🔄

  • Indian Philosophy and Religion: A Reader's Guide by Bibhu Padhi
  • Indian Philosophy and Religion
  • Indian Philosophy and Religion
  • Indian Philosophy and Religion
  • Indian Philosophy and Religion
  • Indian Philosophy and Religion
  • Indian Philosophy and Religion
  • Indian Philosophy and Religion

Indian Philosophy and Religion

Publisher: D.K. Printworld
Language: English
Total Pages: 423
Available in: Paperback
Regular price Rs. 910.00
Unit price per

Description

In India, philosophy and religion are linked intimately, inseparably. Barring the Carvaka's materialistic school, every other school has concentrated not just on "the spiritual way of life in the here-and-now", but on the "eventual spiritual salvation of man in relation to the universe". However, notwithstanding the centrality of its spiritual concerns, Indian philosophy has not altogether glossed over materialism; rather "it has known it, overcome it, and has accepted idealism as the only tenable view" - whatever specific form that idealism might take: mythological, popular or technical.

Offering a brilliant prefatory discussion on the nature and thematic importance of the Vedas, the Upanisads, and the Bhagavad Gita, Padhis' book tries to capture India's fabulous philosophic genius, with comprehensive, at once objective account of all the six classical systems: the Nyaya, the Vaisesika, the Samkhya, the Yoga, the Purva Mimamsa, and the Vedanta; and, in addition, of the Carvakas: the crass materialists. And of their numerous texts and their exponents: classical, medieval, and modern. Also unfolding a panorama of the Hindu pantheonic divinities, the author present Jainism and Buddhism: both as religious and philosophies - with focus on their world-Views of ethics, major doctrines and significant metaphysical theories, among other aspects.

Uninfluenced either by the idealistic/eulogistic studies of certain Indian scholars, or by the damaging critiques of their Western counterparts, the authors aim to achieve utmost objectivity in their presentation. Which, together with extensive bibliographic references and glossary of Sanskrit terms, makes the book an authentic guide for the discerning readers of Indian philosophy, religion and mythology.

About the Author:

Bidhu Padhi teaches English at SCS College at Puri-on-Sea, Orissa. His poems and scholarly articles have appeared in magazines and journals of international repute. His fourth book of poems, Painting the House, is in press. He has also written a book-lenght study of D.H. Lawrence.

Minakshi Padhi teaches philosophy at SCS College. Her interests include philosophy of religion and contemporary Indian philosophers.

Preface

This is not a textbook on Indian philosophy and religion inasmuch as it is intended to raise as many questions as it seeks to answer. A typical text- book, on the other hand, almost always remains satisfied with the noncontroversial and the minimal. It is not a highly specialized treatise on its subject, for we never meant it to be one. We feel that that need has been more than amply fulfilled by S. Radhakrishnan's two-volume Indian Philosophy and Surendra Nath Dasgupta's monumental five-volume History of Indian Philosophy (besides of course the ongoing multivolume project on Indian philosophy under the editorship of Karl H. Potter, called Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies). The present book, as its subtitle indicates, is a comprehensive reference guide to its subject for the uninitiated, but inquisitive, reader of Indian philosophy and religion.

Most of the critical studies of Indian philosophy have been written with some bias or other. If the Indian interpreters have been overly idealistic (even eulogistic), their Western counterparts, barring a very few, have been overly critical (at times even damaging). We have tried to be objective and clear without neglecting to show the limitations and weaknesses that are', or so we feel, peculiar to matters Indian. We feel that the book could be profitably used by advance undergraduates and graduate students, as well as by the general reader interested in the subject. It is particularly intended for those institutions who are introducing an Indian content into a required core curriculum and do not possess a faculty trained in Indian thought and culture. We sincerely believe that the chapters on religion (Buddhism, Jainism, and Hindu gods and goddesses) will prove especially useful to students taking courses in comparative religion or working toward a degree in religious studies.

We are of course aware of our great debt to the excellent writings of Theos Bernard, Surendra Nath Dasgupta, Erich Frauwallner, Mysore Hiriyanna, Karl H. Potter, S. Radhakrishnan, and Chandradhar Sharma. We must also confess that on certain occasions we have tended to depend on particular books-vas, for instance, on Alfonso Verdu's well-researched Early Buddhist Philosophy for our chapter on Buddhism, and on Haridas Bhattacharyya's excellent but-now out-of-print Foundations of Living Faiths for our chapter on the Hindu gods and goddesses. We have three reasons for this: first, because of the consistently high quality of these books; second, because of their inaccessibility, especially for the non-Indian reader; and third, because they spontaneously catered to our very human temptation to exploit things we loved and admired.

We take this opportunity to thank our friend Paki, and our children (and dedicatees of this book) Buddhaditya and Siladitya, without whose emotional support this book could never have been written.


