For decades, I have listened to Carnatic music, and few composers have moved me as deeply as Muthuswamy Dikshitar. His kritis – elevating, serene and marked by impeccable, sonorous Sanskrit – possess a grandeur that is uniquely his. I must have heard “Sri Kantimathim,” his composition in praise of the presiding goddess of my birthplace, Tirunelveli, countless times, yet it has lost none of its power for me. I know I am not alone; there are thousands of admirers of Dikshitar who feel the same.

It was, therefore, natural to welcome IIT Madras’s announcement that it would celebrate the 250th birth anniversary of Dhikshitar on March 23. One expected that such an occasion would introduce a great cultural legacy to the bright and curious students of that venerable institution. That the event would instead be used to peddle pseudoscience would have seemed unthinkable. Yet that is precisely what happened when S. Gurumurthy, an RSS ideologue and the editor of the Tamil magazine Thughlak, spoke on the occasion. His entire speech is available on YouTube.

Gurumurthy begins his speech by confessing that he is familiar with neither the “core” of science nor music, yet proceeds as though he were an expert in both disciplines. Within minutes, it becomes evident that the occasion is being diverted from a celebration of music to a platform for spurious claims dressed up as intellectual insight.

The speaker begins by urging the audience to “empty” their thoughts and think afresh, citing a dubious anecdote from the life of Sri Aurobindo – a claim that is meaningless from a scientific standpoint. Thought is a continuous cognitive process; one cannot simply “empty” the mind at will. He then asserts that the Newtonian worldview blinds one to reality – an assertion that displays considerable arrogance and a lack of understanding. And, pray, what is this “magnetic” glass that Krishna supposedly gave to Arjuna so that he could behold the Vishwarupa?

History as a political tool: Pococke and McEvilley

He proceeds to mention two books that, in his view, state that Greek philosophy and myths borrowed heavily from Hindu philosophy. The first was India in Greece or, Truth in Mythology by E. Pococke (1852) and the second was The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies by Thomas McEvilley (2002).

Contrary to Gurumurthy’s assertions, neither author was Greek. Pococke was a “blue-blooded” Englishman and McEvilley was an American of Irish origin. It is highly........

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