Description: Man's incessant efforts to apprehend the enigma of the final goal - Salvation (moksa) - have tempted him to explore new vistas. This is yet another attempt to explore that incomprehensible truth. In his endeavour to understand and elucidate the various theories and philosophies of liberation, Muni Shivkumar has drawn on the philosophies of four important religions of the world - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. His unbiased approach towards the different theories and their logical analysis makes the present work indispensable for the seekers of truth. Contents Foreword Preface to the Second Edition Preface to the First Edition 1. The Jaina Tradition : An Historical Review 2. The Doctrine of the Self 3. The Doctrine of Karma and Transmigration 4. The Jaina Doctrine of Liberation 5. The Brahmanical Doctrine of Liberation 6. The Buddhist Doctrine of Liberation 7. The Sikh Doctrine of Liberation 8. Conclusion

An Introduction to Indian Philosophy offers a profound yet accessible survey of the development of India’s philosophical tradition. Beginning with the formation of Brahmanical, 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 epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of language, and ethics. This is a must-read for anyone seeking a reliable and illuminating introduction to Indian philosophy.

Focusing on the rich and variegated cluster of Indic philosophical traditions as they developed from the late Vedic period up to the pre-modern period, this book offers an understanding, according to each school, of the nature of free will and agency.

The object of this book is to provide a simple introduction to the Indian systems of philosophy. Each one of these systems has had a vast and varied development. An attempt has been made to introduce the reader to the spirit and outlook of Indian philosophy and help him to grasp thoroughly the central ideas rather than acquaint him with minute details. Modern students of philosophy feel many difficulties in understanding the Indian problems and theories. Their long experience with university students has helped the authors to realise these, and they have tried to remove them as far as possible. This accounts for most of the critical discussions which could otherwise have been dispensed with. The book has been primarily written for beginners. The first chapter which contains the general principles and basic features of Indian philosophy, as well as a brief sketch of each system, gives the student a bird's-eye view of the entire field and prepares him for a more intensive study of the systems which are contained in the following chapters. It is hoped, therefore, that the book will suit the needs of university students at different stages, as well as of general readers interested in Indian Philosophy.

This book offers a comprehensive description of the ‘doctrine of salvation’ (niḥśreyasa/ mokṣa) and Vaiśeṣika, one of the oldest philosophical systems of Indian philosophy and provides an overview of theories in other related Indian philosophical systems and classical doctrines of salvation. The book examines liberation, the fourth goal of life and arguably one of the most important topics in Indian philosophy, from a comparative philosophical perspective. Contextualising classical Greek Philosophy which contains the three goals of life (Aristotle’s Ethics), and explains salvation as first understood in the theology of the Hellenistic and Patristics periods, the author analyses six classical philosophical schools of Indian philosophy in which there is a marked emphasis on the ultimate ontological elements of the world and ‘self’. Analysing Vaiśeṣika and the manner in which this lesser known system has put forward its own theory of salvation (niḥśreyasa), the author demonstrates its significance and originality as an old and influential philosophical system. He argues that it is essential for the study of other Indian sciences and for the study of all comparative philosophy. An extensive introduction to Indian soteriology, this book will be an important reference work for academics interested in comparative religion and philosophy, Indian philosophy, Asian religion and South Asian Studies.

First published in 1975 The Spirit of Indian Philosophy provides a systematic overview of Indian philosophy. The book is divided into four major parts dealing with Indian epistemology, Indian metaphysics, Indian ethics, and Indian philosophy of religion. It makes a departure from usual method of investigating Indian philosophy by dealing with its different schools individually and separately. It discusses themes like sources of cognition; nature and criterion of true cognition; problem of error; materialism; realism; dualism; Indian theories of causation; reflective morality; the ethics of non-violence; Indian atheism and Indian religion of God, to argue that the usual conception of Indian philosophy in general as religious, spiritualistic and pessimistic is contrary to the fact, that the doctrine of Karma, transmigration and rebirth, strictly speaking is incompatible with the Indian ways of thinking and in deed is an imposition upon them ab extra. This is an essential read for scholars and students of Indian philosophy.

This book attempts to explain in detail the notion of non-attachment which is claimed to be of central importance to the understanding of spiritual philosophy of the Hindus as expounded in the Upanishads. The author maintains that the philosophy of truly creative consciousness. This book will prove of equal interest to the students of philosophy and religion, as well as to all those who are seriously interested in Indian spiritualism.