What is Living and What is Dead in Indian Philosophy

671 Pages·1993·46.28 MB·English

by  Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya

, What Is Living
and
What Is Dead
•
ID
INDIAN
PHILOSOPHY
Debip.rasad
Ch~_ttopadhyaya
WhaItsL ivianngdW haItsD ead
in
IndiPhainl osophy
DEBIPRACSHAADTI OPADHYAYA
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New
To
Dr
G. Adhikari
scientainstfd i ghtfeorr w urkingc lass
"them ore ruthlessalnyd disinterestedly
sciencper oceedst hem orei tf indist self
·i nh armonwyi tht hei ntereasntdsa spira­
tionosf t hew orker..s..:.F".....
ENGELS.

PREFACE
Thisb ooki si ntendteodb ea,n a nalysoifso urp hilosophical
traditfiroonm t hes tandpooifno tu rp resenpth ilosophical
requiremenTthse.s er equirementusn,d erstohoedr ea,r e
ai
secularisrma,t ionalainsdms cience,-orientIant itohne.
generaflu ndo'f t raditioInnadli a.np hilosop_hiyd,e aasn d
attitsu gdoeing ag.atihnesstae r ea ctordingly vasi etwheed
deawde ighotf t h.ep ast-wantitnogf rustraotuer p resent
progresass,t heyh.i storiycd aildli h. ancieanntd m edieval
.IndiIan.t hes ameg eneral fiudneda,as n da ttituadtel se ast
with thepo tentiaolfss ecularism, rat.iaonnsdac liiesnmc e­
orientatairoevn i eweads h aving lisviignngi ficfaonrcu es ,
thougiht i sf eltth atw e canr ightliyn hertihte mi ns of ar
asw e cane nricthh emw ithc ontemporary knowledge and
experience.
Int hesaen xioudsa yst hroug'v'{hh ichw _ea rep assinagn,
analysoifst heI ndiapnh ilosophtircaadli tiisom nu chm ore
thana m atteorf a ntiquarciuarni osiWtiyt.h ouitt w1e are
likhee lplepsasw nsi nt heg rimp olitigcaamle n ow going
oni nwh icht hef ormetry peo fi deaasn da ttituidseb se ing
.f reeluys edb y thef orceosfr awr eaction�woirtwi ht hout
thep atronaogfet hen eocolonialistasl-wb.uatyw si tha
showo fp atriostaincc tiPoeno.p laer eu rgedt ob elietvhea t
thesree presetnhte q uintesseonfcl en diaw·ins dom.
Thisis a mythan di tha st ob ee xposeTdh.e o nlyw ayo f
exposing. am ythi st ot urnt of·a ctTsh.e facsto ughtto h\e
speciaelmlpyh asishede rei ss implOeu.r . ancestors_:during
theilro ngq uestf ort ruth-did not beuqsu emaetrhe ly
,' witdhe ceiatnsd f alslee ads.s ectioofno urp hiloseorpsh
A
might h'Wavoer kedi nd efence obscurtainsm,i rrational­
"Of.
isma nds cript'Ure-mongcearsikhn agt redB.u tt herwee re
also� thersst ruggliinng o\vn way againtshte s ame
_their
Livinagn dD eadi nl n.dPihainl osophy
viii
ideologifcoarlc etsh,o uguhn derlirili tations historically;
inevitafbolrte h emI.f i ti sw rongt oo veremphatshiseei r
contributainoynt se,n dentcoyu nderpltaheym isa lsaon
error-anwdh,a t worse,a dangeroeursr oirn t hep·r e.;.
is
sentc QrttextI.n t hec oursoef t heisrt rugglae&a instw hat
we aret ryintgof ightto daya, s ectioofno urt raditional
philososp dhiedrl eavfeo ru sh ighlpyr ecio.ussu ggestions
whichw e may asw elln ouristho dawyi thf ulsla nction
ofo urn ationparli deT.h eu nderstandionfgt heI ndian· ­
phllosophtircaadli tiisoi nn n eedo fd egeneralisiatt ion:
iso ftenne cessatrody i fferenbteitawteee wnh ati sl iving
andw hat dead eveni nt hes amep hilosophviiceawl.
is
Inv iewo ft hev astneansds compleXiotfoy u rp hil<>so­
phicatlr adition-ianvn ide wm oreoveorft hea ctivien·-
. .
·t erventiinop nh ilosop·hmiactatle brys f orcenso ts trictly
philosophicreatlr--iao spectainvael ysoifsi t somet}ting
is
moret hane asea nd· comfosrutg gesTthse:r ei sm oreover
long-drapwrno paganidnma e dievIanld iai:d eafsa vour­
a
ed by ourl aw.:.givaerress .a idto haved irecstc riptural
sanctiTohne.c ritiascsaels smeonftt heisro cial function
. ..
thuse ntaial rsi skpe:o ples hakesnu ddenflryo m:f amiliar
i_demaasy_ t eeuln comfortaibfnl oet,a larmeTdo. r ef
, . use
·t of ac;et hriiss hko,w ever,t oe vdaes ociarle sponsi.b ility
is
.A w.are� fm y personalli mitatiIo hnasv,eh opetdo p re­
parea t··be sta .draffotr d iscussIifos no.m ed U;cussion
is
