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Advaitavedante Pratikarmavyavastha অদ্বৈতবেদান্তে প্রতিকর্মব্যবস্থা
This book, written by Nirmal Kumar panigrahi, is a detailed analysis of a lesser-known aspect of Advaita Vedānta theory of knowledge. The question that the book deals with is: why does an individual have knowledge of one thing at one point in time and why doesn’t he/she have knowledge of all things all the time? This shows that there is a rule governing individuals having knowledge of things at different times. This is unknown as Pratikarmavyāvasthā. The author discusses the Advaita Vedānta analysis of this and presents the objections advanced by Naiyāyaika and Madhva philosophers. The author also relates this particular epistemological thesis with the metaphysical position of the Advaita Vedānta philosophers.
Conferment of a Degree on Rabindranath Tagore (On Behalf of Oxford University)
Kalidaser Granthavali (Volume-2) কালিদাসের গ্রন্থাবলী
Japasutram (Volume-2)
Darśana Manīṣā Categories
The Padārthatattva-Nirūpaṇam (পদার্থতত্বনিরুপনম)
The present book, written by Raghunātha Śiramaṇi and translated and explained in Bengali by Madhusudan Bhattacharya, is an attempt to present his views on the metaphysical categories generally accepted in the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika tradition. Raghunātha, of course, refutes some of the categories accepted by earlier Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika philosophy. He even does not hesitate to accept some of the views of the Mīmāṁsā philosophy, thereby going against his own tradition.
शब्दशक्तिप्रकाशिका (Śabdśaktiprakāśikā)
Śabdaśaktiprakāśikā contains six chapters: 1. Nāmaprakaraṇa, 2. Samāsaprakaraṇa, 3. Supvibhaktiprakaraṇa, 4. Kārakaprakaraṇa, 5. Akhyātaprakaraṇa, 6. Taddhitaprakaraṇa. The present volume contains two commentaries on Śabdaśaktiprakāśikā viz. . Kriśnakānti commentary by Krisnakānta Vidyāvāgīśa and Pravbodhinī commentary by Rāmabhadra Siddhāntavāgīśa.
शब्दशक्तिप्रकाशिका (Śabdaśaktiprakāśikā (Vol-1))
Śabdaśaktiprakāśikā is an important text written by Jagadīśa Tarkālaṃkāra containing an analysis of śabda pramāna following the Navya-Nyāya tradition. This work is a defence of many of the theses of Gaṅgeśa, the author of Tattvacintāmaṇi. In many places, the views of Bhatṛhari and Srīpatidatta, the author of Kalapa-pariśiṣta, have been critically assessed and defended. The author offers a detailed analysis of how the knowledge of the meaning of a sentence is generated through the presence of the elements like ākāṁṣkā, yogyatā and āsatti. Since the meaning of a word is defined in terms of śakti, a question arises with regard to the locus of śakti. Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṁsakas hold that śakti stays in the universal. Jagadīśa refutes this thesis of the Mīmāṁsakas. The author also refutes the thesis that the locus of śakti is the individual object, a view that is propagated by Raghunātha Śiromaṇi. Jagadīśa defends the view that combines both the insights that the locus of śakti is the individual object and the locus of śakti is the universal. In this book, Jagadīśa presents an analysis of the nature of lakṣanā. In this work we also find an analysis of how ākaṁkṣā, yogyatā and āsatti could be treated as the cause of understanding the meaning of a sentence. Jagadīśa, however, refutes the view that the knowledge of tātparya is the cause of understanding the meaning of a sentence, instead proposes the view that prakaraṇajñāna is the cause of understanding the meaning of a sentence. Thus in the present work the author, after defending śabdapramāṇa as an independent pramāṇa, offers his analysis of the ways of generating linguistic understanding.
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.
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-Two)
In this book, Sibajiban Bhattacharyya offers a detailed analysis of the text called Viṣayatāvāda, written by Gadādhara. After explaining the traditional Navya-Nyāya theory of objectivity, the author presents the later Navya-Nyāya theory of objecthood where it has been argued that objecthood cannot be cognition itself. Gadādhara’s theory of relation has been analyzed in terms of objecthood of qualified cognition. A detailed analysis of the ideas of qualificandness, qualificandumness, predicatehood could be found in this book.
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.
The Philosophy of Word and Meaning
Gaurinath Sastri, the author of this book, reconstructs the whole philosophy of Bhartṛhari. Bhartṛhari is the first philosopher in Indian tradition to build an entire philosophical system on a theory of language. The present book contains the following chapters: 1. The Supreme Reality, 2. The Supreme Power, 3. Functioning of Powers, 4. Correspondence of Form and Matter, 5. The Empiric World of Realities, 6. Word: What It Is, 7. Import of Words, and 8. Import of Propositions. The author presents Bhartṛhari’s thesis on the metaphysics of word and its manifestation in the form of the empirical world. There is a detailed discussion on the nature of sub-sentential parts like varṇa, pada etc. An elaborate discussion on the nature of knowledge of the different parts of a sentence resulting in the knowledge of the whole sentence can be found in this book. A comparative estimate of the relevant views of other Grammarians and other schools of classical Indian philosophy has been attempted by the author.
Environment, Evolution & Values (Studies in Man Society and Science)
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.
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.
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.