', disap, The pioneers of the Asiatic Society of Bengal quickly gained, a small but enthusiastic following in Europe. and Goethe and, many other writers of the early 19th century read all they could of, ancient Indian literature in translation. We know that Goethe, borrowed a device of Indian dramaturgy for the prologue to, "Faust" and who can say that the triumphant final chorus of the, second part of that work was not in part inspired by the monism, of Indian thought as he understood it? From Goethe onwards most, of the great German philosophers knew something of Indian, philosophy. Schopenhauer. whose influence on literature and, psychology has been so considerable, indeed openly admitted his, debt. and his outlook was virtually that of Buddhism. The monisms, of Fichte and Hegel might never have taken the forms they did if, it had not been for Anquetil-Duperron's translation of the Upanisads, and the work of other pioneer Indołogists. In the English-speaking, world the strongest Indian influence was felt in America, where, Emerson. Thoreau and other New England writers avidly studied, much Indian religious literature in translation, and exerted immense, influence on their contemporaries and successors, notably Walt, and co, will I, differ, cultur, grow, For t, ancie, the h, Com, I., 5