Madhyam Marg: How It Constitutes Indian Mind?

Abstract

The article critically explores the centrality of the concept of madhyam marg (the middle path) in constituting the Indian mind and practice. The first part of the paper engages with scriptural analysis of the early Indian and Buddhist philosophical discourses to explicate the dialectical polemics in these writings and to examine whether it is different from the Western dualism. The second part of the paper critically analyses some popular folk narratives from Jatakas, Panchatantra, Mahabharata and Ramayana. It also analyses some ‘critical incidents’ collected from students and working adults. An attempt is then made to build a conceptual framework of madhyam marg and use it for explicating how madhyam marg dialectics mediate everyday actions and behaviour of the Indian people. A clear link between the ubiquitous tendency of the Indians to take the middle path and adherence to the patriarchal systems is observed. Our analyses also reveal differences between the everyday and the scriptural usages of madhyam marg. We suggest that madhyam marg along with the patriarchal structure of Indian society may explain the nature of Indian collectivism and Indian cultural practices better than the Western constructs of ‘individualism’ and ‘collectivism’.