By Bina Gupta
Preface
This book has grown out of an
upper division Indian philosophy course and a graduate seminar on Advaita
Veda¯nta that I regularly teach at the University of Missouri-Columbia. So, one
could say that the present work has been in the making for over three decades.
Indian philosophy represents one of the most ancient traditions of human culture,
yet Western philosophers generally ignore it. This neglect may stem from a
presumption common among them that philosophy, as a systematic inquiry,
properly understood, is exclusively a Western phenomenon—and hence absent
within non-Western cultures. Thus I was not surprised when over a decade or so
ago, I found the philosophy faculty at my university arguing that a course
titled “Introduction to Philosophy” should only include Western philosophy as
its content, thereby implying by the omission of a qualifying adjective that
there is, or can be, no philosophy other than its Western incarnation. This
book is conceived with the thought that the true understanding of the other
requires respect for the other, not appropriating the other into oneself. Its
novelty consists in highlighting—contrary to the dominant Western view—the fact
that Indian philosophy is also truly philosophy, not merely spiritual,
religious, and esoteric, while at the same time having its own distinctively
unique approaches to things. This book clearly demonstrates that there exists
an amazing variety of epistemological, metaphysical, ethical, and religious
conceptions in Indian philosophy. These conceptions developed within a period,
roughly, of 1,500 years, and contain very sophisticated arguments and
counter-arguments that were advanced by the defenders of each thesis and its
opponents. One of the goals of this book is to dispel these myths and bring out
the theoretical, discursive rigor of Indian philosophy.
“Indian Philosophy” refers to the
philosophical concepts, theories, and schools that developed in the Indian
sub-continent. In ancient days, most of the philosophical works were written in
the Sanskrit language, while in modern times, philosophical works are written,
not only in English, but also in many modern Indian languages. The Sanskrit
words for “philosophy” are “¯nviks a .¯kı ı ¯” (examination of things by the
means of true cognition) and “dars´ana” (“stand[1]point”
or “system”). The classical dars´anas of Indian philosophy have been the focus
of my attention in this work. Given the space limitations, it was not possible
to include Islamic or Sikh traditions, though these religious and philosophical
traditions have thrived in Indian culture for many centuries and have made
important intellectual contributions. Those who are familiar with Indian philosophy
know well that Indian philosophy is rich and variegated; it represents the
accumulation of an enormous body of material reflecting the philosophical
activity of 3,000 years. It is a multifaceted tapestry and cannot be identified
by one of its strands. Thus, the task of providing an introduction to such a
vast topic as Indian philosophy is daunting, both by virtue of its magnitude
and the competence needed to carry it out. Any author venturing to write such a
book needs to be conversant not only with the general philosophical issues,
history of Indian philosophy, the Buddhist thought, but must also possess
necessary linguistic skills, i.e., expertise in the Sanskrit language, a
combination which is not easy to come by. There are two standard approaches
Indian philosophy: the topical and the historical. The topical approach
expounds Indian philosophy under such head[1]ings
as “Theory of Knowledge,” “Metaphysics,” “Ethics,” “Social and Political
Philosophy,” and brings together the various views held by different philosophers
and/or philosophical systems irrespective of the historical order in which
these views appeared, took shape, and developed. J. N. Mohanty’s Classical
Indian Philosophy follows this approach. The historical approach, on the other
hand, arranges the various systems in the order in which they appeared; thus,
an account of the Vedic and the Upanisadic thought precedes the introduction of
the Buddhist philosophy. Hiriyanna’s Outlines of Indian Philosophy follows this
approach. A historian, irrespective of how valuable his/her work may be, is
likely to be bogged down with philosophical questions, and may not be sensitive
to the ways the philosophical questions and issues outlive their introduction
and may have a life of their own. In this book on Indian philosophy the issues,
arguments counter-arguments, objections, responses to the objections, and so
on, contribute the main driving force, though an historical order of exposition
prevails. No philosophy or philosophical system exists in a vacuum; a
philosophy neither originates nor develops bereft of some under-girding
context. It is a product of the contemporaneous and preceding cultures and
exerts a decisive formative influence on the social and cultural achievements
of ages that follow. A system of philosophy must be evaluated in light of its
own aim and historical setting, by comparison with the systems immediately preceding
and following it, by its antecedents as well as the results, and by the
developments to which it leads. Keeping this in view, the systems are
introduced in a historical order, but the exposition of each system focuses on
certain key questions and issues. The approach therefore may be called
historical-cum-philosophical. It demon[1]strates that there
has been through the centuries a remarkable development, emergence of new
interpretations of the ancient texts, new ways of arguing for the old theses, and
sometimes a totally novel point of view.
