nikhilam anujachittaM jñânasûtrair naverya@h
sajabhiva kusumânâM kâlandhhrair vidhatte/
sa laghum api mamaitaM prAchyavijñânatantuM
upah@rtamatibhaktyâ modatâM mai g@rhîtvâ//
May He, who links the minds of all people,
through the apertures of time, with new threads
of knowledge like a garland of flowers, be pleased
to accept this my thread of Eastern thought, offered,
though it be small, with the greatest devotion.
A HISTORY OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY
SURENDRANATH DASGUPTA
VOLUME I
First Edition: Cambridge, 1922
DEDICATION
The work and ambition of a life-time is herein humbly
dedicated with supreme reverence to the great sages
of India, who, for the first time in history, formulated
the true principles of freedom and devoted themselves
to the holy quest of truth and the final assessment
and discovery of the ultimate spiritual essence of
man through their concrete lives, critical thought,
dominant will and self-denial.
NOTE ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF
TRANSLITERATED SANSKRIT
AND PÂLI WORDS
The vowels are pronounced almost in the same way
as in Italian, except that the sound of _a_ approaches
that of _o_ in _bond_ or _u_ in _but_, and _â_ that of _a_ as in _army_.
The consonants are as in English, except _c_, _ch_ in church;
_@t_, _@d_, _@n_ are cerebrals, to which English _t_, _d_, _n_ almost
correspond; _t_, _d_, _n_ are pure dentals; _kh_, _gh_, _ch_, _jh_,
_@th_, _@dh_, _th_, _dh_, _ph_, _bh_ are the simple sounds plus an
aspiration; _ñ_ is the French _gn_; _@r_ is usually pronounced
as _ri_, and _s'_, _@s_ as _sh_.
PREFACE
The old civilisation of India was a concrete unity of many-sided
developments in art, architecture, literature, religion, morals, and
science so far as it was understood in those days. But the most important
achievement of Indian thought was philosophy. It was regarded as the goal
of all the highest practical and theoretical activities, and it indicated
the point of unity amidst all the apparent diversities which the complex
growth of culture over a vast area inhabited by different peoples produced.
It is not in the history of foreign invasions, in the rise of independent
kingdoms at different times, in the empires of this or that great monarch
that the unity of India is to be sought. It is essentially one of
spiritual aspirations and obedience to the law of the spirit, which were
regarded as superior to everything else, and it has outlived all the
political changes through which India passed.
The Greeks, the Huns, the Scythians, the Pathans and the Moguls who
occupied the land and controlled the political machinery never ruled
the minds of the people, for these political events were like hurricanes
or the changes of season, mere phenomena of a natural or physical order
which never affected the spiritual integrity of Hindu culture. If after
a passivity of some centuries India is again going to become creative it
is mainly on account of this fundamental unity of her progress and
civilisation and not for anything that she may borrow from other
countries. It is therefore indispensably necessary for all those who
wish to appreciate the significance and potentialities of Indian culture
that they should properly understand the history of Indian philosophical
thought which is the nucleus round which all that is best and highest in
India has grown. Much harm has already been done by the circulation of
opinions that the culture and philosophy of India was dreamy and abstract.
It is therefore very necessary that Indians as well as other peoples
should become more and more acquainted with the true characteristics
of the past history of Indian thought and form a correct estimate of its
special features.
But it is not only for the sake of the right understanding of India
viii
that Indian philosophy should be read, or only as a record of the past
thoughts of India. For most of the problems that are still debated in
modern philosophical thought occurred in more or less divergent forms
to the philosophers of India. Their discussions, difficulties and
solutions when properly grasped in connection with the problems of our
own times may throw light on the course of the process of the future
reconstruction of modern thought. The discovery of the important features
of Indian philosophical thought, and a due appreciation of their full
significance, may turn out to be as important to modern philosophy as
the discovery of Sanskrit has been to the investigation of modern
philological researches. It is unfortunate that the task of
re-interpretation and re-valuation of Indian thought has not yet been
undertaken on a comprehensive scale. Sanskritists also with very few
exceptions have neglected this important field of study, for most of
these scholars have been interested more in mythology, philology, and
history than in philosophy. Much work however has already been done in
the way of the publication of a large number of important texts, and
translations of some of them have also been attempted. But owing to the
presence of many technical terms in advanced Sanskrit philosophical
literature, the translations in most cases are hardly intelligible to
those who are not familiar with the texts themselves.
A work containing some general account of the mutual relations of the
chief systems is necessary for those who intend to pursue the study
of a particular school. This is also necessary for lay readers interested
in philosophy and students of Western philosophy who have no inclination
or time to specialise in any Indian system, but who are at the same time
interested to know what they can about Indian philosophy. In my two books
_The Study of Patanjali_ and _Yoga Philosophy in relation to other Indian
Systems of Thought_ I have attempted to interpret the Sämkhya and Yoga
systems both from their inner point of view and from the point of view
of their relation to other Indian systems. The present attempt deals with
the important features of these as also of all the other systems and seeks
to show some of their inner philosophical relations especially in regard
to the history of their development. I have tried to be as faithful to
the original texts as I could and have always given the Sanskrit or Pâli
technical terms for the help of those who want to make this book a guide
ix
for further study. To understand something of these terms is indeed
essential for anyone who wishes to be sure that he is following the actual
course of the thoughts.
