Sanskruti Aur Sabhyata - Book Summary

Here's a comprehensive summary of the provided Jain text, "Sanskruti Aur Sabhyata" (Culture and Civilization), by Amarmuni, in English:

The book "Sanskruti Aur Sabhyata" by Amarmuni explores the profound concepts of culture and civilization, emphasizing their interconnectedness and the essence of Indian culture.

Core Concepts of Culture:

Etymology and Nature: The author begins by highlighting that the words "Sanskruti" (culture) and "Sanskar" (values/impressions) stem from the same root, signifying their inherent connection. Culture is described as a flowing river, impossible to confine within rigid definitions, national boundaries, or societal norms. To limit it is a significant human error.
Western and Indian Perspectives: Western thinkers like Matthew Arnold define culture as knowledge of the best that has been said and thought in the world. Vobbi categorizes culture into "partial" (inclining towards luxury) and "impartial" (flowing towards simplicity and restraint).
Culture vs. Civilization: A key distinction is made between civilization and culture. Civilization is likened to the body, representing knowledge, research, and material advancements. Culture, conversely, is the soul, representing wisdom.
Spiritual Aspect: True culture possesses a spiritual dimension. Serenity of spirit and poise of mind are considered crucial aspects of culture, arising from faith in a higher power.
Universality and Inclusivity: Great cultures do not instill fear but rather provide purity and embrace others. Similar to the Ganga river absorbing other streams, a noble culture integrates diverse influences, making it sacred and respectable.

The True Meaning of Culture:

Ubiquitous Discussion, Unstable Definition: Culture is widely discussed today in various forums, but its definition remains fluid. Despite efforts to confine it, culture encompasses morality, profound thought, and the beauty of art.
Holistic Integration: Culture naturally integrates religion, philosophy, and art. Where culture exists, these three will also be present. The term "culture" is more expansive and meaningful in Indian spiritual literature than words like "purification" or "reform," which can only partially capture its essence.
Continuous Flow and Evolution: Culture is a continuous flow, its life force being its perpetual movement and development. It is an organized institution of thoughts, ideals, emotions, and character impressions inherited from ancestors.
Two Divisions: Culture can be divided into material and spiritual aspects.
- Material Culture (Civilization): Encompasses physical creations like buildings, clothing, vehicles, and machines. Art is related to this.
- Spiritual Culture: Includes ethics, thought processes, and knowledge.
Values and Unity: Culture also signifies "sanskar" (values), which can be individual (personal virtues) or collective (counteracting societal vices). Shared customs, thoughts, beliefs, language, and paths contribute to cultural unity.
Essence of Life: Culture is a comprehensive portrayal of human life, past, present, and future. It is the art or method of living, a tangible truth, and a vital element of life. It is the collection of diverse human life forms that have always evolved.
Harmony of Arts and Goals: Religion, philosophy, literature, and art are outcomes of human development. Culture is the achievement of human endeavor. Strong adherence to culture broadens the mind, fostering generosity. It harmonizes politics and economics, representing the coordination of "artha" (wealth) and "kama" (desire) in Indian culture. Culture is the essence that nourishes the tree of life; if politics and economics are the paths of life, culture is its ultimate destination.

Culture as the Pinnacle of Sadhana:

Synthesis of Opposites: Culture harmonizes all contradictions. Through religious practices, artistic endeavors, yogic experiences, and rational imagination, humans grasp the comprehensive truth of culture.
Journey of Self-Improvement: Culture is the victory march of humanity. Through sadhana (spiritual practice), humans progress from deviation to culture and from culture to nature (their true self). This natural state signifies self-purification.
The Soul of Indian Culture: Coordination:
- Core Values: Indian culture is characterized by pure conduct, independent thought, the pursuit of truth, and liberal behavior. Even in conflict, it teaches peace, love over animosity, gentleness over harshness, and non-violence over violence.
- Unity in Diversity: The essence of Indian culture is coordination amidst diversity, harmony in differences, and a balanced perspective. It integrates heart and intellect, bringing sweetness and pleasantness to life. It blends knowledge with action and action with knowledge, spreading sweetness and pleasantness.
- Living Manifestation: Indian culture signifies the living glory of faith, thought, and conduct. It embodies affection, sympathy, cooperation, collaboration, and coexistence.
- Direction of Progress: It leads from untruth to truth, darkness to light, difference to oneness, mire to lotus, ugliness to beauty, and ignorance to wisdom.
- Key Figures: The guiding principles of Indian culture are embodied by Rama's righteousness, Krishna's active yoga, Mahavir's non-violence and anekanta (many-sidedness), Buddha's compassion and detached wisdom, and Gandhi's spiritually inspired politics and truth experiments.

