"IN SEARCH OF THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION"
by Georg Feuerstein, Subhash Kak & David Frawley
by Georg Feuerstein, Subhash Kak & David Frawley
I found this book easy to read, clear and concise. It is written in two parts.
Part 1 deals with the ancient history of India in the light of modern evidence and critical research of ancient documents and artifacts, chiefly the Vedas.
Indian history was written by European scholars, who arrived in India with fixed views on the birth of creation and humanity. It was firmly believed the earth was created in 4004 BC, and it was considered that the Vedas, the oldest scriptures, could not be older than 2000 BC. The content of the Vedas were considered to be mainly religious myth, and verifiable historical references to the geography of India, natural history, linguistics and astronomy were ignored.
The authors detail historical clues found in the Vedas, and with modern scientific evidence from geology, genetics, linguistics and satellite photography, they have traced the continuous history of India back to its roots.
"Our reexamination of the early history of India, the land of the sages and seer-bards, has led to a view of ancient times that is radically different from text book versions."
Formerly the great river Saraswati, glorified in the oldest Veda, the Rig Veda, was considered to be mythical, but has been proved true since its former channels have been identified with satellite photography. This great river, longer and larger than the Ganges, dried out completely around 1900 BCE(3900BP). The authors detail the findings of Harappa, Mohenjo- Daro and other cities which were clustered along this river. More than 2500 settlements have been found. The photograph shows the 'Great bath' in Mohenjo-Daro and a typical street.
Artifacts include soapstone sculptures, terracotta figurines and metalwork. Numerous seals were found, with various motives and writing, yet to be deciphered. One famous seal clearly shows a figure in a seated yoga pose, surrounded by animals. This is considered to be an early portrayal of Lord Shiva, also known as Pasupati, lord of animals. The book traces the possible beginnings of the Vedic people, their extensive trade and exchange with other cultures and countries via land and sea, their rich culture which they preserved and wrote down for posterity and all of humanity in the Vedas. Part 2 of the book details the content of the Vedas, the spiritual heritage of India, and the Vedic contribution to the West. They give us a glimpse of the wealth of knowledge contained in the 20,358 verses of the four Vedas.
"Whence this creation arose, whether it created itself or whether it did not? He who looks upon it from the highest space, he surely knows. Or maybe He knows not. " Rig-Veda x.129.7
Based on their findings of ancient India, the authors question our current way of living.
“Are we moving in a positive direction towards a better world, or are we in danger of destroying ourselves because the prime values of our society are out of sync with the laws of life?”
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and learnt a great deal from it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand the past, our connections to the Vedic Civilization and their contribution to humanity.
For more information on Vedic Culture, see The American Vedic Institute http://www.vedanet.com
The Director is David Frawley, one of the authors of this book.
He has also written more books on the Vedic Civilization;
"From the river of heaven"
"Gods, Sages and Kings"
These books can be purchased through http://www.yogastall.com/
