The object of this book is to provide a simple introduction to the Indian systems of philosophy. Each one of these systems has had a vast and varied development and cannot be treated adequately in a brief work like this. An attempt has been made to introduce the reader to the spirit and outlook of Indian philosophy and help him to grasp thoroughly the central ideas rather than acquaint him with minute details. Modern students of Philosophy experience great difficulty in understanding Indian problems and theories. Their long experience with university students has helped the authors to realise this and they have tried to remove them as far as possible. This accounts for most of the critical discussions which could otherwise have been dispensed with.

The book has been primarily written for beginners. The first chapter which contains the general principles and basic features of Indian philosophy, as well as a brief sketch of each system, gives the student a bird’s-eye view of the entire field and prepares him for a more intensive study of the systems which are contained in the following chapters. It is hoped, therefore, that the book will meet the needs of the university students at different stages, well as of general readers interested in Indian philosophy. It serve the needs of B.A. Pass students who may be required have a brief general acquaintance with Indian philosophy a whole, as well as those of Honours students who may be expected , have a more detailed knowledge of one or more systems.

It is the firm conviction of the writers that Reality is many sided and Truth is manifold; that each system approaches Reality from one point of view or level of experience, and embodies one aspect of Truth. They have tried to approach each system with sympathy and justify it, rather than dismiss it with a customary criticism. They believe that a sympathetic insight into the great systems will enable the student to grasp their truths more easily and give him a sound philosophical outlook.

While an attempt has been made to bring out the significance of Indian views in terms of modern Western thought, care has always been exercised to preserve their distinctive marks, such as their spiritual and practical outlook, their recognition of the different levels of experience.

The authors are grateful to Dr. Syamaprasad Mookerjee, M.A., D.Litt., B.L., M.L.A., Vidyavacaspati, Barrister-at-Law, ex-Vice-Chancellor, Calcutta University, at whose suggestion the work was undertaken, and to Sir S. Radhakrishnan, Kt., M.A., D.Litt., George V Professor of Philosophy, Calcutta University, Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics, Oxford University, who has very kindly gone through the manuscript and made valuable suggestions. They are also indebted to Professor Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya, M.A., with whom they discussed some of the problems treated here and received much light and guidance. They are grateful also to the authorities of the Calcutta University, and especially to the Registrar, the Superintendent of the Press and his energetic colleagues, for the publication of the work.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

The authors feel encouraged by the demand for a second edition of this book within such a short time. They are grateful to the many universities which have adopted this compendium as a textbook, and to the many lay readers who have intimated their appreciation of the book as a suitable introduction to Indian Philosophy. But at the same time the authors realise once more the great difficulty of compressing into such a volume all that is important in the arguments and theories of schools which have evolved through nearly two thousand years, and developed intricacies which defy easy exposition. They are, therefore, painfully aware of the many shortcomings of the book, and very eagerly avail themselves of this opportunity of a second edition to remove defects, as far as possible, by addition, alteration, omission and rearrangement of topics. In this work of improvement they have received great help from teachers and scholars who have favoured them with detailed opinions and suggestion. The authors are thankful to all of them; but they are especially indebted, in this respect, to Professors Khangendranath Mitra, Haridas Bhattacharyya, Jadunath Sinha, Surendranath Goswami, Kalidas Bhattacharyya and Mr. Anilkumar Ray Chaudhury. If some of the suggestions could not be carried out, it was mainly because of the limitation of the original scope of the book, the necessity for economising paper, and the desire for avoiding difficulties that might embarrass the beginner.

The chapter on the Vedãnta has been partly rewritten. Sañkara and Rãmãnuja have been dealt with successively (and not side by side, as before). The rationale of argumentative side of the Vedãnta has been substantially reinforced by the addition of many new paragraphs in small print. The authors hope that this will be useful to the advanced reader, while the simplicity of the original treatment, and the interest of the beginner, will remain unaffected.

It is necessary to mention that instead of following the ordinary translation practice of rendering ‘Isvara’ into ‘God’ and ‘Brahman’ into ‘Absolute’, the authors have used the word ‘God’ also for Brahman’. Just as ‘Brahman’ (without adjectives) is used, even by the Upanisads and Sankara, for both the immanent, personal aspect, and also for the transcendent, impersonal aspect, similarly God’ also has been used in English in this wide sense, and, therefore, sometimes for the Absolute (e.g. of Hegel), the Indeterminate Substance (e.g. of Spinoza), the Primordial Principle (e.g. of Whitehead). The exact sense in which ‘God’ has been used in this book will be clear from the context. Confinement of ‘God’ only to the Deity of Religion, and of ‘Absolute’ to the ultimate philosophical principle, while convenient in one respect, suffers from the disadvantage of suggesting as though they stand for two distinct realities, and not for two aspects of the same reality, as is the case in the Vedãnta.

PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION

The authors feel highly gratified that the book is now being widely used in India, America, Great Britain and other countries, and that another edition has been called for so soon. This gives an opportunity for further revision and improvement. The authors are grateful to Professor Charles A. Moore of the University of Hawaii and all other teachers of Philosophy who favoured them with their opinions and suggestions for some improvements in the previous editions. They also express their thanks to Sri S. Kanjilal, Superintendent of the Calcutta University Press, and his colleagues for their help in bringing out this edition in time.

PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION

This seventh edition offered further opportunities for revision. We are much obliged to Professor Pradyotkumar Mukhopadhyay of Visva-Bharati for some suggestions, and to Sri S. Kanjilal and his colleagues for bringing out the book under very difficult circumstances.

Back of the Book

An Introduction to Indian Philosophy, termed by Srila Prabhupada as ‘very authoritative’, while introducing the reader to the spirit, vast ocean of knowledge and outlook of Indian philosophy, also helps him to grasp thoroughly the central ideas. Philosophy, in its widest etymological sense, means ‘love of knowledge’. It tries to search for knowledge of himself, the world and God, and describes the Indian way of life as we know it.

Indian philosophy denotes the philosophical speculations of all Indian thinkers, ancient or modern, Hindus or non-Hindus, theists or atheists. Some believe ‘Indian philosophy’ to be synonymous with ‘Hindu philosophy’, However, this would be true only if the word ‘Hindu’ were taken in the geographical sense of ‘Indian’. But if ‘Hindu’ means the followers of a particular religious faith known as Hinduism, the supposition would be wrong and misleading.

The authors have with considerable merit, highlighted the significance of Indian views in terms of modern Western thought. An Introduction to Indian Philosophy is a seminal work covering topics as varied as the Carvaka, Jaina, Vaisesika, Mimamsa, Bauddha, Sankhya Systems, amongst other.

Satischandra Chatterjee (Ph.D.), formely worked as Head of the Department of Philosophy, Calcutta University.

Dhirendramohan Datta (Ph.D.), Formerly worked as Professor of Philosophy, Patna College, Patna University.