In Sanskrit treatises the style of argument and methods of treating the
different topics are altogether different from what we find in any modern
work of philosophy. Materials had therefore to be collected from a large
number of works on each system and these have been knit together and
given a shape which is likely to be more intelligible to people
unacquainted with Sanskritic ways of thought. But at the same time I
considered it quite undesirable to put any pressure on Indian thoughts
in order to make them appear as European. This will explain much of what
might appear quaint to a European reader. But while keeping all the
thoughts and expressions of the Indian thinkers I have tried to arrange
them in a systematic whole in a manner which appeared to me strictly
faithful to their clear indications and suggestions. It is only in very
few places that I have translated some of the Indian terms by terms of
English philosophy, and this I did because it appeared to me that those
were approximately the nearest approach to the Indian sense of the term.
In all other places I have tried to choose words which have not been made
dangerous by the acquirement of technical senses. This however is
difficult, for the words which are used in philosophy always acquire
some sort of technical sense. I would therefore request my readers to
take those words in an unsophisticated sense and associate them with
such meanings as are justified by the passages and contexts in which
they are used. Some of what will appear as obscure in any system may I
hope be removed if it is re-read with care and attention, for
unfamiliarity sometimes stands in the way of right comprehension. But
I may have also missed giving the proper suggestive links in many places
where condensation was inevitable and the systems themselves have also
sometimes insoluble difficulties, for no system of philosophy is without
its dark and uncomfortable corners.
Though I have begun my work from the Vedic and Brâhma@nic stage, my
treatment of this period has been very slight. The beginnings of the
evolution of philosophical thought, though they can be traced in the
later Vedic hymns, are neither connected nor systematic.
x
More is found in the Brâhmanas, but I do not think it worth while to
elaborate the broken shreds of thought of this epoch. I could have dealt
with the Upani@sad period more fully, but many works on the subject have
already been published in Europe and those who wish to go into details
will certainly go to them. I have therefore limited myself to the dominant
current flowing through the earlier Upani@sads. Notices of other currents
of thought will be given in connection with the treatment of other systems
in the second volume with which they are more intimately connected. It
will be noticed that my treatment of early Buddhism is in some places of
an inconclusive character. This is largely due to the inconclusive
character of the texts which were put into writing long after Buddha
in the form of dialogues and where the precision and directness required
in philosophy were not contemplated. This has given rise to a number of
theories about the interpretations of the philosophical problems of early
Buddhism among modern Buddhist scholars and it is not always easy to
decide one way or the other without running the risk of being dogmatic;
and the scope of my work was also too limited to allow me to indulge in
very elaborate discussions of textual difficulties. But still I also
have in many places formed theories of my own, whether they are right
or wrong it will be for scholars to judge. I had no space for entering
into any polemic, but it will be found that my interpretations of the
systems are different in some cases from those offered by some European
scholars who have worked on them and I leave it to those who are
acquainted with the literature of the subject to decide which of us may
be in the right. I have not dealt elaborately with the new school of
Logic (Navya-Nyâya) of Bengal, for the simple reason that most of the
contributions of this school consist in the invention of technical
expressions and the emphasis put on the necessity of strict exactitude
and absolute preciseness of logical definitions and discussions and these
are almost untranslatable in intelligible English. I have however
incorporated what important differences of philosophical points of view
I could find in it. Discussions of a purely technical character could not
be very fruitful in a work like this. The bibliography given of the
different Indian systems in the last six chapters is not exhaustive but
consists mostly of books which have been actually studied or consulted in
the writing of those chapters. Exact references to the pages of the
xi
texts have generally been given in footnotes in those cases where a
difference of interpretation was anticipated or where it was felt that
a reference to the text would make the matter clearer, or where the
opinions of modern writers have been incorporated.
It gives me the greatest pleasure to acknowledge my deepest gratefulness
to the Hon'ble Maharaja Sir Manindrachandra Nundy, K.C.I.E. Kashimbazar,
Bengal, who has kindly promised to bear the entire expense of the
publication of both volumes of the present work.
The name of this noble man is almost a household word in Bengal for
the magnanimous gifts that he has made to educational and other causes.
Up till now he has made a total gift of about £300,000, of which those
devoted to education come to about £200,000. But the man himself is far
above the gifts he has made. His sterling character, universal sympathy
and friendship, his kindness and amiability make him a veritable
Bodhisattva--one of the noblest of men that I have ever seen. Like many
other scholars of Bengal, I am deeply indebted to him for the
encouragement that he has given me in the pursuit of my studies and
researches, and my feelings of attachment and gratefulness for him are
too deep for utterance.