The Triveni of Indian Culture:

The Essence of Daya, Dana, Damana: The core of Indian culture lies in "Daya" (compassion), "Dana" (charity), and "Damana" (self-control/discipline). This is the foundation for every Indian.
- Compassion: For every soul.
- Charity: Given freely.
- Self-Control: Of mind's impulses.
Historical Roots: The Vedas, Pitakas, and Agamas have propagated these principles. When cruelty failed to bring happiness, compassion arose. When accumulation failed to bring peace, charity emerged. When indulgence failed to bring contentment, self-control became paramount.
Three Streams: While one in essence, Indian culture flows through three streams: Vedic culture (associated with dana), Buddhist culture (associated with daya), and Jain culture (associated with damana). Vedic, Buddhist, and Jain traditions represent donation, compassion, and self-conquest respectively. The conqueror of one's own mental vices is a "Jin," and Jin-dev's culture is the culture of the self-conqueror.

Brahmanic and Shramanic Culture:

Two Pillars: Indian culture can be understood through the lens of Brahmanic and Shramanic traditions.
- Brahmanic Culture: Represents expansion, embracing all and spreading outwards. It is associated with indulgence.
- Shramanic Culture: Represents restraint, discipline, labor, and equanimity. It is associated with renunciation.
Balance is Key: Both indulgence and renunciation are necessary for the well-being of society. Indulgence is needed for the body, and renunciation for the soul. The true essence of Indian culture lies in the balanced development of indulgence and renunciation.
Proclivity vs. Detachment: Brahmanic culture is inclined towards worldly pursuits (pravritti), while Shramanic culture is inclined towards detachment (nivritti). Both are essential aspects of human life.
Goal of Culture: The ultimate aim of culture is to move from the inauspicious to the auspicious, and ultimately from the auspicious to the pure. Both Brahmanic and Shramanic perspectives are vital for a healthy Indian society, and balance between them is crucial.

The Nature of Indian Culture:

Collective and Gradual Development: Indian culture is communal and has developed gradually. While some attribute its origin to the arrival of Aryans, evidence from Harappa and Mohenjo-daro suggests a flourishing culture predating their arrival.
Synthesis and Assimilation: The composite culture born from the confluence of Aryans and Dravidians, and later incorporating contributions from Scythians, Huns, Muslims, and Christians, can be considered the original culture. India's ancient culture possessed a remarkable ability to assimilate new elements.
Decline of Dynamism: This dynamism eventually led to a state of rigidity and then conservatism. Geographical isolation initially protected India but also limited external influences. However, those who did arrive were assimilated, like the Scythians and Huns integrating into Rajput clans.
Liberal and Tolerant: Indian culture has always been liberal and tolerant, respecting everyone.
A Chemical Process: Indian culture is not merely an accumulation of elements like a heap of grains; rather, it's a chemical process where various elements merge and transform, like honey made by bees from different flowers, where the individual contributions are no longer distinct.

The Cultural Unity of India:

Geographical and Attitudinal Factors: India's cultural unity is attributed to its geography (mountains and oceans creating a distinct landmass) and the liberal, tolerant outlook of its people.
Freedom of Thought: This liberality allows for the flourishing of diverse beliefs, from staunch theism to atheistic philosophies. Both idol worship and formless worship have coexisted.
Harmony of Religions: Despite minor exceptions, India has always provided freedom for religious development and propagation. Temples, mosques, and churches coexist harmoniously.
The Role of Tolerance: This unity and coordination stem from India's inherent liberality and tolerance, allowing it to integrate diverse cultural influences and represent the mental and spiritual unity of various religions and communities.

What the Modern World Can Learn:

Spiritual Solutions: India's ancient scriptures (Upanishads, Agamas, Tripitaka) offer light to a lost world. The solutions to modern world's suffering lie in spiritual consciousness.
Overcoming Consumerism: The modern man has become materialistic, unwilling to share. The solution lies in the liberal spirit of renunciation, which is the core of Indian culture.
Rejuvenating Culture: If India sheds its conservatism, it has much to offer the world. India's composite culture can form the basis of future global unity.
Dynamic Evolution: Indian culture has been dynamic, from Rishabhdev to Rama to Gandhi, with occasional disruptions that did not alter its fundamental path.

