A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume IThe 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. |
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... him; from his navel came the atmosphere; from his head arose the sky; from his feet came the earth; from his ear the four quarters. Again there are other hymns in which the Sun is called the soul (âtman) of all that is movable and.
Surendranath Dasgupta. called the soul (âtman) of all that is movable and all that is immovable [Footnote ref 6]. There are also statements to the effect that the Being is one, though it is called by many names by the sages [Footnote ref ...
... Âtman. There seems to be a belief in the Vedas that the soul could be separated from the body in states of swoon, and that it could exist after death, though we do not find there any trace of the doctrine of transmigration in a ...
... âtman is called omnipresent, and it is said that he who knows him is no more stained by evil deeds. Thus we find that in the preUpanisad Vedic literature âtman probably was first used to denote "vital breath" in man, then the self of ...
... Âtman Upanisad, Pras'na Upanisad, etc. There were however some exceptions such as the Mândûkya, Jâbâla, Paingala, S'aunaka, etc.] systems in astronomy. The direct translation of Vis'vakarman or Hiranyagarbha into the âtman and the ...
Contents
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Section 9 | |
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Section 31 | |
Section 32 | |
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Section 43 | |
Other editions - View all
A History of Indian Philosophy, Vol. 2 (Classic Reprint) Surendranath Dasgupta No preview available - 2016 |