I am much indebted to my esteemed friends Dr E.J. Thomas of the Cambridge
University Library and Mr Douglas Ainslie for their kindly revising the
proofs of this work, in the course of which they improved my English in
many places. To the former I am also indebted for his attention to the
transliteration of a large number of Sanskrit words, and also for the
whole-hearted sympathy and great friendliness with which he assisted me
with his advice on many points of detail, in particular the exposition
of the Buddhist doctrine of the cause of rebirth owes something of its
treatment to repeated discussions with him.
I also wish to express my gratefulness to my friend Mr N.K. Siddhanta,
M.A., late of the Scottish Churches College, and Mademoiselle Paule Povie
for the kind assistance they have rendered in preparing the index. My
obligations are also due to the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press
for the honour they have done me in publishing this work.
To scholars of Indian philosophy who may do me the honour of reading my
book and who may be impressed with its inevitable
xii
shortcomings and defects, I can only pray in the words of Hemacandra:
Pramâ@nasiddhântaviruddham atra
Yatkiñciduktam matimândyado@sât
Mâtsaryyam utsâryya tadâryyacittâ@h
Prasâdam âdhâya vis'odhayantu. [Footnote ref 1]
S.D.
TRINITY COLLEGE,
CAMBRIDGE.
_February_, 1922.
_____________________________________________________________________
[Footnote 1: May the noble-minded scholars instead of cherishing ill
feeling kindly correct whatever errors have been here committed through
the dullness of my intellect in the way of wrong interpretations and
misstatements.]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY.....................................................1
CHAPTER II
THE VEDAS, BRÂHMA@NAS AND THEIR PHILOSOPHY
1 The Vedas and their antiquity.................................10
2 The place of the Vedas in the Hindu mind......................10
3 Classification of the Vedic literature........................11
4 The Sa@mhitâs.................................................12
5 The Brâhma@nas................................................13
6 The Âra@nyakas................................................14
7 The @Rg-Veda, its civilization................................14
8 The Vedic gods................................................16
9 Polytheism, Henotheism, and Monotheism........................17
10 Growth of a Monotheistic tendency; Prajâpati, Vis'vakarma.....19
11 Brahma........................................................20
12 Sacrifice; the First Rudiments of the Law of Karma............21
13 Cosmogony--Mythological and Philosophical.....................23
14 Eschatology; the Doctrine of Âtman............................25
15 Conclusion....................................................26
CHAPTER III
THE EARLIER UPANI@SADS (700 B.C.-600 B.C.)
1 The place of the Upani@sads in Vedic literature...............28
2 The names of the Upani@sads; Non-Brahmanic influence..........30
3 Brâhma@nas and the Early Upani@sads...........................31
4 The meaning of the word Upani@sad.............................38
5 The composition and growth of diverse Upani@sads..............38
6 Revival of Upani@sad studies in modern times..................39
7 The Upani@sads and their interpretations......................41
8 The quest after Brahman: the struggle and the failures........42
9 Unknowability of Brahman and the Negative Method..............44
10 The Âtman doctrine............................................45
11 Place of Brahman in the Upani@sads............................48
12 The World.....................................................51
13 The World-Soul................................................52
14 The Theory of Causation.......................................52
15 Doctrine of Transmigration....................................53
16 Emancipation..................................................58
CHAPTER IV
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE SYSTEMS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY
1 In what sense is a History of Indian Philosophy possible?......62
2 Growth of the Philosophic Literature...........................65
3 The Indian systems of Philosophy...............................67
4 Some fundamental points of agreement...........................71
1 _The Karma theory_.........................................71
2 _The Doctrine of Mukti_....................................74
3 _The Doctrine of Soul_.....................................75
5 The Pessimistic Attitude towards the World and the Optimistic
Faith in the end...............................................75
6 Unity in Indian Sâdhana (philosophical, religious and ethical
endeavours)....................................................77
xiv
CHAPTER V
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY
1 The State of Philosophy in India before Buddha.................78
2 Buddha: his Life...............................................81
3 Early Buddhist Literature......................................82
4 The Doctrine of Causal Connection of early Buddhism............84
5 The Khandhas...................................................93
6 Avijjâ and Âsava...............................................99
7 Sîla and Samâdhi..............................................100
8 Kamma.........................................................106
9 Upani@sads and Buddhism.......................................109
10 The Schools of Theravâda Buddhism.............................112
11 Mahâyânism....................................................125
12 The Tathatâ Philosophy of As'vagho@sa (80 A.D.)...............129
13 The Mâdhyamika or the Sûnyavâda school--Nihilism..............138
14 Uncompromising Idealism or the School of Vijñânavâda Buddhism.145
15 Sautrântika theory of Perception..............................151
16 Sautrântika theory of Inference...............................155
17 The Doctrine of Momentariness.................................158
18 The Doctrine of Momentariness and the Doctrine of Causal
