FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
Basanta Kumar Mallik: A Garland of Homage from Some who knew him well, with a Biography
This is a collection of articles on the philosophy of Basanta Kumar Mallik. The book is divided into four parts. The first part offers a detailed biography of Mallik while the second part contains two letters addressed to him. The third part contains essays on the different aspects of philosophy of Mallik. In the fourth part, one comes across some personal memoirs of people who came into contact with Mallik.
বাঙালির সারস্বত অবদান: বঙ্গে নব্যন্যায়চর্চা (Bangalir Saraswat Avadan: Bange Navyanyaya Charcha)
This is perhaps the most authentic history of Navya-Nyāya scholarship in Bengal with special emphasis on Navadvipa. In this book, the author presents a detailed description of the biographies and the works of the philosophers of Navadvipa. The author divides his work in the following chapters: 1. The Pre-Śiromaṇī age, 2.Raghunātha Śiromaṇī, 3. Bengali Commentators on Śiromaṇī, 4. The Post-Gadādhara Era, 5. Bengali Naiyāyikas in Kāśidhāma, 6. Nyaya Schools of Bengal. The author, with sufficient historical evidence, determines the time of many of the Navya-Nyāya scholars and he also proposes his views on the authorship of many of the Navya-Nyāya commentaries.
Philosophical Foundation of Bengal Vaisnavism
In this book, written by Sudhir Chandra Chakrabarti, one finds a detailed exploration of the philosophical ideas as found in the Vaiṣṇava philosophical school of Bengal. The philosophy of achintyabhedābheda has been explained. The nature of bhakti as the means of attaining the ultimate goal of human life viz. Love for God has been elucidated. The aesthetic significance of the conception of Krṣṇa as the embodiment of all rāsas have been presented. The fifteen chapters in the book are 1. The attitude towards epistemology, 2. The psychological basis of knowledge and the nature of the error, 3. A synoptic view of Bengal Vaiṣṇavism, 4. Jīva Goswamin’s conception of Bhagavat, 5. The Bhagavat as the Ground of Jīva-śakti and Māya-śakti, 6. The doctrine of Causation in Bengal Vaiṣṇavism, 7. Kriṣṇa and His incarnations, 8. Bhakti, the means of God-Realisation, 9. The supreme realisation, 10. Bengal Vaiṣṇavism and Kierkegaard’s Existentialism, 11. The Place of Ethics in Bengal Vaiṣṇavism, 12. Acintya-Bhedābheda, 13. Rāsa (Relish), 14. Christianity and Bengal Vaiṣṇavism, 15. Conclusion.
A History of Sanskrit Literature सारस्बत – शतकम
A History of Sanskrit Literature by Arthur A. Macdonell is one of the earliest accounts of the History of Sanskrit Literature published in Europe. The book consists of sixteen chapters other than Bibliographical Notes and Index. The chapters focus on the life and thoughts of Ancient India as they appear in classical Sanskrit literature.
Darśana Manīṣā Categories
शक्तिबाद (Śaktivādaḥ)
In this book, Gadādhara Bhattāchārya presents a theory of the meaning of words. This work is divided into three chapters: 1. Sāmānyakāṇḍa, 2. Viśesakāṣḍa and 3. Pariśiṣtakāṇḍa. In Sāmānyakaṇḍa, the author undertakes a detailed analysis of vṛtti of words. Here one comes across a definition of śakti in terms of which a word denotes its meaning. The theory of anvitābhidhāna has been refuted. In the Viśeṣakaṇḍa, the author undertakes an analysis of the meaning of words denoting an individual and the meaning of the words denoting a universal. Prabhākara theory of meaning has been refuted. This chapter contains an analysis of indexicals and demonstratives. The third chapter viz. Pariśiṣtakaṇḍa contains a defence of the view that the śakti of a word lies in the individual that is qualified by the corresponding universal. Views of several Mīmāṃsaka philosophers have been critically assessed.
