The Descent of the Transcendent: Viewing Culture with G. C. Pande

G. C. Pande’s idea of culture in many respects represents a radical departure from current thinking on the subject. This departure has its roots in the way Pande traces the origin and the process of development of culture. According to Pande the original inspiration and catalyst of the genesis of culture are transcendental in nature, although culture is born in the human world and it develops through human agency. The process is set into motion by the envisioning of the transcendent by a prophet/teacher. The transcendental vision, occult in its essence, contains the seeds of a philosophy of life and a system of values. The sharing of the vision by the prophet/teacher in the form of teachings with a band of followers engenders the formation of a culture group and then the nucleus of a society. Pande thus reverses the accepted notions of the relationship between the growth of culture and society. According to him it is not a society that gives rise to a distinctive culture; rather it is a culture — which, in other words is a system of values and a philosophy of life — that gives rise to a corresponding society. Later on from the same process civilizations and states develop. This essay examines the interesting implications of these formulations.