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From the Jacket:

This is an original work by an eminent teacher of Philosophy and Religion who can present the best results of Indian and Western scholarship and evaluate them in the light of unbiased insight.

The chapters on comparison of Bengal Vaisnavism with Christianity and Existentialism are highly stimulating.

The book is indispensable to those advanced students of oriental philosophy and religion who are devoted to research work, since no knowledge of oriental philosophy and religion will be complete without a clear understanding of Vedanta and the different types of Vaisnavism.

Philosophy and religion were never kept apart from each other in Indian philosophical tradition. The Vedas, the Upanisads and the Bhagavadgita provide a strong and unshakable philosophical foundation to Hinduism. In the present book, Dr. Misra has made a reinterpretation of the religious and philosophical thought of these sacred and immortal works. It has been found necessary in order to dispel the misinterpretation of Hinduism and meet the challenges that confront it today at the ideological and practical levels. The concepts of the Absolute, Brahman, of man and the world, the destiny of man and other fundamental issues have been discussed with great clarity, thoroughness and depth. The author has brought into clear focus the unique features of Hinduism and its intellectual depth and spiritual grandeur. A distinguishing feature of the present work is that the fundamental ideas of Hinduism have been compared with that of other religions, specially, Christianity and with the great idealistic tradition of the West. The author has also made a critical analysis and evaluation of some current ideas of contemporary Western thought. The present work provides ample evidence of the author's conceptual ability, originality and intellectual integrity. Printed Pages: 646.

Specification:

• Publisher : Indica Books
• By : R. Torella 
• Cover : Paperback
• Edition : 1 December 2011
• Pages : 267
• Weight : 500 g.
• Size : 21.6 x 14.2 x 2.3 cm
• Language : English
• ISBN-10 : 8186569960
• ISBN-13 : 978-8186569962
• Product Code : BK14263

Description:

India’s progressive emergence on the world stage, in terms unimaginable just a few decades ago, obliges us to reconsider its image as nurtured by the West for over two thousand years: a prestigious image maybe, but also greatly reductive, as the privileged home of occult knowledge, ecstasy and asceticism, or — quite the opposite — of fabulous riches and voluptuous pleasures. Rather than getting to know India, the West has preferred to dream of it: one result has been that Indian thought, albeit unanimously celebrated as the seat of the highest wisdom, has not been granted even the smallest place on the great stage of the history of philosophy.
This book presents the thought of pre-modern India first and foremost by outlining the cultural parameters within which it arose and developed, and should be read; often associated with religious experience, but also essentially independent of it; sometimes differing in form and outcome, but more often very close to Western thought, and certainly never “alien”.
“This is a marvellous piece of compact insight in all respects: a summary as well as a fresh view of the whole area, always sound and based on first hand experience with the material. I really mean it when I would like to call it the best modern survey of our field at an extraordinary high level of penetration.”
—Prof. Ernst Steinkellner, University of Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences

About Author:

Raffaele Torella is professor of Sanskrit at University of Rome “Sapienza”, where he has also taught for long Indian Philosophy and Religion, and Indology. His preferred fields of research are Kashmir Shaivism, linguistic speculation, Buddhist epistemology and manuscriptology. Among his main publications, there is the first critical edition and annotated English translation of Utpaladeva’s Ishvarapratyabhijna-karika and Vritti, the fundamental theoretical work of Pratyabhijna philosophy and of Hindu Tantrism as a whole (MLBD, Delhi 2002); the Italian translation of the Shivasutra with Kshemaraja’s commentary (Milan 1999); Eros and Emotions in India and Tibet (Einaudi, Turin 2007; in Italian). He has been the scientific responsible and co-author of the section “Science in India” in the multivolume work History of Science (Rome 2002; in Italian). Along with Bettina Bäumer, he has recently organized the first International Workshop on Utpaladeva at Indian Institute for Advanced study in Shimla (2010).

A monumental work, Philosophies of India is divided into three main sections: The Highest Good, a discussion of Eastern and Western thought and their meeting, and of the foundations of Indian Philosophy; The Philosophies of Time, being the philosophies of success, of pleasure, and of duty; finally The Philosophies of Eternity, this forms the major portion of the work, explaining Jainism, Sankhya and Yoga, Brahmanism, Buddhism and Tantra.

Review:

"We of the Occident are about to arrive at a crossroads that was reached by the thinkers of India some seven hundred years before Christ. This is the real reason why we become both vexed and stimulated, uneasy yet interested, when confronted with the con

SPECIFICATION:

• Publisher : Motilal Banarsidass
• By : Herbert V. Guenther
• Cover : Paperback
• Language : English
• Edition : 2011
• Pages : 270
• Weight : 550 gm.
• Size : 5.8 x 1 x 8.8 inches
• ISBN-10: 8120807731
• ISBN-13: 978-8120807730

DESCRIPTION:

The study of the Abhidharma is indispensable for understanding the history of Buddhist philosophy and practice. This book gives a synoptic view of the significance of the Abhidharma as presented by the Theravadins and brought to its climax by the Vaibhasikas and Yogacara-Vijnanavadins. It analyzes the concepts of Mind and its States with reference to healthy and unhealthy attitudes towards life and deals with the psychological factors and problems in Meditation which is geared to an individual's capacity and temperament.

Theories of perception, a predominant feature of Indian and Buddhist philosophies, are discussed together with the interpretation of the world on the basis of these theories as well as their critiques.

