Philosophical Foundations of Indian Social Structure

Number of words: 472 In India, as in China, learning and eruditions have always stood high in public esteem, for learning was supposed to imply both superior knowledge and virtue. Before the learned man the ruler and the warrior have always bowed. The old Indian theory was that those who were concerned with the exercise … Read more

A Historical Overview of Racial Interactions in India

Number of words: 571 The coming of the Aryans into India raised new problems racial and political. The conquered race, the Dravidians, had a long background of civilization behind them, but there is little doubt that the Aryans considered themselves vastly superior and a wide gulf separated the two races. Then there were also the … Read more

Interplay of Inner and Outer Worlds in Human Experience

Number of words: 405 As a man grows to maturity he is not entirely engrossed in, or satisfied with, the external objective world. He seeks also some inner meaning, some psychological and physical satisfactions. So also with peoples and civilizations as they mature and grow adult. Every civilization and ?very people exhibit these parallel streams … Read more

The Journey of ‘Hindu’ from Geography to Identity

Number of words: 630 The word ‘Hindu’ does not occur at all in our ancient literature. The first reference to it in an Indian book is, I am told, in a Tantrik work of the eighth century A.C., where ‘Hindu’ means a people and not the followers of a particular religion. But it is clear … Read more

The Mysterious End of the Indus Valley Civilization

Number of words: 489 What happened to the Indus Valley civilization and how did it end? Some people (among them, Gordon Childe) say that there was a sudden end to it due to an unexplained catastrophe.  The river Indus is well-known for its mighty floods which over-whelm and wash away cities and villages. Or a … Read more

The Essence of Cultural Vitality Across Nations

Number of words: 388 History has numerous instances of old and well-established civilizations fading away or being ended suddenly, and vigorous new cultures taking their place. Is it some vital energy, sonic inner source of strength that gives life to a civilization or a people, without which all effort is ineffective, like the vain attempt … Read more

The Uncharted Territories of Human Experience

Number of words: 1,074 My early approach to life’s problems had been more or less scientific, with something of the easy optimism of the science of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. A secure and comfortable existence and the energy and self-confidence I possessed increased that feeling of optimism. A kind of vague humanism appealed … Read more

A Historical Overview of Japan’s Feudal Era

Number of words: 1,036 In 1942, the Japanese people were one of the anachronisms of the modern world, for although they had acquired the material assets and trappings of modern civilization philosophy, mentally they were still struggling to emancipate themselves from the fetters of feudalism and barbaric mysticism.  In appearance there is no such thing … Read more

The Dichotomy of Bravery in Warfare

Number of words: 342 The Japanese soldier was proving a formattable foe: he was brave beyond belief, trained in jungle warfare and resourceful. He was extremely mobile and used bicycles pinched from the local population to speed his advancement where roads were available. His equipment and uniform, other than the imperial guards, was light, motley … Read more

The Perils of Overconfidence in Global Conflicts

Number of words: 520 Europe was a long way off and although it had been overrun by Hitler’s armies, nobody believed for a moment that England would be successfully invaded, particularly as the battle of Britain had ended in defeat for the luftwaffe.  As far as the Japanese were concerned, although they were obviously in … Read more