Contents

	Preface to the First Edition	xv
	Preface to the Second Edition	xvi
	Preface to the Sixth Edition	xviii
	Preface to the Seventh Edition	xviii
	CHAPTER I
	GENERAL INTRODUCTION	1-15
1	The Basic Features of Indian Philosophy	1
1	The Nature of Philosophy	1
2	The Meaning and Scope of Indian Philosophy	3
3	The Schools of Indian Philosophy	5
4	The Places of Authority and Reasoning in Indian Philosophy	7
5	How the Indian Systems Gradually Developed	9
6	The Common Characters of the Indian Systems	12
7	The Space-Time Background	22
II	A Brief Sketch of the Systems	24
1.	The Carvaka System	24
2.	The Jaina System	26
3.	The Bauddha System	29
4.	The Nyaya System	32
5.	The Vaisesika System	35
6.	The Sankhya System	38
7.	The Yoga System	42
8.	The Mimamsa System	43
9.	The Vedanta System	46
	CHAPTER II
	THE CARVAKA PHILOSOPHY	52-67
I	Its Origin and Scope	52
II	The Carvaka Epistemology	53
1.	Inference is not Certain	54
2.	Testimony is not a Safe Source of Knowledge	57
III.	Metaphysics	58
1.	The World is made of Four Elements	58
2.	There is no Soul	59
3.	There is no God	60
IV.	Ethics	61
V.	Conclusion	63
	CHAPTER III
	THE JAINA PHILOSOPHY	68-105
I.	Introduction	68
II	The Jaina Theory of Knowledge	70
1.	The Nature and Kinds of Knowledge	70
2.	The Carvaka View Criticised	73
3.	The Jaina Theory of Judgment	74
	(i) Syadvada or the Theory that Every
	Judgment is Relative	74
	(ii) Saptabhanginaya or the Seven Forms of Judgment	77
III	The Jaina Metaphysics	81
1.	The Jaina Conception of substance	82
2.	Classification of Substances	85
3.	The Soul or Jiva	87
4.	The Inanimate Substances or Ajivas	90
	(i) Matter or Pudgala	90
	(ii) Space or Akasa	91
	(iii) Time or Kala	92
	(iv) Dharma and Adharma	93
IV.	The Jaina Ethics and Religion	94
1.	Bondage of the Soul	94
2.	Liberation	97
3.	Jainism as a Religion without God	103
	CHAPTER IV
	THE BAUDDHA PHILOSOPHY	106-148
I	Introduction	106
II	The Teachings of Buddha: The Four Noble Truths	108
1.	The Anti-speculative Attitude	108
2.	The First Noble Truth about Suffering	110
3.	The Second Noble Truth about the Cause of Suffering: The Chain of Twelve Links	111
4.	The Third Noble Truth about the Cessation of Suffering	114
5.	The Fourth Noble Truth about the Path to Liberation	118
6.	The Philosophical Implications of Buddha’s Ethical Teachings	123
	(i) The Theory of Dependent Origination or Conditional Existence of Things	124
	(ii) The Theory of Karma	125
	(iii) The Doctrine of Universal Change and Impermanence	125
	(iv) The Theory of the Non-existence of the Soul	127
III.	The Schools of Bauddha Philosophy	129
1.	The Madhyamika School of Sunya-vada	132
2.	The Yogacara School of Subjective Idealism	137
3.	The Sautrantika School of Representationism	140
4.	The Vaibhasika School	142
IV.	The Religious Schools of Buddhism: Hanayana and Mahayana	143
	CHAPTER V
	THE NYAYA PHILOSOPHY	149-210
I.	Introduction	149
II.	The Nyaya Theory of Knowledge	156
1.	Definition and Classification of Knowledge	156
2.	Perception	159
	(i) Definition of Perception	159
	(ii) Classification of Perception	160
	(iii) Extraordinary Perception	161
	(iv) Three Modes of Ordinary Perception	163
3	Inference	165
	(i) Definition of Inference	165
	(ii) The constituents of Inference	166
	(iii) The Grounds of Inference	169
	(iv) The Classification of Inference	175
	(v) The fallacies of Inference	180
4.	Upamana or Comparison	183
5.	Sabda or Testimony	185
	(i) The Nature and Classification of Sabda	185
	(ii) The Logical Structure of a Sentence	187
III.	The Nyaya Thecry of the Physical World	189
IV.	The Individual Self and its Liberation	191
V.	The Nyaya Theology	196
1.	The Idea of God	197
2.	Proofs for the Existence of God	198
	(i) The Causal Argument	198
	(ii) The Argument from Adrsta	200
	(iii) The Argument from the Authoritativeness of the Scriptures	202
	(iv) The Testimony of Sruti	203
3.	Anti-theistic Arguments	207
VI.	Conclusion	209
	CHAPTER VI
	THE VAISESIKA PHILOSOPHY	211-236
I.	Introduction	211
II.	The Categories	213
1.	Substance or Dravya	213
2.	Quality or Guna	218
3.	Action or Karma	221
4.	Generality or Samanya	222
5.	Particularity or Visesa	224
6.	Inherence or Samavaya	225
7.	Non-existence or Abava	227
III.	The Creation and Destruction of the World	230
IV.	Conclusion	234
	CHAPTER VII
	THE SANKHYA PHILOSOPHY	237-270
I.	Introduction	237
II.	The Sankhya Metaphysics	238
1.	Theory of Causation	238
2.	Prakrti and the Gunas	241
3.	Purusa or the Self	246
4.	Evolution of the World	250
III.	The Sankhya Theory of Knowledge	257
IV.	The Doctrine of Liberation	262
V.	The Problem of God	267
VI.	Conclusion	269
	CHAPTER VIII
	THE YOGA PHILOSOPHY	271-289
I.	Introduction	271
II.	Yoga Psychology	274
III.	Yoga Ethics	277
1.	The Nature and Forms of Yoga	277
2.	The Eightfold Means of Yoga	280
IV.	The Place of God in the Yoga	285
V.	Conclusion	287
	CHAPTER IX
	THE MIMAMSA PHILOSOPHY	290-316
I.	Introduction	290
II.	The Mimamsa Theory of Knowledge	291
1.	The Nature and Sources of Knowledge	292
2.	Non-perceptual Sources of Knowledge	293
	(i) Comparison (upamana)	293
	(ii) Authority or Testimony (sabda)	296
	(iii) Postulation (arthapatti)	299
	(iv) Anupalabdhi or non-perception	301
3.	The Validity of Knowledge	302
4.	What is error?	304
III	Mimamsa Metaphysics	306
1.	General Outlook	306
2.	The Theory of Potential Energy (sakti and apurva)	308
3.	The Mimamsa Conception of Soul	309
IV.	Mimamsa Religion and Ethics	311
1.	The Place of the Vedas in Religion	311
2.	The Conception of Duty	312
3.	The Highest Good	313
4.	Is Mimamsa Atheistic?	314
	CHAPTER X
	THE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY	317-398
I.	Introduction	317
1.	Origin and Development of the Vedanta	317
2.	How the Vedanta Developed through the Vedas and the Upanisads	320
3.	The Unanimous Views of the main schools of the Vedanta	330
II.	The Monism of Sankara (Advaita)	336
1.	Sankara’s Conception of the World	336
	(i) The Rational Foundation of Sankara’s Theory of the World	351
	(ii) The Advaita Theory of Error	351
	(iii) Criticism of Sankara’s Philosophy of the World	355
2.	Sankara’s Conception of God	357
	(i) The Rational Basis of Sankara’s Theory of God.	362
3.	Sankara’s Conception of the Self, Bondage and Liberation	367
III.	The Qualified Monism of Ramanuja (Visistadvatta)	382
1.	Ramanuja’s Conception of the World	382
	(i) Ramanuja Criticis, of the Advaita Theory of Maya	385
2.	Ramanuja’s Conception of God	387
3.	Ramanuja’s Conception of the Self, Bondage and Liberation	390
	A Select Bibliography	399