Quote by Pavan K. Varma

“The Hindu civilisation’s thought processes were never overwhelmed, even when its people were conquered. This is important, because monuments can be destroyed, but the fortress of ideas is imperishable. The core of this thought process was spiritual, as distinguished from simply religious practice. The spiritual vision both transcended and guided religious rituals, and spilled over into the secular realm. This did not make it a religious civilisation. The spirituality was more about ultimate truths, an exploration of the world of ideas, and not a manual only for religious worship. This spiritual churning could have a religious counterpart, but would survive even without it. As Rabindranath Tagore says: ‘In reality, our history had deeply serene and contemplative phases—for the longest period of time—periods not without war or turmoil, but essentially grappling with pivotal concepts in the realm of thought [emphasis mine].’2 Sri Aurobindo also speaks about ‘an ingrained and dominant spirituality, an exhaustive vital creativeness and … a powerful, penetrating and scrupulous intelligence … each at a high intensity of action … the stamp put on her by that beginning she has never lost”

Quote by Pavan K. Varma