1 Comprehension of the Philosophical Issues more essential than the Dialectic of Controversy....................................406 2 The philosophical situation: a Review..........................408 3 Vedânta Literature.............................................418 4 Vedânta in Gau@dapâda..........................................420 5 Vedânta and Sa@nkara (788-820 A.D.)............................429 6 The main idea of the Vedânta philosophy........................439 7 In what sense is the world-appearance false?...................443 8 The nature of the world-appearance, phenomena..................445 9 The Definition of Ajñâna (nescience)...........................452 10 Ajñâna established by Perception and Inference................454 11 Locus and Object of Ajñâna, Aha@mkâra and Anta@hkara@na.......457 12 Anirvâcyavâda and the Vedânta dialectic.......................461 13 The Theory of Causation.......................................465 14 Vedânta theory of Perception and Inference....................470 15 Âtman, Jîva, Is'vara, Ekajîvavâda and D@r@s@tis@r@s@tivâda....474 16 Vedânta theory of Illusion....................................485 17 Vedânta Ethics and Vedânta Emancipation.......................489 18 Vedânta and other Indian systems..............................492 INDEX............................................................495 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY The achievements of the ancient Indians in the field of philosophy are but very imperfectly known to the world at large, and it is unfortunate that the condition is no better even in India. There is a small body of Hindu scholars and ascetics living a retired life in solitude, who are well acquainted with the subject, but they do not know English and are not used to modern ways of thinking, and the idea that they ought to write books in vernaculars in order to popularize the subject does not appeal to them. Through the activity of various learned bodies and private individuals both in Europe and in India large numbers of philosophical works in Sanskrit and Pâli have been published, as well as translations of a few of them, but there has been as yet little systematic attempt on the part of scholars to study them and judge their value. There are hundreds of Sanskrit works on most of the systems of Indian thought and scarcely a hundredth part of them has been translated. Indian modes of expression, entailing difficult technical philosophical terms are so different from those of European thought, that they can hardly ever be accurately translated. It is therefore very difficult for a person unacquainted with Sanskrit to understand Indian philosophical thought in its true bearing from translations. Pâli is a much easier language than Sanskrit, but a knowledge of Pâli is helpful in understanding only the earliest school of Buddhism, when it was in its semi-philosophical stage. Sanskrit is generally regarded as a difficult language.