Indian Knowledge Systems and the Discipline of Critical Scholarship

Abstract

This editorial introduces Volume 1, Issue 1 of Pajjoya, comprising five papers addressing the journal's founding sections: educational thought in Indian philosophical traditions, classical language pedagogy, curriculum design, empirical classroom research, and policy. Rather than advocating for the integration of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) into education, each paper subjects a specific claim in this domain to disciplined scrutiny against the best available textual, historical, or empirical evidence. Read together, the five papers argue that the genuine contributions of IKS to contemporary education are real but narrower than currently claimed, and that realising them responsibly requires holding the field to the same evidentiary standard expected of any other domain of scholarship. This editorial situates that shared method within the wider context of NEP 2020's IKS mandate and sets out the standard Pajjoya intends to uphold across future issues.