FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
History, Society and Polity
In History, Society and Polity, D.P.Chattopadhyaya undertakes a detailed study of the sociological ideas of Sri Aurobindo. The book is divided into eleven chapters. In all these chapters the author presents Sri Aurobindo’s insights on society, state and individual and the nature of their interaction. A comparative study of Marx and Aurobindo has been embarked on by the author in this book.
Śrībhāṣya (Brahmasutra) Volume-4, Part-III শ্রীভাষ্য (ব্রহ্মসূত্র)
Brahmasutra- Śrībhāṣya (Vol. 3, third and fourth chapters of Vedanta sutra) is a Bengali translation and explanation of Ramanujacharya’s commentary on the Vedānta Sutras. The translation and explanation are done by Jatindra Ramanujacharya. The present volume deals with third and fourth chapters of Vedānta Sutras.
Studies in the Upaniṣads
This book is a detailed study of the philosophical significance of the Upaniṣads. Govinda Gopal Mukhopadhyay, the author of the book, reconstructs the salient themes of the Upaniṣads in seven chapters: 1. The Problem of Reality, 2. The Problem of Knowledge, 3. The Preparation, 4. Contemplation, 5. The Synthetic Way, 6. The Analytic Way and 7.The Problem of Attainment. The first two chapters deal with the metaphysical and epistemological views of the Upaniṣads. The next four chapters present an analysis of the different methods of attaining the ultimate reality as prescribed in different Upaniṣads. The last chapter deals with the nature of the state where one attains the ultimate goal by contrasting the Upaniṣadic views with other alternative theories.
Darśana Manīṣā Categories
প্রস্থানভেদঃ (Prasthānaveda)
The present work is a commentary by Madhusudana Saraswati on a part of Śivamahimāstotra (Hymns to the glory of Śiva) written by Puṣpadanta. In this commentary, Madhusudana talks about eighteen disciplines of knowledge. All the āstika and nāstika systems of knowledge could be included in the eighteen disciplines and all these systems of knowledge, either directly or indirectly, aimed at determining the nature of god. According to Madhusudana, even the philosophy of art written by Bharata aims at worshiping god. Madhusudana argues that one could talk about three fundamental prasthānas viz. ārambhavāda, parināmavāda and vivartavāda. We start our intellectual journey from ārambhavāda and then through pariṇāmavāda reach vivartavāda. It is only in vivartavāda that one realizes that the world is a vivarta of Brahmaṇ. The varieties of prasthānas have been created only to cater to the needs of people of various inclinations.
जागदीशीव्याधिकरणम् (Jāgadīśvyādhikaraṇam)
This is a prakaraṇa text on the Nyāya theory of vyāpti written by Jagadīśa. The main theme of the work centres around the nature of vyāpti.Knowledge of vyāpti is the cause of inferential knowledge. If the definition of vyāpti is constructed in terms of avyābhicāritatva, then one could explain avyābhicāritatva in five alternative ways. And none of these alternatives is acceptable, for this understanding of vyāpti would fail to account for kevalānvayi inference. In order to remove this problem, the definition of vyāpti is reconstructed as pratiyogivṛttidharmāvacchinna-pratiyogitākabhāvarupa vyādhikaraṇadharmāvacchinnabhāva. Jagadīśa examines this new definition of vyāpti and offers his justification, refuting all the possible objections.
शब्दशक्तिप्रकाशिका (Śabdaśaktiprakāśikā (Vol-2))
In the second volume of Śabdaśaktiprakāśikā, Jagadīśa presents a detailed analysis of Prabhākara’s kāryānvitaśaktivāda and refutes this view. Jagadīśa defends the niravacchinna śaktivāda of the words like ākāśa etc. The view of Raghuntha Siromani with regard to the causal nexus of linguistic understanding has been refuted. Jagadisa offers an analysis of the nature of paribhāṣika śabda and argues that proper names given to individuals do not have śakti and they are to be treated as paribhāśaika śabda. Jagadīśa defends the view that śakti resides in all the three loci: the individual, the universal and the relation of samavāya that holds between an individual and the universal. Jagadīśa also refutes the Mīmāṃsaka view that the sentence has lakṣaṇā and the view of Ālaṃkārika regarding the vyāñjanā relation has been rejected. In this book, Jagadīśa offers a detailed analysis of different kinds of lakṣaṇā and in this context, one comes across a criticism of the Prabhākara thesis that the word having lakṣaṇā is not the cause of syntactic knowledge of the sentence. This book ends with an analysis of the nature of yogaruḍa śabda.
