FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
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.
Prabodhchandroya Natakam প্রবোধচন্দ্রোদয় নাটকম
Prabodhachanrodaya Natakam is a Bengali translation of the original drama Prabodhachanrodaya written by Sri Krishna Mishra. The book contains the original text in Sanskrit along with a Bengali translation. One of the interesting features of this drama is that the characters in the drama are known as jealousy, egoism, lust, anger etc.
The Philosophy of Whitehead
Rasvihary Das, in this book, offers an analysis of the main ideas of the philosophy of Whitehead. The book is divided into fourteen chapters: 1. Philosophy and its method, 2. Some primary Ideas, 3. Actual Entities, 4. Eternal objects, 5. Groups and Grades of Actual Entities, 6. The Extensive Continuum, 7. Propositions, 8. Feelings, 9. Feelings (Continued). 10. Perception, 11. Truth, 12. God, 13. Some Difficulties and 14. Conclusion. This book gives the reader a comprehensive knowledge of the philosophy of Whitehead. The author also highlights how his interpretation of Whitehead differs from other works on Whitehead.
Smṛiti-Sāra-Samgraha স্মৃতি-সার-সংগ্রহ:
Smṛiti-Sāra-Saṁgraḥ, authored by Kaliaschandra Smrtitirtha, is a compilation of the views on some salient topics collected from different Smrtisastras. This book is written in Sanskrit and presents the views of different authors of Smritisastras on issues like the ten samskaras, the performance of different religious worships etc.
Darśana Manīṣā Categories
पक्षताप्रकरणम् (Pakṣtā Prakaraṇam)
In this book Jagadśa undertakes a study of the concept of pakṣatā. Pakṣatā is regarded as the cause of inference. Some define pakṣatā as sādhyasaṃśaya. Some others define pakṣatā as siṣādhayiṣāvirahaviśiṣtasiddhyabhāvaḥ. A detailed analysis of all these issues has been done by the author in this book.
ध्ब्मसजन्यभावयो: कार्यकारणभावरहस्यम् (Dhvaṃsa- Janyabhāvayoḥ Kārya-Kāraṇabhāvarahasyam)
In this essay, Harirama Tarkavagisa undertakes an analysis of the nature of the causal relationship between a positive effect and destruction. The author examines the nature of the inference viz. Dhvaṃsa is due to vināśa. If one takes into consideration this inference, there must be a hetu here and the hetu could be said to have an upadhi viz. Bhāvatva. Harirama, in this context, presents different ways of formulating the causal relation. The author ends this essay by concluding that the positive effect (janyabhāva) could be said to be the cause of destruction (dhvaṃsa) through the relation of pratiyogitva.
Gadādhara’s Theory of Objectivity Viṣayatāvāda (Part-One)
In this volume, Sibajiban Bhattacharyya presents an analysis of the fundamental concepts in Navya-Nyāya. The themes that have been discussed in this book are 1. Navya-Nyāya theory of Relation, Being in Aristotle and Navya-Nyāya, Navya-Nyāya theory of universals, Navya-Nyāya theory of abstraction, Navya-Nyāya theory of definition, Navya-Nyāya theory of causation, Comparative analysis of Frege and Gadādhara.
मुक्तिबादबिचारः (Muktivādavicaraḥ)
This book is an essay on Nyāya theory of liberation. Harirāma Tarkavāgīśa, in this book, critically assesses the generally accepted definition of liberation as permanent (ātyantika) cessation (nivṛtti) of suffering (duhkha). The debate revolves around explaining the terms like ‘atyanta’ and ‘nivṛtti’. Harirama argues that the widely accepted understanding of these words fails to cover all the different kinds of liberation that philosophers talk about. Harirama proposes to describe liberation as the destruction of final suffering and the idea of finality could be understood as a universal inhering in suffering. Harirama argues that if knowledge of reality is to be regarded as the cause of liberation, then liberation is to be regarded as the permanent post-negation of sin and not of misery.
BROWSE BY LANGUAGE
Rabindranath Tagore: A Centenary Volume
Rabindranath Tagore: A Centenary Volume is a collection of essays highlighting the contribution of Rabindranath Tagore in different fields of art and culture. The essayists include Mulk Raj Anand, S.Reza Zadeh Shafaq, Saumyendranath Tagore, Saroj Kumar das, Abany C. Banerjee, Shrimati Tagore, Roma Chaudhuri, Hiralal Chopra.
Gopinath Kaviraj’s Thoughts – Towards a Systematic Study
This book by Kalidas Bhattacharyya is a collection of Mahamahopadhyay Gopinath Kaviraj Memorial lectures delivered by Kalidas Bhattacharyya in the year 1980. Bhattacharya here explores the works of Gopinath Kaviraj written in the later years of his life. Kaviraj was an extraordinary scholar who was well-versed in both the philosophical and religious literature of India as well as the west. Above all, he was a sādhana. He was principally a Śaiva, particularly of the monistic kind, However, as Bhattacharyya claims, this Śaiva doctrine received certain innovative twists in the hands of Kaviraj and became a kind of Śaiva Dualism. Kaviraj was equally interested in Tantra, Yoga, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Gauḍiya Vaiṣnavism and also Śankara’s Advaita Vedānta. In this book, Kalidas Bhattacharyya explores the notion of Transcendence and the justification of this notion that we find in the works of Gopinath Kaviraj. He discusses the different regions of Transcendence and finally goes on to discuss the idea of Pūrṇatā or Ultimate Perfection as developed by Kaviraj.
The Chief Currents of Contemporary Philosophy
The present book, authored by D.M.Datta, is an exhaustive analysis of the main trends in the philosophical world as found in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The book is divided into thirteen chapters: 1. Neo-Hegelian Idealism, 2. Italian Idealism, 3. Indian Idealism, 4. Pragmatism, 5.The Philosophy of Bergson, 6. Realism, 7. The Philosophy of Sense-Data, 8. Emergent Evolution, 9. Whitehead’s Philosophy of Organism, 10. Logical Positivism and Analysis, 11. The Philosophical Aspects of Marxism, 12. Existentialism, 13. Japanese Philosophy of Zen and Mu (Nothingness). In the Appendix, the author presents the views of some modern Indian philosophers like Rabindranath Tagore and M.K.Gandhi. Thus the book presents the salient theses of some of the philosophical schools of Europe, America, India and Japan.