Efficiency (Arthakriyâkâritva)..................................163
19 Some Ontological Problems on which the Different Indian Systems
diverged........................................................164
20 Brief Survey of the Evolution of Buddhist Thought.............166
CHAPTER VI
THE JAINA PHILOSOPHY
1 The Origin of Jainism.........................................169
2 Two Sects of Jainism..........................................170
3 The Canonical and other Literature of the Jains...............171
4 Some General Characteristics of the Jains.....................172
5 Life of Mahâvîra..............................................173
6 The Fundamental Ideas of Jaina Ontology.......................173
7 The Doctrine of Relative Pluralism (Anekântavâda).............175
8 The Doctrine of Nâyas.........................................176
9 The Doctrine of Syâdvâda......................................179
10 Knowledge, its value for us...................................181
11 Theory of Perception..........................................183
12 Non-Perceptual knowledge......................................185
13 Knowledge as Revelation.......................................186
14 The Jîvas.....................................................188
15 Karma Theory..................................................190
16 Karma, Âsrava and Nirjarâ.....................................192
17 Pudgala.......................................................195
18 Dharma, Adharma, Âkâs'a.......................................197
19 Kâla and Samaya...............................................198
20 Jaina Cosmography.............................................199
21 Jaina Yoga....................................................199
22 Jaina Atheism.................................................203
23 Mok@sa (emancipation).........................................207
xv
CHAPTER VII
THE KAPILA AND THE PÂTAÑJALA SÂ@MKHYA (YOGA)
1 A Review......................................................208
2 The Germs of Sâ@mkhya in the Upani@sads.......................211
3 Sâ@mkhya and Yoga Literature..................................212
4 An Early School of Sâ@mkhya...................................213
5 Sâ@mkhya kârikâ, Sâ@mkhya sûtra, Vâcaspati Mis'ra and Vijñâna
Bhiksu..........................................................222
6 Yoga and Patañjali............................................226
7 The Sâ@mkhya and the Yoga doctrine of Soul or Purusa..........238
8 Thought and Matter............................................241
9 Feelings, the Ultimate Substances.............................242
10 The Gunas.....................................................243
11 Prak@@rti and its evolution...................................245
12 Pralaya and the disturbance of the Prak@rti Equilibrium.......247
13 Mahat and Ahamkâra............................................248
14 The Tanmâtras and the Paramâñus...............................251
15 Principle of Causation and Conservation of Energy.............254
16 Change as the formation of new collocations...................255
17 Causation as Satkâryavâda (the theory that the effect
potentially exists before it is generated by the movement
of the cause)...................................................257
18 Sâ@mkhya Atheism and Yoga Theism..............................258
19 Buddhi and Purusa.............................................259
20 The Cognitive Process and some characteristics of Citta.......261
21 Sorrow and its Dissolution....................................264
22 Citta.........................................................268
23 Yoga Purificatory Practices (Parikarma).......................270
24 The Yoga Meditation...........................................271
CHAPTER VIII
THE NYÂYA-VAISESIKA PHILOSOPHY
1 Criticism of Buddhism and Sâ@mkhya from the Nyâya standpoint...274
2 Nyâya and Vais'e@sika sûtras...................................276
3 Does Vais'e@sika represent an old school of Mîmâ@msâ?..........280
4 Philosophy in the Vais'e@sika sûtras...........................285
5 Philosophy in the Nyâya sûtras.................................294
6 Philosophy of Nyâya sûtras and Vais'e@sika sûtras..............301
7 The Vais'e@sika and Nyâya Literature...........................305
8 The main doctrine of the Nyâya-Vais'e@sika Philosophy..........310
9 The six Padârthas: Dravya, Gu@na, Karma, Sâmânya, Vis'e@sa,
Samavâya........................................................313
10 The Theory of Causation.......................................319
11 Dissolution (Pralaya) and Creation (S@r@s@ti).................323
12 Proof of the Existence of Is'vara.............................325
13 The Nyâya-Vais'e@sika Physics.................................326
14 The Origin of Knowledge (Pramâ@na)............................330
15 The four Pramâ@nas of Nyâya...................................332
16 Perception (Pratyak@sa).......................................333
17 Inference.....................................................343
18 Upamâna and S'abda............................................354
19 Negation in Nyâya-Vais'e@sika.................................355
20 The necessity of the Acquirement of debating devices for
the seeker of Salvation.........................................360
21 The Doctrine of Soul..........................................362
22 Îs'vara and Salvation.........................................363
xvi
CHAPTER IX
MÎMÂ@MSÂ PHILOSOPHY
1 A Comparative Review...........................................367
2 The Mîmâ@msâ Literature........................................369
3 The Parata@h-prâmâ@nya doctrine of Nyâya and the
Svata@h-prâmâ@nya doctrine of Mîmâ@msâ..........................372
4 The place of Sense-organs in Perception........................375
5 Indeterminate and Determinate Perception.......................378
6 Some Ontological Problems connected with the Doctrine of
Perception......................................................379
7 The Nature of Knowledge........................................382