নদিয়ার ইতিহাস- চর্চা (Nadiyar Itihas Carca)
This book is a collection of essays on varieties of aspects of life in Nadia, presently a district in West Bengal, India. Since once upon a time Navadvipa was the main centre of Nadia, and later Krisnanagar became the capital from where the ruler ruled his kingdom including Navadvipa, much of the history of Navadvipa is closely associated with the history of Nadia. This book is divided into five chapters. In the first chapter, the essays focus on the different archaeological sites found in Nadia and bring to light their historical importance. The second chapter focuses on the rivers, waterways and road transport of Nadia. In the third chapter, the essays highlight the importance of the local festivals and the contribution of logical artisans with special reference to weavers. The essays in the fourth chapter take note of the contribution of the musicians and theatre personalities of Nadia. The book ends with a chapter containing articles on different religious and political movements that took place in Nadia.
BROWSE BY LANGUAGE
Philosophy and Religion
The present book is a collection of essays written by J.L.Mehta. The essays are attempts to understand and interpret various aspects of classical Indian philosophical, religious and cultural ethos. Being inspired by Heideggerian hermeneutics, the author tries to disclose the hidden ideas present in different ancient Indian philosophical-religious ideas. All these essays interpret the historicity of some salient ideas and bring out their significance to the modern reader.
Neo Hegelianism
The present book is a historical introduction to the philosophical movement known as Neo Hegelianism. This book is divided into fifteen chapters where the contributions of T.H.Green, Edward Caird, John Caird, William Wallace, D.G.Ritchie, F.H.Bradley, Bernard Bosanquet, John Watson, Henry Jones, J.H.Muirhead, J.S.Mackenzie, Lord Haldane and J.E.McTaggart have been presented. In the appendix is an essay entitled ‘Hegelianism and Human Personality’ where the author articulates how to own understanding of Hegel’s philosophy and its significance.
The Fundamentals of Religion
The present book, written by Nalinikanta Brahma, undertakes a detailed study of the essence of all religions. The author classifies all the religions under three groups: 1. Impersonal, 2. Personal and 3. Supra-Personal. The doctrines and beliefs of all the great regions have been presented in terms of this classification. The author makes a critical assessment of the objections to religion as advanced by Russell, Freud and Marx. The author defends what he calls “ Supre-Personal Religion”. The book ends with an analysis of the possibility of a universal religion.
Alternative Standpoint in Philosophy
This is one of the most seminal works of Kalidas Bhattacharyya. Bhattacharyya speaks of the constant need that philosophers have felt to justify their work and their discipline. Bhattacharyya thinks that the modern defense of Philosophy is only possible through what he calls logic of alternation. Bhattacharyya’s position is that we can provide Philosophy with such a defense only by attempting a novel understanding of the knowledge-object unity. Bhattacharyya claims that this attempt is ingrained in the very being of all the important Indian systems of thought. This book is both a historical and comparative study of the basis of all Philosophy. The book has four chapters. Chapter One is on “Knowledge of Object” where the close unity of knowledge and its object is emphasized. In this connection, Bhattacharyya discusses subjective and objective attitudes and also the contradiction between subjectivity and object. Chapter Two is on “Types of Philosophy”. In this chapter, Bhattacharyya tries to show that the Unity of Knowledge and Object is Unrejectable and their unity is inevitable. Those who reject the knowledge-object unity do so because they think that such a unity would definitely lead to some kind of contradiction. But Bhattacharyya would like to show that this contradiction too is not rejectable. Actually, the Unity that he speaks of is a Disjunctive Unity. This disjunctive unity actually indicates that we have to stand alternatively on the subjective and the objective attitudes and reach a kind of dialectical unity. He then goes on to speak of the subject-object and the absolute as alternatives. In Chapter Three, “Cognition Feeling and Conation” Bhattacharyya takes up these three notions which seem to be opposed to each other. The first three chapters are analyses of these notions while the last section sees Cognition, Feeling and Conation as Alternatives. In Chapter Four Bhattacharyya considers “Further Alternatives” such as Jñāna Bhakti and Karma. He speaks of the three kinds of infinity in this chapter. The book ends with the idea of the Ultimate Alternation.