hinduism for hindus. 275
Research imbued with this “attitude” or “spirit” assumes ownership of the Hindu
and Indic world. It has established systems and forms of governance that have em-
bedded that attitude in institutional practices. These practices determine what
counts as legitimate research and who counts as a legitimate researcher. In this en-
terprise, the objects of research do not have a voice and do not contribute to re-
search, science, or knowledge. An object (in this instance, Hinduism or Hindus) has
no life force or spirit of its own, no humanity; “it” cannot, therefore, make any ac-
tive contribution. For all practical purposes, the “benevolent” impulse of modern
Indology to represent Hindus and Hinduism effectively appropriates their voice, re-
ducing them to the category of the subaltern.
True, this perspective was not deliberately insensitive. Perhaps the rules of prac-
tice did not allow such a thought to enter the scene (this comes across in one of Paul
Courtright ’s messages posted on the RISA-L list). It nevertheless reaffirmed the
West ’s view of itself as the center of legitimate knowledge, the arbiter of what
counts as knowledge and the source of all “civilized” knowledge. Such knowledge
is generally praised as “universal” knowledge, available to all and not really
“owned” by anyone until non-Western scholars make claims to it.
History is suitably revised whenever claims like the above are contested, so that
the story of civilization continues to remain the story of the West. For this purpose,
the Mediterranean world, the ancient Near East, and ancient Greek culture are con-
veniently appropriated as part of the story of the Western civilization, Western phi-
losophy, and Western knowledge. More recently, this practice has also been ex-
tended to such elements of Indic civilization and culture as yoga. Rajiv Malhotra’s
“U Turn” thesis has convincingly demonstrated and documented its increasing
prevalence.^11
The nexus of cultural ways of knowing, scientific discoveries, economic im-
pulses, and imperial power enabled the West to make ideological claims to having a
superior civilization. The idea of the “West” became a reality when it was re-
presented to the people of Africa, Asia, and Oceania through colonialism. Colonial
education was used to create new indigenous elites to colonize indigenous disci-
plines of knowledge.
CONTESTING WESTERN
RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGIES
Under colonialism, Indians had to become reconciled to Western-inspired studies
and a Western history of India. While a few struggled against the received version