Mukund Lath (1937-2020): ‘Thought of tradition, modernity in a continuum`
(WorldNews India)

On one of his regular thinking days, Mukund Lath wanted to know about the origin of the concept and word aadhunik (modern) in India. Unlike how the nation thought that it appeared much later due to the intervention from the west and due to the country`s own restlessness soon after, Lath discovered that the concept had already appeared in a text many centuries ago. Udyanacharya of Darbhanga, a logician from 10th century BCE, wrote in Sanskrit about Kashmiri Brahmins: “They are ancient, we are the modern.” Lath, through his research, pointed out that the concept had already appeared in Indian thought and wasn`t as new as one thought it was. It changed the way one understood the concept of...