8 The Psychology of Illusion.....................................384
9 Inference......................................................387
10 Upamâna, Arthâpatti...........................................391
11 S'abda-pramâ@na...............................................394
12 The Pramâ@na of Non-perception (anupalabdhi)..................397
13 Self, Salvation, and God......................................399
14 Mîmâ@msâ as Philosophy and Mimâ@msâ as Ritualism..............403
CHAPTER X
THE S'A@NKARA SCHOOL OF VEDÂNTA
1 Comprehension of the Philosophical Issues more essential than
the Dialectic of Controversy....................................406
2 The philosophical situation: a Review..........................408
3 Vedânta Literature.............................................418
4 Vedânta in Gau@dapâda..........................................420
5 Vedânta and Sa@nkara (788-820 A.D.)............................429
6 The main idea of the Vedânta philosophy........................439
7 In what sense is the world-appearance false?...................443
8 The nature of the world-appearance, phenomena..................445
9 The Definition of Ajñâna (nescience)...........................452
10 Ajñâna established by Perception and Inference................454
11 Locus and Object of Ajñâna, Aha@mkâra and Anta@hkara@na.......457
12 Anirvâcyavâda and the Vedânta dialectic.......................461
13 The Theory of Causation.......................................465
14 Vedânta theory of Perception and Inference....................470
15 Âtman, Jîva, Is'vara, Ekajîvavâda and D@r@s@tis@r@s@tivâda....474
16 Vedânta theory of Illusion....................................485
17 Vedânta Ethics and Vedânta Emancipation.......................489
18 Vedânta and other Indian systems..............................492
INDEX............................................................495
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
The achievements of the ancient Indians in the field of philosophy are
but very imperfectly known to the world at large, and it is unfortunate
that the condition is no better even in India. There is a small body
of Hindu scholars and ascetics living a retired life in solitude, who
are well acquainted with the subject, but they do not know English and
are not used to modern ways of thinking, and the idea that they ought
to write books in vernaculars in order to popularize the subject does
not appeal to them. Through the activity of various learned bodies and
private individuals both in Europe and in India large numbers of
philosophical works in Sanskrit and Pâli have been published, as well as
translations of a few of them, but there has been as yet little
systematic attempt on the part of scholars to study them and judge their
value. There are hundreds of Sanskrit works on most of the systems of
Indian thought and scarcely a hundredth part of them has been translated.
Indian modes of expression, entailing difficult technical philosophical
terms are so different from those of European thought, that they can
hardly ever be accurately translated. It is therefore very difficult
for a person unacquainted with Sanskrit to understand Indian philosophical
thought in its true bearing from translations. Pâli is a much easier
language than Sanskrit, but a knowledge of Pâli is helpful in
understanding only the earliest school of Buddhism, when it was in its
semi-philosophical stage. Sanskrit is generally regarded as a difficult
language. But no one from an acquaintance with Vedic or ordinary literary
Sanskrit can have any idea of the difficulty of the logical and abstruse
parts of Sanskrit philosophical literature. A man who can easily
understand the Vedas. the Upani@sads, the Purânas, the Law Books and
the literary works, and is also well acquainted with European
philosophical thought, may find it literally impossible to understand
even small portions of a work of advanced Indian logic, or the
dialectical Vedânta. This is due to two reasons, the use of
technical terms and of great condensation in expression, and
the hidden allusions to doctrines of other systems. The
2
tendency to conceiving philosophical problems in a clear and unambiguous
manner is an important feature of Sanskrit thought, but from the ninth
century onwards, the habit of using clear, definite, and precise
expressions, began to develop in a very striking manner, and as a result
of that a large number of technical terms began to be invented. These
terms are seldom properly explained, and it is presupposed that the reader
who wants to read the works should have a knowledge of them. Any one in
olden times who took to the study of any system of philosophy, had to do
so with a teacher, who explained those terms to him. The teacher himself
had got it from his teacher, and he from his. There was no tendency to
popularize philosophy, for the idea then prevalent was that only the
chosen few who had otherwise shown their fitness, deserved to become
fit students (_adhikârî_) of philosophy, under the direction of a
teacher. Only those who had the grit and high moral strength to devote
their whole life to the true understanding of philosophy and the
rebuilding of life in accordance with the high truths of philosophy
were allowed to study it.
Another difficulty which a beginner will meet is this, that sometimes
the same technical terms are used in extremely different senses in
different systems. The student must know the meaning of each technical
term with reference to the system in which it occurs, and no dictionary
will enlighten him much about the matter [Footnote ref 1]. He will have
to pick them up as he advances and finds them used. Allusions to the
doctrines of other systems and their refutations during the discussions
of similar doctrines in any particular system of thought are often very
puzzling even to a well-equipped reader; for he cannot be expected to
know all the doctrines of other systems without going through them, and
so it often becomes difficult to follow the series of answers and
refutations which are poured forth in the course of these discussions.
