An Introduction to Indian Philosophy: Perspectives on Reality, Knowledge, and Freedom

497 Pages·2021·5.51 MB·English

by  Bina Gupta

AN INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN
PHILOSOPHY
An Introduction to Indian Philosophy offers a profound yet accessible survey of the
development of India’s philosophical tradition. Beginning with the formation of
B rāhmaṇical, Jaina, Materialist, and Buddhist traditions, Bina Gupta guides the
reader through the classical schools of Indian thought, culminating in a look at how
these traditions inform Indian philosophy and society in modern times. Offering
translations from source texts and clear explanations of philosophical terms, this
text provides a rigorous overview of Indian philosophical contributions to episte-
mology, metaphysics, philosophy of language, and ethics. This is a must-read for
anyone seeking a reliable and illuminating introduction to Indian philosophy.
Key Updates in the Second Edition
• Reorganized into seven parts and sixteen chapters, making it easier for in-
structors to assign chapters for a semester-long course.
• Continues to introduce systems historically but focuses on new key questions
and issues within each system.
• Details new arguments, counter-arguments, objections, and their reformula-
tions in the nine schools of Indian philosophy.
• Offers expanded discussion of how various schools of Indian philosophy are
engaged with each other.
• Highlights key concepts and adds new grey boxes to explain selected key
concepts.
• Includes a new section that problematizes the Western notion of “philosophy.”
• New Suggested Readings sections are placed at the end of each chapter, which
include recommended translations, a bibliography of important works, and
pertinent recent scholarship for each school.
• Adds a new part (Part III) that explains the diffculties involved in translating
from Sanskrit to English, discusses the fundamental concepts and conceptual
distinctions often used to present Indian philosophy to Western students, and
reviews important features and maxims that most darśanas follow.
• Provides new examples of applications to illustrate more obscure concepts
and principles.
Bina Gupta is Curators’ Research Professor Emerita at the University of
Missouri-C olumbia and Affliated Faculty, South Asian Studies, University of
Pennsylvania.

AN INTRODUCTION TO
INDIAN PHILOSOPHY
Perspectives on Reality, Knowledge, and
Freedom
SECOND EDITION
Bina Gupta
Second edition published 2021
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Taylor & Francis
The right of Bina Gupta to be identifed as author of this work has
been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
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or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge (2012)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-36308-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-35899-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-34521-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Baskerville
by codeMantra
To
Claudio, the light of our daughter’s life and whom
Madan and I cherish as our “son,”
Sonya, Dylan, Avi (my three grandchildren)
who make all worthwhile,
Swati (daughter) and Madan (husband)
my anchors, my orbit, and for being the voices
of sanity in my life

CONTENTS
Preface ix
List of Abbreviations xvii
PART I
Introduction 1
1 Introduction 3
PART II
The Foundations 25
2 The Beginnings of Indian Philosophy: The Vedas 27
3 The Upaniṣads 41
PART III
Darśanas: Preliminary Considerations 57
4 Darśanas: Preliminary Considerations 59
PART IV
Non-Vedic Darśanas 75
5 Indian Materialism: The Lokāyata/Cārvāka Darśana
and  the Śramaṇas 77
6 The Jaina Darśana 91
7 The Bauddha Darśana 106
vii
CONTENTS
PART V
The Ancient Darśanas 135
8 The Mīmāṃsā Darśana 137
9 The Sāṁkhya Darśana 157
10 The Yoga Darśana 176
11 The Vaiśeṣika Darśana 191
12 The Nyāya Darśana 209
PART VI
Systems with Global Impact 237
13 The Buddhist Schools 239
14 The Vedānta Darśana 269
PART VII
The Bhagavad Gītā 319
15 The Bhagavad Gītā 321
PART VIII
Modern Indian Thought 345
16 Modern Indian Thought 347
PART IX
Translations of Selected Texts 367
Appendix A: The Foundations 368
Appendix B: The Non-Vedic Systems 380
Appendix C: Ancient Systems 393
Appendix D: Systems with Global Impact 415
Glossary of Important Sanskrit Words 427
Notes 436
Selected Bibliography 462
Index 467
viii
PREFACE
This is the book I always wanted to write; however, I postponed writing it for
almost four decades. One may ask: Why?
In the early seventies, as a young assistant professor, I was completely taken
aback by two persistent misconceptions.
1 I became painfully aware of the marginalization of Indian philosophy in
philosophy departments at American universities, of the prevalent deep-
seated prejudice that Indian philosophy lacks theoretical rigor, that it is
theology at its best, and, at the other end, it is motivated by practical
concerns rather than being directed toward the disinterested search for a
theory that characterizes Western philosophy.
2 To make the matters worse, I was told in many ways that most good
philosophers are men and that women couldn’t be good philosophers. It
was triple jeopardy for me; a woman, a minority with a dark complexion,
and working in an area which allegedly is not a legitimate philosophical
enterprise. The issues became: How can a woman philosopher living in
the United States do Indian philosophy, and how can an Indian woman
do philosophy per se?
I will begin with the frst misconception. I realized that if I wish to thrive in a
PhD granting philosophy department in the United States, writing an Indian
philosophy textbook is not a viable option.
In response to the above challenge, I decided to focus on Advaita Vedānta,
one of the nine schools of Indian philosophy. This entailed for me several
things: First, I must re-read the original Sanskrit texts of the great Vedānta
teachers, especially of Śaṃkara, along with the most important commentaries
on them; secondly, I must use all the tools of philosophy, whether Eastern or
Western, to interpret their theses and supporting arguments; and thirdly, I
must interpret Vedānta in light of textual exegesis. In order to be able to enter
into the traditional Vedāntic schools, I studied Sanskrit texts under traditional
pandits (classical scholars) in India. Thus, I worked hard toward equipping
myself with Sanskrit-based Vedānta scholarship, along with the Western phe-
nomenological, logical, and analytical methodologies.
ix