Epistemological Echoes: Ancient Texts Shaping Contemporary and Literary Thought

Abstract

This study explores how the epistemological shift from sacred wisdom to the modern secular system is constructed, validated, and represented in modern society and literature. This study adopts a semantic and theological transformation of the term “Shastra” in the 21st century globalized religious landscape. This dialogue chiefly focuses on how ancient texts established knowledge between Sathya Shastra (“The Treatise of Truth”) and Dharma Shastra (“Treatise on Duty”) through an intercultural hermeneutic interdisciplinary study. Both Indian Shastra and the canonical text as Middle Eastern/Western thought act as fair statutes and are viewed as a shared “horizon of meaning” ensuring that ancient laws are applied to the modern context. Whether it is Sutras, Sathya or Dharma it is fundamental principles to any doctrine (Achara Samskaras) but these concepts and texts are marked with a blend of tradition and modernity providing a comprehensive manual for social, ethical and religious conduct. By evaluating these two distinct theories of justification, Shruti(oral/eternal) and scriptura (written/historical), we can intersect culturally for spiritual liberation (Moksha) within Indian traditional philosophy and merge our world with a new unique perspective. “To understand a text is not to relive the past but to participate in a present meaning.” – Truth and method (1960)Knowledge is rearticulated through shifting cultural and ideological power structures related to identity, gender, and social issues. Thus, contemporary literature preserves abstract concepts such as faith but reinterprets and conceptualizes them to reciprocate for modern social realities.