136 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
probably possess some thing which would be recognized as language, and perhaps some art of taming animals and cultivating land. They might or might not have created what we should call a religion or a few of our simpler mechanical inventions and political expedients. They might or might not have such general ideas as law, liberty, justice. This is the difference which social heritage makes and the difference is no doubt vast.
It is true that civilization is not the privilege of all and even to those who are fortunate to have it, it is a matter of slow growth marked by long and monotonous halts. But it is also true that to those who are possessed of civilization, their civilization may be a hindrance rather than a help. It might have gone on a wrong track, it might have based itself on false values and false premises. Such a civilization might easily cause stagnation of the Community and the stunting of the individual. It would be better to be without civilization than to be burdened and enshakled by such a civilization.
It is the boast of every patriotic Hindu that the Hindu or the Vedic Civilization is the oldest in the world. One often hears with firesome repetitions a Hindu stating with a certain degree of malicious pride that India had reached a very high degree of civilization when other people were leading a primitive life and moving naked. One also hears a Hindu say that his civilization has inherent strength because it has survived while all other ancient civilization such as Egypt, Babylon, Judea, Rome and Greece have vanished. Such a view however legitimate misses the main point. The main point is not whether the civilization is ancient and whether it has survived. [1] The main point is what are the merits of a civilization ? What is its worth, if it has survived, on what plain? In other words the principal question is, is this Hindu civilization, the social heritage a burden or a benefit ? What does it offer by way of growth and expansion to classes and to individuals ?
What is the contribution of Hindu Civilization to the knowledge of man and nature ? Many patriotic Hindus like to believe that the knowledge of man and nature began with the Hindus. Granting that it is so it certainly did not advance beyond the most rudimentary stage. Can any Hindu doubt that the Hindu Philology, right or wrong, has remained where Panini and Katyayana left it ? Can he deny that Philosophy right or wrong has remained where Kapila and Gautama left it? Can he doubt that literature remained where Vyasa and Valmiki left it. In Metaphysics the Hindus are said to have reached the
1 See my ‘Annihilation of Caste’