There are two important compendiums in Sanskrit giving a summary of some
of the principal systems of Indian thought, viz. the
_Sarvadars'anasa@mgraha_, and the _@Sa@ddars'anasamuccaya_ of
Haribhadra with the commentary of Gu@naratna; but the former is very
sketchy and can throw very little light on the understanding
of the ontological or epistemological doctrines of any of the
systems. It has been translated by Cowell and Gough, but I
____________________________________________________________________
[Footnote 1: Recently a very able Sanskrit dictionary of technical
philosophical terms called Nyâyakos'a has been prepared by M.M.
Bhîmâcârya Jhalkikar, Bombay, Govt. Press.]
3
am afraid the translation may not be found very intelligible.
Gu@naratna's commentary is excellent so far as Jainism is concerned,
and it sometimes gives interesting information about other systems,
and also supplies us with some short bibliographical notices, but it
seldom goes on to explain the epistemological or ontological doctrines
or discussions which are so necessary for the right understanding of any
of the advanced systems of Indian thought. Thus in the absence of a book
which could give us in brief the main epistemological, ontological, and
psychological positions of the Indian thinkers, it is difficult even for
a good Sanskrit scholar to follow the advanced philosophical literature,
even though he may be acquainted with many of the technical philosophical
terms. I have spoken enough about the difficulties of studying Indian
philosophy, but if once a person can get himself used to the technical
terms and the general positions of the different Indian thinkers and their
modes of expression, he can master the whole by patient toil. The
technical terms, which are a source of difficulty at the beginning, are
of inestimable value in helping us to understand the precise and definite
meaning of the writers who used them, and the chances of misinterpreting
or misunderstanding them are reduced to a minimum. It is I think
well-known that avoidance of technical terms has often rendered
philosophical works unduly verbose, and liable to misinterpretation.
The art of clear writing is indeed a rare virtue and every philosopher
cannot expect to have it. But when technical expressions are properly
formed, even a bad writer can make himself understood. In the early days
of Buddhist philosophy in the Pâli literature, this difficulty is greatly
felt. There are some technical terms here which are still very elastic and
their repetition in different places in more or less different senses
heighten the difficulty of understanding the real meaning intended to be
conveyed.
But is it necessary that a history of Indian philosophy should be
written? There are some people who think that the Indians never rose
beyond the stage of simple faith and that therefore they cannot have
any philosophy at all in the proper sense of the term. Thus Professor
Frank Thilly of the Cornell University says in his _History of Philosophy_
[Footnote ref 1], "A universal history of philosophy would include
the philosophies of all peoples. Not all peoples, however
__________________________________________________________________
[Footnote 1: New York, 1914, p. 3.]
4
have produced real systems of thought, and the speculations of only a
few can be said to have had a history. Many do not rise beyond the
mythological stage. Even the theories of Oriental peoples, the Hindus,
Egyptians, Chinese, consist, in the main, of mythological and ethical
doctrines, and are not thoroughgoing systems of thought: they are shot
through with poetry and faith. We shall, therefore, limit ourselves to
the study of the Western countries, and begin with the philosophy of the
ancient Greeks, on whose culture our own civilization in part, rests."
There are doubtless many other people who hold such uninformed and
untrue beliefs, which only show their ignorance of Indian matters.
It is not necessary to say anything in order to refute these views,
for what follows will I hope show the falsity of their beliefs. If
they are not satisfied, and want to know more definitely and elaborately
about the contents of the different systems, I am afraid they will have
to go to the originals referred to in the bibliographical notices of
the chapters.
There is another opinion, that the time has not yet come for an attempt
to write a history of Indian philosophy. Two different reasons are given
from two different points of view. It is said that the field of Indian
philosophy is so vast, and such a vast literature exists on each of the
systems, that it is not possible for anyone to collect his materials
directly from the original sources, before separate accounts are prepared
by specialists working in each of the particular systems. There is some
truth in this objection, but although in some of the important systems
the literature that exists is exceedingly vast, yet many of them are more
or less repetitions of the same subjects, and a judicious selection of
twenty or thirty important works on each of the systems could certainly
be made, which would give a fairly correct exposition. In my own
undertaking in this direction I have always drawn directly from the
original texts, and have always tried to collect my materials from those
sources in which they appear at their best. My space has been very limited
and I have chosen the features which appeared to me to be the most
important. I had to leave out many discussions of difficult problems
and diverse important bearings of each of the systems to many
interesting aspects of philosophy. This I hope may be excused
in a history of philosophy which does not aim at completeness.
There are indeed many defects and shortcomings, and
5
these would have been much less in the case of a writer abler than the
present one. At any rate it may be hoped that the imperfections of the
present attempt will be a stimulus to those whose better and more
competent efforts will supersede it. No attempt ought to be called
impossible on account of its imperfections.
