The Artful Universe

The Artful Universe

Author: William K. Mahony

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1998-01-01

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 9780791435809

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Provides an accessible introduction to the Vedic religious world by focusing on the role of divine and human imagination in sacred texts.


Tradition and Reflection

Tradition and Reflection

Author: Wilhelm Halbfass

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1991-01-01

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 9780791403624

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This book examines, above all, the relationship between reason and Vedic revelation, and the philosophical responses to the idea of the Veda. It deals with such topics as dharma, karma and rebirth, the role of man in the universe, the motivation and justification of human actions, the relationship between ritual norms and universal ethics, and reflections on the goals and sources of human knowledge. Halbfass presents previously unknown materials concerning the history of sectarian movements, including the notorious “Thags” (thaka), and relations between Indian and Iranian thought. The approach is partly philosophical and partly historical and philological; to a certain extent, it is also comparative. The author explores indigenous Indian reflections on the sources, the structure and the meaning of the Hindu tradition, and traditional philosophical responses to social and historical realities. He does not deal with social and historical realities per se; rather, basing his work on the premise that to understand these realities the reflections and constructions of traditional Indian theorists are no less significant than the observations and paradigms of modern Western historians and social scientists, he explores the self-understanding of such leading thinkers as Sankara, Kumarila, Bhartrhari and Udayana.


The Call of the Upanishads

The Call of the Upanishads

Author: Rohit Mehta

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.

Published: 1970

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 9788120807495

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The seers and sages of Ancient India revealed fundamental principles of perennial philosophy. The Upanishads contain the essential principles of this perennial-this ageless philosophy. They contain a large number of inspiring and instructive passages and verses. It has not been possible to include all of them in this book. For the purposes of this book the author has taken those verses and passages that have a bearing on the mystical teaching of the Upanishads. It is mysticism which is the very core of the Upanishads-and so in understanding its mysticism one comes to the heart of the sublime and magnificent teaching of the Upanishads. In this age, where science and technology may lead us into a world devoid of meaning and significance. Modern man needs today a meaningful philosophy if the achievements of science are not to lead him to greater and greater destruction-but to sublime and majestic heights of creative living. It is in the Vision of Life given by the Upanishads that man can find the fundamental philosophy of Creative Living-a philosophy that can serve as a Beacon Light even in the midst of surrounding darkness, a philosophy that can lead him from the unreal to the Real, from darkness to Light, from death to Immortality.


Ten Upanishads of Four Vedas

Ten Upanishads of Four Vedas

Author: Ram K. Piparaiya

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass

Published: 2003-01-01

Total Pages: 627

ISBN-13: 8178221594

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Ten Upanishads Of Four Vedas,Ram K.Piparaiya:A contemporary treatise that contains unabridged texts,numerous commentaries,simplified synopses, and inspirational highlights.The book is a useful compendium of original Upanishadic texts and commentaries. Interfaith classics that contemplate on..What is God?Where from came the cosmos?Who am I?Why am I here? Upanishads are a record of human mind's earliest contemplatives flights to the unknown.Many of the anonymous seekers proceeded great masters and prophets like Lao-Tzu,Comfucius,Socrates,Zoroaster,Buddha,Mahavira,Abraham and Jesus,by at least a few centuries. Upanishads use many captivating,stories and metaphors to bring out the relationship between man,God and world.Timeless truths are condensed in profound aphorisms.After a few glimpses of Upanishads texts, their mere presence on a bookshelf inspires thoughts of wisdom.


A History of Indian Literature

A History of Indian Literature

Author: Moriz Winternitz

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 624

ISBN-13: 9788120802643

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The present English translation is based on the original German work written by Professor Winternitz and has been revised in the light of further researches on the subject by different scholars in India and elsewhere. Vol. I relates to Veda (the four Samhitas), Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanisads, Vedangas and the Literature of the ritual. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Puranic literature and Tantra. Vol. II deals with the Buddhist Literature of India and the Jaina Literature. Vol. III covers Classical Sanskrit Literature comprising ornate Poetry, Drama, Narrative Literature, Grammar, Lexiocography, Philosophy, Dharma-Sastra, Artha-Sastra, Architecture, Music, Kama-Sutra, Ayurveda, Astronomy, Astrology and Mathematics.


Neoplatonism and Indian Thought

Neoplatonism and Indian Thought

Author: R. Baine Harris

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 1981-06-30

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 1438405871

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The nineteen essays that form this pioneering volume of comparative philosophy represent an exchange of ideas among specialists in Neoplatonism and specialists in Indian thought. These scholars have examined concepts and assertions that appear to be common to both philosophical traditions, as well as the possible historical influence of Indian sources upon late Greek philosophy, and specifically upon the Alexandrine Platonists. While most of the essays refer to Hinduism, several of them contain general surveys.


Soul and Self in Vedic India

Soul and Self in Vedic India

Author: Per-Johan Norelius

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2023-06-19

Total Pages: 647

ISBN-13: 9004546006

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How did the Vedic Indians think of life, consciousness, and personhood? How did they envisage man’s fate after death? Did some part of the person survive the death of the body and depart for the beyond? Is it possible to speak of a “soul” or “souls” in the context of Vedic tradition? This book sets out to answer these questions in a systematic manner, subjecting the relevant Vedic beliefs to a detailed chronological investigation. Special attention is given to the ways in which the early Indians’ answers to the above problems changed over time, with an early pluralism of soul-like concepts later giving way to the unified “self” of the Upaniṣads.