National Education Policy: Vedas, Puranas, ancient science part of new textbook for engineering students

NEW DELHI:  Introduction to Vedas, Puranas, Sanskrit, ancient science, engineering, astronomy, town planning, and architecture will now be part of a new textbook for engineering and science students taking a mandatory non-credit course on Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS).

The textbook, slated for release on Monday by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, is part of the center’s plan to roll out the new higher education curriculum that stresses the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) as per the National Education Policy (NEP) recommendations.

The new textbook follows the introduction of a mandatory non-credit course on IKS announced by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in 2018.

The course was launched, but it was felt that there were no “authentic and well-researched” textbooks available on IKS.

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore developed the curriculum and prepared the textbook in association with SVYASA Yoga Institute, Bengaluru, and Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth, Ernakulam.
A panel of experts vetted the textbook, ‘Introduction to Indian Knowledge System concepts and applications’ written by B Mahadevan, professor at IIM Bangalore and founding vice-chancellor of Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth (University for Sanskrit and Indic Traditions).

The 417-page English textbook will cost Rs.795. There are plans to get it translated into Hindi soon.
The book aims to fill the gap in offering a required course on IKS, said the author. “The proposed textbook seeks to introduce the epistemology and ontology of IKS to the engineering and science students in a way they can relate, appreciate and explore further.”

Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman, AICTE, said in the foreword: “The formal Indian education system inherited from British policymakers famously known as Macaulian system has kept the ancient Indian knowledge heritage out of the reach of the budding young students, citing reasons of lack of rigor and scientific value.”

“Our (Indian) is the only continuing, surviving ancient civilization with a huge repository of knowledge created by the forefathers, which can provide great value for any society.”

Professor Subhash Kak, Regents Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Oklahoma State University-Stillwater, has also written a forward. He has said that the book will provide students with “an excellent introduction to the astonishing breadth and depth of the Indian scientific and knowledge tradition.”

The co-authors of the textbook are Vinayak Rajat Bhat, associate professor at the Center for IKS, Chanakya University, Bengaluru, and Nagendra Pavana R N, with the school of Vedic Knowledge Systems at Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth, Ernakulam.