The Life Force of Indian Culture:

Non-Violence and Anekanta: The core elements of Indian culture are non-violence (ahimsa) and anekanta (many-sidedness), which foster equanimity and coordination.
True Conquest: True conquest of a person is through winning their heart, achieved not by force but by the "cool region of tolerance."
Universal Principles: While Mahavir presented ahimsa and anekanta, these are not exclusively Jain principles but eternal principles of India and Indian culture. Jainism elevated ahimsa to its peak, and anekanta is its highest development, representing a healthy perspective present in India since time immemorial.

Ahimsa and Anekanta in Indian Culture:

Interchangeable Terms: Tolerance, liberality, composite culture, anekanta, coordination, ahimsa, and equanimity are different names for the same principle.
The Anekanta Perspective: An anekantavadi does not hold rigid views, seeks to understand others' opinions, objectively examines their own principles, and views compromise as a sign of understanding.
Historical Examples: Emperors Ashoka, Kharvel, and Harshavardhan were intellectually ahimsavadi and anekantavadi. Emperor Akbar was an anekantavadi in his pursuit of truth. Paramahansa Ramakrishna was beyond sectarianism and anekantavadi, and Mahatma Gandhi's life was dedicated to the path of ahimsa and anekanta.
Essential for Survival: Indian culture cannot endure without ahimsa, anekanta, equanimity, and coordination. These principles are vital for purifying human life. Coordination is not just an intellectual theory but a living, constructive principle. Equanimity signifies affection, sympathy, and goodwill, essential for human happiness and prosperity.

Culture and Civilization: A Fundamental Discussion:

Synonymous or Distinct: The relationship between culture and civilization is debated. Some Western scholars like Tyler consider them synonyms. Others, like Toynbee, prefer the term "civilization."
Civilization as an Outcome: Some view civilization as the ultimate stage of culture, an inevitable consequence. If culture is expansion, civilization is rigid stability.
Tyler's Definition: Tyler defined culture or civilization as a complex whole encompassing knowledge, morals, law, custom, and acquired capabilities and habits as a social being.
Two Sides of the Same Coin: The author views culture and civilization as two sides of the same coin – one internal and the other external. They express the sentiments of thought and conduct. Civilization is the external form of life, while culture is its subtle, internal essence.

The Basis of Human Prestige:

True Foundation: Human prestige is founded on humanity itself – character, sacrifice, service, and love.
Shift to Materialism: Today, human focus has shifted to material possessions like wealth, power, and fame as the basis for prestige.
Societal Change: Society and state have altered the basis of prestige, prioritizing wealth and power. This leads to fluctuating prestige, where even immoral individuals gain respect if they possess wealth and power.
Fleeting Nature of Material Prestige: Prestige gained through wealth and power is impermanent, like a rainbow. True respect comes from genuine truth and character, not fame, praise, or reputation, which are often fleeting and can be acquired through cruelty.

The Race for Thrones:

Ambition and Regicide: The text highlights the destructive ambition for power, using the example of Ajatashatru's plot against his father, where the throne overshadows filial duty.
Ancient Indian Tradition: The wisdom of older generations stepping aside for the new, as exemplified by Raghuvanshi kings described by Kalidasa, is contrasted with the modern clinging to power.
Renunciation for Higher Purpose: This traditional relinquishing of power was not just about detachment but also about self-realization and public welfare.

The Culture of Renunciation:

True Prestige: Those whose prestige is based on renunciation, character, and love, whether rulers or ascetics, remain in the hearts of the people.
Example of Janak: King Janak is presented as an example whose prestige stemmed from renunciation, justice, and service to the people, earning him the title "Janak" (father).
Values of Simplicity: Indian culture values simplicity over material wealth, respecting the destitute and the simply clad over the rich and opulent.
Swami Vivekananda's Example: Swami Vivekananda's response to comments on his simple attire highlights that while Western culture might judge by external appearance, Indian culture values inner character and high ideals.
Ideal Indian Nation: The text references a story from the Upanishads about an ideal kingdom free from thieves, miserly people, drunkards, and the immoral, representing the true picture of a nation whose cultural and civilizational standards are exemplary.

Conclusion:

The book emphasizes that Indian culture, characterized by its liberal, tolerant, and coordinating spirit, has the potential to offer spiritual solutions and guide the world towards unity. Its life force lies in principles like non-violence and anekanta, which have been integral to its sustained vitality. The distinction between civilization (material) and culture (spiritual) is crucial, and the true basis of human prestige rests on inner virtues rather than external wealth or power. The text concludes by highlighting the enduring strength of Indian culture, rooted in its core values and its ability to assimilate and evolve, making it a timeless source of inspiration.