The source material of Indian
philosophy particularly demands such a combination. The basic Sanskrit texts
are presented in argument-counter[1]arguments,
objection-reply forms, and I would like the Western students to learn to
appreciate the rhetoric that bears testimony to the vibrant Indian intellectual
life. Such a mode of presentation is also needed to dispel, as stated earlier,
from the minds of the Western readers certain persistent myths about Indian
philosophy, and to bring home to them the truth of Indian philosophy, namely
that it has been a genuinely philosophical and intellectual, highly
sophisticated, rigor[1]ous discipline. The
attempt is made to (1) understand a particular philosophical system in its
integrity, to enter into its fundamental doctrines with an open mind in order
to grasp its philosophy as a whole; (2) subject each philosophical school has
been subject to philosophical criticisms, first of an internal sort, in order
to reveal fundamental inconsistencies between the different assumptions of the
philosophy, and secondly, an external sort which discloses the limitations of a
given philosophy when judged by reference to phases of human experience and
knowledge to which it fails to do justice. The book will serve two additional
basic purposes: it will (1) help students understand the different ways in
which basic philosophic issues have been considered in India, and (2) introduce
the students to an understanding of the Indian mind.
This book, while staying close to
Sanskrit sources, (1) expounds various positions rather freely and in some
details which are relevant for the contemporary students’ interests, and (2)
for each part, adds some selected texts in lucid English translation without
jeopardizing the integrity of original Sanskrit texts. Wherever necessary, I
have added comments in parentheses to make translations easier to understand.
It is my hope that these translations will give the student some taste of the
literary style and philosophical rhetoric of the source material, without being
too bogged down with the philosophical questions. Regarding the content of this
book, after an introduction that sets the stage for what is to come in the
subsequent chapters, I begin with the Vedas and the Upanis.ads, the
foundational texts of the tradition, where one finds the first philosophical
questions and some decisive answers. I discuss the three na¯stika and the six
¯stika a systems. The encounter with the Buddhist critique led to the rise and
the strengthening of the Vedic dars´anas, each with its epistemological bases,
logical theory, metaphysics, and ethics. A systematic exposition of the
dars´anas gradually takes precedence over the historical and we have the six
¯stika dars a ´anas expounded in a manner that skips over centuries of
development. All this leads to the section in which four schools of Buddhism
and Veda¯nta become the focus of my attention, because as we stand today in the
twenty first century, it is these two that have earned a global interest. There
have been numerous attempts to interpret and reinterpret them in novel ways. In
my interpretations, I have tried to be as faithful to the Indian tradition as
was possible for me, in order to enable my readers to have an accurate and
authentic understanding of the various philosophical conceptions that are found
on the Indian philosophical scene.
Regarding the audience, it is my
hope that this book will introduce under[1]graduate
students, possibly beginning graduate students, to classical Indian philosophy.
Its primary audience will be philosophy students who have already been
introduced to Western philosophy but not yet to Indian philosophy. Therefore,
it is safe to assume that these students will have familiarity with such
philosophical terminologies as “theory of knowledge,” “metaphysics,” reality,”
and “appearance.” They, however, will have no acquaintance with such Indian
philosophical terms as “¯tman a ,” “brahman,” “prama¯n. as,” “dharma,”
“moks.a,” etc. Though I have explained these technical terms suitably, I have
used these Sanskrit terms throughout the book in order to make students familiar
with basic Indian philosophical vocabulary. I have tried to make use of them as
much as was needed in my view to represent the schools in the manner they were
expounded in Sanskrit works and I have tried my best to avoid making them
difficult. How far I have been successful I will let my readers judge. Writing
this book has been a difficult enterprise. I recognize that some of the
material discussed in this book is very complex. This complexity is confounded
by the problems involved in translating complex philosophical concepts from
Sanskrit to English. I apologize for any difficulty the students may encounter
in following my exegesis and interpretation. If this work challenges the
students to further investigate the issues raised herein, I will have succeeded
in my effort. It is both a duty and a pleasure to express my sincere thanks to
those friends, scholars, and students who have contributed to this work in
various ways. It is not possible to list them all individually. I extend my
heartfelt gratitude to such scholars as Sibjiban Bhattacharyya, B. K. Matilal,
J. N. Mohanty, and Karl Potter, whose books and papers have played a
significant role in shaping my views on the issues under consideration. I want
to thank Mr. Kim Sang, Director, Asian Affairs Center at the University of
Missouri–Columbia, for providing me all sorts of assistance with my research
projects. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Madan, and daughter,
Swati, for believing in me, supporting me, and being there for me when I needed
them.
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