Executive Summary

Indian civilization was essentially religious in character. Religious was the core of Hindu life; everything, even life itself, was subsidiary to it. Science was used to contribute to religion. As tronomy was the outgrowth of the worship of heavenly bodies. Grammar and philosophy were the result of an attempt to make every prayer and formula literally and phonetically correct. The government, insofar as a centralized government existed, was an absolute monarchy, which ruled a populace concerned primarily with individual salvation. Complete political unity seemed to an impossibility, and India entered modern times with numerous petty states, which have succumbed to invaders. There was sharp distinction between social classes and an aversion against mixing with some. The economic system was controlled by princes allied with priests and warriors. Classical civilization in India copares favorably in many respects with that of Greece and of Rome. The Mahabharata and the Ramayana rank with the Iliad and the Odyssey as examples of great literature. Science had advanced further in India than in classical Greece or Rome. The Occident borrowed from India much that was important for cultural progress.