The Synthetic Nature of Spirituality in India

India, in her days of spiritual greatness tried to not only explore the various lanes and by lanes and highways of the Spirit but also laboured in many ways to integrate the spiritual life with the material. Before the doctrine of Mayavada with its attendant disastrous consequences took hold of the Indian mind, there was a great stress of life turning into a play-field of the higher consciousness. How far did they go and how much they succeeded; how and why did the decline come is another matter to ponder? But the footprints of a great effort at Synthesis are there prominently for all to see. Our present talk deals with one such area of synthesis, in the field of Indian dance, so to say.