Science in Sanskrit Literature - An Overview

Science in Sanskrit Literature is a book of very serious content written for all, in a popular way. Here the author has successfully portrayed the richness of different samhitas not only as philosophical and religious base of Indian civilization but also as precursor of scientific advancement of India through that period. He categorically mentioned that conservation of biodiversity, which is the most current issue presently, was also explored vividly in those days. He also mentioned that though medicine, chemistry, astronomy, architecture, mathematics is well contemplated in Samhitas, but physics is not mentioned there.

In first chapter he showed the strong bounding between plants and religion in ancient days. Then gradually he probed into different samhitas and showed us how biodiversity and religious rites were interwoven with each other in those days. Lastly he discussed about plant and animals written in Vigasa Samhita and Atri-Samhita.

This book is not only a resource to comprehend the samhitas for its philosophical content but also for its scientific and ingenious content which is a new perspective to the scientific world.

Priyadarsan Sensarma was born in 1933 in a village in Dacca district in a family of erudite scholars. He obtained his M.Sc. degree in Botany in 1953 from Dacca University. He came in close contact with Late Prof. G. P. Majumdar during his postgraduate studies. In 1954, he joined Bangabasi College, Calcutta as a lecturer in Botany and retired from the same college as Head of the department in 1993. During his long tenure in Bangabasi College, he along with his associates organised the G. C. Bose Biological Research unit in this institution. He carried out research works on morphogenesis and taxonomical anatomy under the guidance of Prof. G. P. Majumdar. His remarkable achievement was on ethnobotanical investigations into the literary sources of India. He also wrote books on military studies. Other important books written by him were 'Plants in the Indian Puranas', 'Ethnobiological information in Kautilya Arthasastra' etc. He was a regular contributor of many valuable articles on plant science in the 'Indian Journal of History of Science' and other specific journals. He wrote first two chapters of History of Science in India, Vol.- IV (Part-1), National Academy of Sciences, India in collaboration with Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata. He passed away on 27th May, 2013.

Though not many works in Sanskrit, dealing solely in different branches of science, have yet been found out, it may be said, without hesitation, that many areas of science was developed well in ancient India. It would not be out of context to mention that art, literature, philosophical thinking of a society cannot achieve brilliance without the supportive improvement of the material aspect of social life of that community. Collection of information, resulting in progression of knowledge about matters belong to the domain of science. Systematic expositions of the characteristics, composition, interactions and interrelations of all matters, living and nonliving, constitute the sphere of activities of science. The methods of science allow humanity to construct a coherent understanding of the laws and processes governing physical reality, and, to a certain degree, the workings of one's mind and the currents of functioning of a community. A society can continue unhibited experessions of its creative and meditative faculties when it gets appropriate support of science and technology. In view of these, it may be stated that without proper information about science, contained in Sanskrit Works and evaluation of the same, the study of ancient Indian culture and history would remain incomplete.

**Contents and Sample Pages**