The discussion of the Path as conceived by the various schools concludes this survey of the Abhidharma. Of particular significance are the accompanying tables of the structure of mind in Buddhist philosophy.

SPECIFICATION:

• Publisher : Jaico Publishing House
• By :M.V. Kamath (Author)
• Binding : Paperback
• Language : English
• Edition : 1993
• Pages : 352 pages
• Size : 20 x 14 x 4 cm
  
• ISBN-13: 978-8172241759
  

DESCRIPTION:

This fascinating book of M.V. Kamath helps to answer the most crucial question of existence "What is the meaning of death"? Drawing from the wisdom of major religions and cultures of the East and West, he presents a clear, highly, informative study on the experience of Life and Death. Included are the thoughts and reflections of 55 famous men and women during their experience of dying, who tells us what we ought to know or intuite, that those who are well integrated die bravely, calmly and at peace with themselves. To mention a few names like Socrates, Madame Curie, Queen Elizabeth, Swami Vivekananda -these are people whose deaths tell us how to die.

From The Jacket

This book is about numbers and so many questions relating to them. What is the nature of numbers are they discovered or invented? What is mystical about them? Mathematicians develop a hierarchy of numbers in which mysterious dichotomies appear. For example, the integer 5 is not the same as the rational 5 which in turn is different from the real 5. The author explains how this conceptual maze does not affect the laypersons' arithmetic. He also discusses such fascinating topics as primes, perfect numbers, inaccessible numbers and many other unsolved problems relating to the treacherous terrain of infinity, which have baffled mathematicians and philosophers alike.

Jayant Burde has academic/professional qualifications in mathematics, physics, haw and banking. His published papers contain mathematical models in finance and organizational structure. He is also the author of the book Rituals, Mantras and Science.

Sri Madhavacarya (1238-1317) was the historical founder of the Dvaita system, which is one of
the three principal schools of Vedanta. He was a native of Tulunadu in Karnataka. Pajakaksetra,
eight miles south-east of the modern town of Udipi, on the West coast of S. India, was the village of his birth. He lived seventynine years.

He appeared on the Indian philosohical scene after the systems of Sankara and Ramanuja had been well established. The reasons which led him to propound a new system of Vedanta were his doctrinal differences and ideological dissatisfaction with contemporary trends and schools of thought within and without Hinduism and particularly with the system of Sankara which was the dominant philosophy of the time. In spite of the Theistic revolt against Sankara led by Ramanuja, Madhva could not agree with him on many points of Theistic doctrine. So he felt called
upon to give a new lead in thought to his countrymen.

Madhavaís writings are characterized by extreme brevity of expression and compression of thought. They need the help of a very good commentary to be understood in their fulness of thought and depth of meaning and intention. His commentator Jayatirtha has infused into them the necessary amplitude of utterance and expansiveness of thought and wealth of details.

This book is to give a complete, copious, critical and comparative exposition of Sri Madhavacarya's system of philosophy, bringing out its logical strength and metaphysical consistency and satisfyingness. It is intended to be an organic presentation of the system in all its essential aspects. It differs from all the other works in the field, including Dasgupta's, in showing how the concepts and categories of Madhava's philosophical thought have been conceived and formulated and have been put into a coherent system and in what relation they stand to those of other allied and rival systems. It brings out the special significance and interconnections of Madhava's doctrines and the architectonic unity of his system in relation to its parts. The reader is enabled to see for himself and appreciate the precise value and significance of some of Madhava's distinctive contributions to the perennial problems of religion and philosophy-particularly 'Indian Philosophy', for doctrine of Saksi, Svatantra, Visesa, Savisesabheda and Creation as Paradhinavisesapti.

Not only is such a systematic and critical exposition of Madhavaís philosophical system called for, but it has long been overdue. Metaphysically, it embodies the most powerful and sustained refutation of Vedantic monism. It has produced front-rank thinkers like Madhava, Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha. It has an extensive philosophical literature of rare philosophical penetration, in Sanskrit. It has become the living faith of a large section of the people living in present-day India.

The volume is a good presentation of the philosophy of Sri Madhvacarya, complete in its architectonic unity. The author probes its ontological and epistemological foundations, and critcally examines the structure erected on them. The discussion focuses on crucial doctrines of theism, and brings to light for the first time the striking parallelisms of thought between Madhva and his Western contemporary St. Thomas Aquinas. Light is also thrown on how Madhva and his commentators anticipated the views of modern philosophers like Spencer, Russell and Hobhouse on the nature of time, space and memory. The latest researches on Madhvacarya's role in the Vedantic Bhakti movement and his attempt to harmonize the Upanisadic texts on monism and dualism are substantially drawn upon.

SPECIFICATION:

• Publisher : Theosophical Publishing House Adyar, Chennai
• By : T. Subba Row
• Cover : Paperback
• Language : English
• Edition : 2007
• Pages : 180
• Weight : 214 gm.
• Size : 18.0 x 12.3 x 1.5
• ISBN-10: 8170592437
• ISBN-13: 978-8170592433

DESCRIPTION:

The Bhagavad-gita, as it at present stands, is essentially practical in its character and teachings, but these teachings will not be understood unless their philosophical basis is constantly kept in view. The Bhagavad-gita presupposes certain premises which are not explained at length; they are simply alluded to . Here Subba Row presents an original explanation of the underlying philosophy of the Gita.