In the second place it is said that the Indians had no proper and
accurate historical records and biographies and it is therefore impossible
to write a history of Indian philosophy. This objection is also partially
valid. But this defect does not affect us so much as one would at first
sight suppose; for, though the dates of the earlier beginnings are very
obscure, yet, in later times, we are in a position to affirm some dates
and to point out priority and posteriority in the case of other thinkers.
As most of the systems developed side by side through many centuries their
mutual relations also developed, and these could be well observed. The
special nature of this development has been touched on in the fourth
chapter. Most of the systems had very early beginnings and a continuous
course of development through the succeeding centuries, and it is not
possible to take the state of the philosophy of a particular system at
a particular time and contrast it with the state of that system at a
later time; for the later state did not supersede the previous state,
but only showed a more coherent form of it, which was generally true to
the original system but was more determinate. Evolution through history
has in Western countries often brought forth the development of more
coherent types of philosophic thought, but in India, though the types
remained the same, their development through history made them more and
more coherent and determinate. Most of the parts were probably existent
in the earlier stages, but they were in an undifferentiated state; through
the criticism and conflict of the different schools existing side by side
the parts of each of the systems of thought became more and more
differentiated, determinate, and coherent. In some cases this development
has been almost imperceptible, and in many cases the earlier forms have
been lost, or so inadequately expressed that nothing definite could be
made out of them. Wherever such a differentiation could be made
in the interests of philosophy, I have tried to do it. But I
have never considered it desirable that the philosophical interest
should be subordinated to the chronological. It is no
6
doubt true that more definite chronological information would be
a very desirable thing, yet I am of opinion that the little
chronological data we have give us a fair amount of help in forming
a general notion about the growth and development of the different
systems by mutual association and conflict. If the condition of the
development of philosophy in India had been the same as in Europe,
definite chronological knowledge would be considered much more
indispensable. For, when one system supersedes another, it is
indispensably necessary that we should know which preceded and which
succeeded. But when the systems are developing side by side, and when
we are getting them in their richer and better forms, the interest with
regard to the conditions, nature and environment of their early origin
has rather a historical than a philosophical interest. I have tried as
best I could to form certain general notions as regards the earlier
stages of some of the systems, but though the various features of
these systems at these stages in detail may not be ascertainable,
yet this, I think, could never be considered as invalidating the
whole programme. Moreover, even if we knew definitely the correct dates
of the thinkers of the same system we could not treat them separately,
as is done in European philosophy, without unnecessarily repeating the
same thing twenty times over; for they all dealt with the same system,
and tried to bring out the same type of thought in more and more
determinate forms.
The earliest literature of India is the Vedas. These consist mostly of
hymns in praise of nature gods, such as fire, wind, etc. Excepting in
some of the hymns of the later parts of the work (probably about 1000
B.C.), there is not much philosophy in them in our sense of the term.
It is here that we first find intensely interesting philosophical
questions of a more or less cosmological character expressed in terms
of poetry and imagination. In the later Vedic works called the
Brâhmaf@nas and the Âra@nyakas written mostly in prose, which followed
the Vedic hymns, there are two tendencies, viz. one that sought to
establish the magical forms of ritualistic worship, and the other which
indulged in speculative thinking through crude generalizations. This
latter tendency was indeed much feebler than the former, and it might
appear that the ritualistic tendency had actually swallowed up what
little of philosophy the later parts of the Vedic hymns were trying
to express, but there are unmistakable marks that this tendency
7
existed and worked. Next to this come certain treatises written in prose
and verse called the Upani@sads, which contain various sorts of
philosophical thoughts mostly monistic or singularistic but also some
pluralistic and dualistic ones. These are not reasoned statements, but
utterances of truths intuitively perceived or felt as unquestionably real
and indubitable, and carrying great force, vigour, and persuasiveness with
them. It is very probable that many of the earliest parts of this
literature are as old as 500 B.C. to 700 B.C. Buddhist philosophy began
with the Buddha from some time about 500 B.C. There is reason to believe
that Buddhist philosophy continued to develop in India in one or other of
its vigorous forms till some time about the tenth or eleventh century A.D.
The earliest beginnings of the other Indian systems of thought are also to
be sought chiefly between the age of the Buddha to about 200 B.C. Jaina
philosophy was probably prior to the Buddha. But except in its earlier
days, when it came in conflict with the doctrines of the Buddha, it
does not seem to me that the Jaina thought came much in contact with
other systems of Hindu thought. Excepting in some forms of Vai@s@nava
thought in later times, Jaina thought is seldom alluded to by the Hindu
writers or later Buddhists, though some Jains like Haribhadra and
Gu@naratna tried to refute the Hindu and Buddhist systems. The
non-aggressive nature of their religion and ideal may to a certain
extent explain it, but there may be other reasons too which it is
difficult for us to guess. It is interesting to note that, though there
have been some dissensions amongst the Jains about dogmas and creeds,
Jaina philosophy has not split into many schools of thought more or less
differing from one another as Buddhist thought did.
