- 18 September, 2025
September 18, 2025:
A new government scheme to preserve, digitise and incorporate knowledge from ancient manuscripts into school and college curricula has sparked a debate among academics, who fear that unverified information could be passed on to students.
The Gyana Bharatam Mission (GBM) aims to conserve manuscripts, digitise them and integrate their wisdom into textbooks. The initiative gained momentum last week when the government organised a three-day conference on “Reclaiming India’s Knowledge Legacy through Manuscript Heritage” in Delhi. The meeting concluded with the adoption of a Delhi Declaration, committing to the “transmission of ancient wisdom by making manuscripts available for education, innovation and intergenerational learning.”
However, scholars remain divided over how this mission should proceed.
Y.S. Alone, professor at the School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, warned against treating manuscripts as unquestionable truths. “When we are decoding manuscripts, the process should follow established methodology and test the knowledge with modern scientific tools. Whatever is established in this process can be included in textbooks,” he said.
Alone cautioned that regarding scriptures as sacred could undermine critical inquiry. “We see a tendency among a section of people to consider everything from ancient scriptures to be holy and divine. There are many texts containing Hindu rituals. If scriptures are taught as sacred, it will take India backwards in a knowledge-driven era,” he added.
Shrinivasa Varakhedi, vice-chancellor of Central Sanskrit University, struck a more optimistic note. He pointed out that the National Mission for Manuscripts, launched in 2003, had already identified around 52 lakh manuscripts held by religious institutions and individuals. Of these, more than 10 lakh have been digitised, but fewer than two lakh critically studied.
“There is a great aspiration and hope that huge knowledge remains buried in our manuscripts,” said Varakhedi. “The present mission will decode the manuscripts first. Only the knowledge that is useful and applicable in today’s context will be part of the curriculum.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the conference, hailed the Vedas as “supreme” in India’s knowledge tradition, underscoring the government’s emphasis on manuscript heritage.
But some academics argue the government risks narrowing India’s intellectual diversity. Pradeep Gokhale, retired professor of philosophy at Savitribai Phule Pune University, said school and college students might not be able to critically engage with manuscripts.
“If the government thinks the Vedas are the supreme source of all knowledge, it is mistaken,” Gokhale said. “There have been diverse knowledge traditions in India, contrary to the Vedic tradition. The Shramanic tradition, which includes Jainism and Buddhism, and the Lokayata tradition countered the Vedic practices. Hence, the government needs to have a broader perspective while teaching traditional knowledge.”
As the GBM takes shape, the debate reflects a wider concern: how to balance preservation of heritage with rigorous academic scrutiny, ensuring that traditional wisdom enriches education without undermining scientific reasoning.
Source : The Telegraph Online
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