CONTENTS


  Preface


ix
1. Introduction: The Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita 1
2. Charvaka and Indian Materialism 47
3. Jainism 63
4. Buddhism 96
5. Vaisesika-Nyaya 166
6. Samkhya-Yoga 193
7. Purva Mimamsa 219
8. Vedanta (Uttara-Mimamsa) 261
9. Hindu Gods and Goddesses


347
  Glossary of Major Terms 391
  Index 403

INR
  • US Dollar (USD)
  • Euro (EUR)
  • British Pound (GBP)
  • Canadian Dollar (CAD)
  • United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED)
  • Albanian Lek (ALL)
  • Afghan Afghani (AFN)
  • Armenian Dram (AMD)
  • Angolan Kwanza (AOA)
  • Argentine Peso (ARS)
  • Australian Dollar (AUD)
  • Aruban Florin (AWG)
  • Azerbaijani Manat (AZN)
  • Burundian Franc (BIF)
  • Barbadian Dollar (BBD)
  • Bangladeshi Taka (BDT)
  • Bahamian Dollar (BSD)
  • Bahraini Dinar (BHD)
  • Bermudan Dollar (BMD)
  • Belarusian Ruble (BYN)
  • Belize Dollar (BZD)
  • Bhutanese Ngultrum (BTN)
  • Bosnia-Herzegovina Convertible Mark (BAM)
  • Brazilian Real (BRL)
  • Bolivian Boliviano (BOB)
  • Botswanan Pula (BWP)
  • Brunei Dollar (BND)
  • Bulgarian Lev (BGN)
  • Congolese Franc (CDF)
  • Swiss Franc (CHF)
  • Chilean Peso (CLP)
  • Chinese Yuan (CNY)
  • Colombian Peso (COP)
  • Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
  • Czech Republic Koruna (CZK)
  • Djiboutian Franc (DJF)
  • Danish Krone (DKK)
  • Dominican Peso (DOP)
  • Algerian Dinar (DZD)
  • Egyptian Pound (EGP)
  • Ethiopian Birr (ETB)
  • Fijian Dollar (FJD)
  • Falkland Islands Pound (FKP)
  • Gibraltar Pound (GIP)
  • Ghanaian Cedi (GHS)
  • Gambian Dalasi (GMD)
  • Guinean Franc (GNF)
  • Guatemalan Quetzal (GTQ)
  • Georgian Lari (GEL)
  • Croatian Kuna (HRK)
  • Honduran Lempira (HNL)
  • Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)
  • Haitian Gourde (HTG)
  • Hungarian Forint (HUF)
  • Indonesian Rupiah (IDR)
  • Israeli New Shekel (ILS)
  • Icelandic Krona (ISK)
  • Indian Rupee (INR)
  • Iraqi Dinar (IQD)
  • Iranian Rial (IRR)
  • Jamaican Dollar (JMD)
  • Japanese Yen (JPY)
  • Jordanian Dinar (JOD)
  • Kenyan Shilling (KES)
  • Kyrgystani Som (KGS)
  • Cambodian Riel (KHR)
  • Comorian Franc (KMF)
  • South Korean Won (KRW)
  • Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD)
  • Cayman Islands Dollar (KYD)
  • Kazakhstani Tenge (KZT)
  • Lebanese Pound (LBP)
  • Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR)
  • Liberian Dollar (LRD)
  • Lesotho Loti (LSL)
  • Libyan Dinar (LYD)
  • Moroccan Dirham (MAD)
  • Moldovan Leu (MDL)
  • Malagasy Ariary (MGA)
  • Myanmar Kyat (MMK)
  • Macedonian Denar (MKD)
  • Macanese Pataca (MOP)
  • Mauritian Rupee (MUR)
  • Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR)
  • Malawian Kwacha (MWK)
  • Mexican Peso (MXN)
  • Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
  • Mozambican Metical (MZN)
  • Namibian Dollar (NAD)
  • Nepalese Rupee (NPR)
  • New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
  • Nicaraguan Cordoba (NIO)
  • Norwegian Krone (NOK)
  • Omani Rial (OMR)
  • Panamanian Balboa (PAB)
  • Pakistani Rupee (PKR)
  • Papua New Guinean Kina (PGK)
  • Peruvian Nuevo Sol (PEN)
  • Philippine Peso (PHP)
  • Polish Zloty (PLN)
  • Qatari Rial (QAR)
  • Romanian Leu (RON)
  • Russian Ruble (RUB)
  • Rwandan Franc (RWF)
  • Saudi Riyal (SAR)
  • Sao Tome and Principe Dobra (STD)
  • Serbian Dinar (RSD)
  • Seychellois Rupee (SCR)
  • Singapore Dollar (SGD)
  • Syrian Pound (SYP)
  • Swedish Krona (SEK)
  • New Taiwan Dollar (TWD)
  • Thai Baht (THB)
  • Tanzanian Shilling (TZS)
  • Trinidad and Tobago Dollar (TTD)
  • Tunisian Dinar (TND)
  • Turkish Lira (TRY)
  • Solomon Islands Dollar (SBD)
  • Sudanese Pound (SDG)
  • Sierra Leonean Leone (SLL)
  • Surinamese Dollar (SRD)
  • Swazi Lilangeni (SZL)
  • Tajikistani Somoni (TJS)
  • Tongan Paanga (TOP)
  • Turkmenistani Manat (TMT)
  • Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH)
  • Ugandan Shilling (UGX)
  • Uruguayan Peso (UYU)
  • Uzbekistan Som (UZS)
  • Venezuelan Bolivar (VEF)
  • Vietnamese Dong (VND)
  • Vanuatu Vatu (VUV)
  • Samoan Tala (WST)
  • Central African CFA Franc (XAF)
  • CFP Franc (XPF)
  • Yemeni Rial (YER)
  • South African Rand (ZAR)