The first volume of this work will contain Buddhist and Jaina philosophy
and the six systems of Hindu thought. These six systems of orthodox
Hindu thought are the Sâ@mkhya, the Yoga, the Nyâya, the Vais'e@sika,
the Mimâ@msâ (generally known as Pûrva Mimâ@msâ), and the Vedânta (known
also as Uttara Mimâ@msâ). Of these what is differently known as Sâ@mkhya
and Yoga are but different schools of one system. The Vais'e@sika and
the Nyâya in later times became so mixed up that, though in early times
the similarity of the former with Mimâ@msâ was greater than that
with Nyâya, they came to be regarded as fundamentally almost the
same systems. Nyâya and Vais'e@sika have therefore been treated
8
together. In addition to these systems some theistic systems began
to grow prominent from the ninth century A.D. They also probably
had their early beginnings at the time of the Upani@sads. But at
that time their interest was probably concentrated on problems
of morality and religion. It is not improbable that these were
associated with certain metaphysical theories also, but no works
treating them in a systematic way are now available. One of their most
important early works is the _Bhagavadgâtâ_. This book is rightly
regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of Hindu thought. It is
written in verse, and deals with moral, religious, and metaphysical
problems, in a loose form. It is its lack of system and method which
gives it its peculiar charm more akin to the poetry of the Upani@sads
than to the dialectical and systematic Hindu thought. From the ninth
century onwards attempts were made to supplement these loose theistic
ideas which were floating about and forming integral parts of religious
creeds, by metaphysical theories. Theism is often dualistic and
pluralistic, and so are all these systems, which are known as different
schools of Vai@s@nava philosophy. Most of the Vai@s@nava thinkers wished
to show that their systems were taught in the Upani@sads, and thus
wrote commentaries thereon to prove their interpretations, and also wrote
commentaries on the _Brahmasûtra_, the classical exposition of the
philosophy of the Upani@sads. In addition to the works of these Vai@s@nava
thinkers there sprang up another class of theistic works which were of a
more eclectic nature. These also had their beginnings in periods as old
as the Upani@sads. They are known as the S'aiva and Tantra thought, and are
dealt with in the second volume of this work.
We thus see that the earliest beginnings of most systems of Hindu thought
can be traced to some time between 600 B.C. to 100 or 200 B.C. It is
extremely difficult to say anything about the relative priority of the
systems with any degree of certainty. Some conjectural attempts have
been made in this work with regard to some of the systems, but how far
they are correct, it will be for our readers to judge. Moreover during
the earliest manifestation of a system some crude outlines only are
traceable. As time went on the systems of thought began to develop
side by side. Most of them were taught from the time in which they
were first conceived to about the seventeenth century A.D. in an
unbroken chain of teachers and pupils. Even now each system of
Hindu thought has its own adherents, though few people now
9
care to write any new works upon them. In the history of the growth of
any system of Hindu thought we find that as time went on, and as new
problems were suggested, each system tried to answer them consistently
with its own doctrines. The order in which we have taken the
philosophical systems could not be strictly a chronological one. Thus
though it is possible that the earliest speculations of some form of
Sâ@mkhya, Yoga, and Mîmâ@msâ were prior to Buddhism yet they have been
treated after Buddhism and Jainism, because the elaborate works of these
systems which we now possess are later than Buddhism. In my opinion the
Vais'e@sika system is also probably pre-Buddhistic, but it has been
treated later, partly on account of its association with Nyâya, and
partly on account of the fact that all its commentaries are of a much
later date. It seems to me almost certain that enormous quantities of
old philosophical literature have been lost, which if found could have
been of use to us in showing the stages of the early growth of the systems
and their mutual relations. But as they are not available we have to be
satisfied with what remains. The original sources from which I have drawn
my materials have all been indicated in the brief accounts of the
literature of each system which I have put in before beginning the study
of any particular system of thought.
In my interpretations I have always tried to follow the original sources
as accurately as I could. This has sometimes led to old and unfamiliar
modes of expression, but this course seemed to me to be preferable to
the adoption of European modes of thought for the expression of Indian
ideas. But even in spite of this striking similarities to many of the
modern philosophical doctrines and ideas will doubtless be noticed.
This only proves that the human mind follows more or less the same modes
of rational thought. I have never tried to compare any phase of Indian
thought with European, for this is beyond the scope of my present
attempt, but if I may be allowed to express my own conviction, I might
say that many of the philosophical doctrines of European philosophy are
essentially the same as those found in Indian philosophy. The main
difference is often the difference of the point of view from which the
same problems appeared in such a variety of forms in the two countries.
My own view with regard to the net value of Indian philosophical
development will be expressed in the concluding chapter of the second
volume of the present work.
10