/· a1c.� t.allpyr ovok,eb dy theb ookt,h at . wboeu tlhde· best
�
" ,raerdf ort liel �boura tti tentailed. '
' · '
bbjectidveimtanyd s· thaIt m.e ntioinn t hics9 nnection
-·· �
my indebtednpeasrtsi cUrlly tot hosew ithouwth ose
·
r,tctivhee lpi tw ouldh a':"epe,e ni mpossibfloerm e to. work
ont hiboso k.B utt hiissa poinotn .��hIih cahv et heg r.eat­
csth esitatpiaornt,i cularly bientc rayuisntego be explicit
abouitt I .may assocmiya-otwen shortcomwiintghso thers,
.i nclusivoef v ery.e minenpetr sonsT.n us,· thougIh a m
·
anxioust o mentionm yt ·hpaetr sogntaalt i�ttuOdP rofes­
sorW alteRru beni sm uchm oret hanm y limit�d vocabu­
larayl lowinse toe xprefsusl lIya ,m muchm orea nx\otuos
\· I '
'Prt:face tx
emphasisteh atth e.e·.r ro.ri snt hibso oka reo nly� vidences
ofho w.i nadequathealvye . ablteo u set heg uidance
I been
haveb eerfreicveinfgr.o m fort hel assto m any
1 h•m years.
I am alsmou chi ndebtteotd w oo f colleagauberso ad�
my
N.P .An ikeevo ft heI n&titouftP eh ilosopAhcya,d emy
.D .f
SciencUeSsS,R ,an d ProfesDsaolre R iepoef t heS tate
o:f
UniversoiftN ye w Yorka tB uffal�witwhh om .am
I
unitebdy t heb asipcu rpoosfer .econstrtuhcemt iantge rial­
istica nds cienttirfaidci toifoI nn diatnh oughTth.e t hree
haveb eenw aitifnogr s omeo pportuntiot'm ya kea
O�·US
collecptoiovolef o urr esourancdew so rko na comprehen­
/
sivsetudy thet raditoifos nc ienacned m aterialiins m
in
ancienItn diIad ;o .hopes ucha no pportunwiitlmyla tu{e
in
thef uture.
Fort hep urposofep lannitnhgi bso oka ndf ors ustaining
thew orko ni tI-a ,m mosti ndebtteomd y frieMnodh iSte n,
whoh asb eenl ong insiosnt ai bnogo kl ikteh ifso rb eing
used ouri deologsitcraulg gtloed ayA.s fora ctually
in
workinigt o ut,I hadt o depenodn my youngf riend
MrinalkaGnatnig opadahyyao ft heV isv.abhUarnait­i
Dr
versiwhtoyh .a sa lwayhse lpemde withS anskrtietx btes­
yondm y ownd eptFho.r t heT ibetsaon urcIe si,n debted
am
.t oL amaC himpao ft heV isvabhaUrntii versanidth yi s
studeAnlta kam,y wifeA.w areo f my limit,atiino ns
writiEnngg lisIhh ,a dt od umpm y manuscroinp atn other
dearf rienodfm ineM,. B.R ao,w ho hadt op asst.h rough
agonisimnogn thbsr ushiunpg m y languagIens. of ar
as
booki sr eadab.laeat l li,ti sm oret hew orko fM .B .Rao
the
thanm ineT.h e Indexi sp reparebdy SarvanGia ngo­
padhyaayna dt hem anuscriisps·te ent hrougthh ep ress by
SubodRho y:b otho ft hema. ret ood eart om e tob ec ere­
monious·ltyh �ekd.
As fort heE nglisvhe rsioonfst he' lonSga nskraintd
Palpias sages,h aveo n thew holed ependoend T hibaut
I
forV edanta-bhaSstycah,e rbaatnsdkR yh ysD avidfso·rt he
Buddhi·tsetx tRs. H umef ort he UpanisaadnsdM .G ango­
padhyayfao rw orkso n theN yaya-Vaisesika.
.•
x LirianngdD eaidn I ndiPahni losophy
Diacritical fmoarIr nkdsi awno rdsa rea voideidn the
bq.dy theb ookB.u t allI ndiawno rdso ccurriinngt he
of
texta rei ncludiendt heI ndewxh ered iacritmiacrakls a re
givetn oi ndicatthee iprh onetviacl ue.
I convemyy thanktso t heI ndiaCno unciolf H istorical
Resear.c hN,ew Delhiw,h osef ellowshhiepl pedm e
to
1akeu p thep roje.catn cdo mpletteh ivso lume.
Calcutta,
DEBIPRACSHAADTT OPADHYAYA
March
31 1976
CONTENTS
Preface vii
PartI
METHODOLOGY
ChapteIr. BasiCco ntradicitniI onnd iaPnh ilosop1h-y1 9
IndiaPnh ilosophiMcaatle rial 1
1.
2.T raditioMneatlh odology 3·
3.T heM ethoind Practice. 8
4. HistoricitByo thT hesiasn dA ntithesis9
of
5.T heB asiCco ntdriactio'n 10
6.I dealiasnmdi tAsn tithesis 11
7.S ectariCaonnt roversies 16
8. OtherC ontroversies 17
9.S ummingu p 19
PartI I
IDEALISM
Chapter IndiaInd ealisDme:s criptDiavtea 20-45
2.
1.T heU parusads.
20
Mahayana 21
2. Buddhism
3. MadhyamakPah ilosopohry 23
Sunya-vada
YogacarPah iJosyo pohr Vij a ad 27
4. nan -v a
5.O riginV ijnaria-vada. 32
of
6.F urtheDre velopmeonft and
Sunya-vada
Vij -vada 33
nana
7.A dvaiVtead anta 38
8. g 44
Summin up
Chapter The oft heI dealist 46-180
3. Case
Preliminary Remarks
1.