Showing posts with label Is Hinducentric View the only antidote to Eurocentric View?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Is Hinducentric View the only antidote to Eurocentric View?. Show all posts

Friday, 26 June 2026

Is Hinducentric view the only antidote to Eurocentric view?


Upto the middle of the twentieth century, it was common to take a world view through the prism of Eurocentricity. Here it is to be remembered that even in pre-Christian days, people like Socrates pioneered rational thinking. However, he was ahead of his time & was poisoned. Dante, in his "The Divine Comedy", placed him in the first circle of hell because he was not a baptised Christian. 

The Stoics, the most famous of whom was the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (author of "Meditations"), also propounded ideas similar to the later Buddhism. Hypatia, a Pagan philosopher, was torn to pieces by a Christian mob. However, Charles Kingsley, a Christian clergyman (& author of "The Water Babies") wrote an adulatory biography of her life & times.

Buddhism, with its ten perfections, belief in reincarnation & defining "Nibbana" (Nirvana) as the goal of life, offered an alternative to Hinduism. Jainism, with its 24 Thirthankaras (enlightened souls), also offers an alternative path, with emphasis on self-mortification.

So instead of polarising between Eurocentrism & Hindu centrism, it may be prudent for the well-read, who are aware of the preceding movements, to take a multi-centric view to arrive at a holistic approach towards understanding this world.