A Critical Survey Of Indian Philosophy

PREFACE

My main aim in this work has been to give a clear, comprehensive and crit-ical account of the various systems of Indian philosophy. It is hoped that the book will be found useful by all those who want a clear and accurate exposition of the development of Indian philosophical thought in one vol-ume which is neither too small nor too big. I shall feel amply rewarded if it arouses a genuine interest in Indian philosophy.

The work is based on my study of the original sources and on my lec-tures to the postgraduate classes in the Banaras Hindu University for a number of years and 1 must accept responsibility for the interpretations. On almost all fundamental points I have either quoted from the original texts or referred to them to enable the interested reader to compare the interpretations with the texts. Throughout the exposition of the different systems which involves criticism and evaluation, I have tried to be fair and impartial to them and to present many difficult and obscure points in as clear and correct a manner as I could. Ignorance of Indian philosophy, spe-cially of Buddhism and Vedānta, is still profound and has given rise to un-informed or ill-informed accounts and misleading criticisms. It has been my aim to remove such misconceptions. Honest difference of opinion in interpretation is legitimate in philosophy, but it does not entitle us to im-pose our own preconceived notions on a system which are repelled by its original texts. The work is only an outline of a vast subject and has no pre-tensions to completeness.

In the chapters dealing with Mahāyāna Buddhism and Advaita Vedän-ta, I have incorporated substantial material from my thesis on ‘Dialectic in Buddhism and Vedanta’ approved for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by the University of Allahabad. I have also incorporated some relevant ma-terial here and there from my thesis on “The Reign of Dialectic in Philoso-phy-Indian and Western’ approved for the degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Allahabad.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge my obligations to the eminent scholars who or whose works have been a source of help and inspiration to me. I have derived much help from the works on Indian philosophy by Dr. S. N. Dasgupta, Prof. M. Hiriyanna and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.

I am deeply obliged to Prof. A. C. Mukerji (retired Professor of Philosophy, Allahabad University) for his kind help and affection-ate encouragement. I record my profound obligations to Prof. R. D.