प्रामाण्यवाद: (Prāmāṇyavādaḥ)
In this book, Harirama Tarkavagisa critically assesses the Mīmāṃśa theory of self-luminosity of knowledge. According to Prabhākara, the knower, the object of knowledge and the knowledge itself are apprehended in one go. The Bhaṭṭa Mīmāṃsakas hold that knowledge is inferred through a property called knownness. Murāri Miśra, another Mīmāṃsaka philosopher, holds that knowledge is known in a subsequent knowledge called introspection. Harirāma, following the footsteps of Gaṅgeśa, argues that since sometimes doubt regarding the validity of knowledge arises in the third moment after the origin of knowledge, the validity of the knowledge is apprehended by something other than the totality of the causal conditions of that knowledge. Harirama further argues that there is something wrong with the thesis that knowledge is self-luminious.
अनुमितेमानसत्त्वबिचाररहस्यम् (Anumiter Mānasatvavicārarahasyam)
Harirama Tarkavagisa, in this book, examines the proposal that inference could be subsumed under supersensual perception as accepted in Nyāya. Harirama argues that not all cases of inference could be so explained. He imagines all sorts of possible objections to the view that inference, really speaking, is a kind of perception and refutes all these, defending the thesis that inference is to be regarded as an independent source of knowledge.
सिद्धान्तलक्षणम् (Siddhānta Lakṣaṇam)
The final definition of vyāpti, known as siddhāntalakṣaṇa, has been explained by Jagadīśa in this work. The final definition of vyāpti is: where pratiyogyasāmānadhikaraṇya tāsāmānādhikaraṇatyantābhāvāpratiyogitāvacchedakabhacchinam does not hold, their vyāpti stays in the same locus. Raghunātha Śiromaṇi comments on this definition of vyāpti. Jagadīṣa further explains this final definition of vyāpti.
নবদ্বীপ মহিমা (Nabadwip Mahima)
This book is perhaps the first attempt to portray the detailed history of Navadvipa. The author starts the discourse with the history of the name ‘Navadvipa’ along with a description of the relation of Navadvipa to the rest of Bengal during the ancient period. The second part of the book contains a detailed description of the scholars of Navadvipa who worked on Navya-Nyāya, Smṛti, and Tantra. In the third chapter, one finds an elaborate presentation of Sri Chaitanya’s biography along with a discussion on Vaishnava religion. Since Navadvipa was ruled by the king of Krishnagar for a long time, there is a discussion on the rulers of Krishnagar, their contribution to the Navadvipa scholarship as patrons. The author also adds a discussion on the famous musicians, eminent persons trained in English education and business persons of Navadvipa.
प्रामाण्यवाद: (Prāmāṇyavādaḥ)
The original text of Gaṅgeśa, called Tattvacintāmaṇi, has been commented on by both Raghunātha Śiromaṇi and Gadāhara Bhattācārya. If knowledge is gained through the ways of knowing, then the very nature of knowledge rests on the nature and veridicality of these recognised ways of knowing. An examination of the veridicality of the ways of knowing is known as pārāmānya. In this book, both Raghunātha and Jagadīśa offer a detailed analysis of the debate concerning the nature and veridicality of the very idea of pramāṇa.
BROWSE BY LANGUAGE
History of Sanskrit Poetics (by P. V. Kane)
History of Sanskrit Poetics by P.V.Kane is a historical survey of Sanskrit Poetics. The book is divided into two parts. The first part consists of thirty-nine chapters where the author presents the main contents of the major world in Sanskrit Poetics. The second part contains sixteen chapters where one finds a brief survey of the main theories in this field showing how these different literary theories evolved in the course of history.
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.
Rain in Indian Life and Lore
Rain in Indian Life and Lore is a collection of essays edited by Sankar Sen Gupta. All the essays contain descriptions of folk songs, and folk rituals that one finds in different parts of Indian society through the ages. Since the Vedic time till modern poets like Rabindranath rain has been a source of different kinds of emotions. The essays in the present collection engage in deciphering some of these thoughts.
Introduction To The Purva Mīmāṃsā
The book, while offering an introduction to Purva-Mīmāṃsā, is divided into three chapters, each chapter divided into several sections. The first chapter contains a general discussion on the nature of darśana, on the general significance of Purva-Mīmāṃsā and Uttara-Mīmāṃsā including both the schools of Kumarila and Prabhākara. Chapter two contains a discussion on pramā and pramāṇa in Mīmāṃsā philosophy. In chapter three, one finds discourse on the nature of Ātman, God and liberation. The last part of the book contains a discussion on the relationship between Mīmāṃsā maxims and Hindu Law.