Shikshan Sanshodhan : Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

This article presents a critique of the way in which Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) are being institutionalised and commodified by the modern state in the interests of the global market. Drawing on Mm Haraprasad Shastri and his son Dr Benoytosh Bhattacharyya’s (20th Century) anti-colonial notices and Kapil Kapoor’s (21st Century) outline of intellectual recovery vis-à-vis UGC IKS Guidelines, this study shows how traditional wisdom has been transformed from a holistic philosophy of life into a standardised commercial asset. Whereas early scholars sought to rescue manuscripts and intellectual traditions from colonial destruction and achieve a combination of material enrichment and spiritual regeneration, the present state apparatus has reversed those objectives. It appears that through the formal curriculum, the state acts as a neoliberal broker, converting these traditions into intellectual property for international consumption today. This transformation replaces the spiritual depth of ancestral traditions with an outward focus on profit and national branding. By examining the journey from the traditional tole-chatushpathi proscription to the current attempts at marketisation, this article tries to expose the epistemological betrayal perpetrated by state-controlled machinery.