A History of Indian Philosophy by Surendranath Dasgupta (All 5 Volumes Combined) by Surendranath Dasgupta (PDF)

Description

[All 5 Volumes Combined, 2517 Pages, High Quality, with Complete Outlines] (From 1922 to 1955). In this benchmark five-volume study, originally published between 1922 and 1955, Surendranath Dasgupta examines the principal schools of thought that define Indian philosophy. A unifying force greater than art, literature, religion, or science, Professor Dasgupta describes philosophy as the most important achievement of Indian thought, arguing that an understanding of its history is necessary to appreciate the significance and potentialities of India’s complex culture. Volume III offers an examination of the Bhaskara school of philosophy, the Pancaratra, the Arvars, the Visistadvaita school of thought, the philosophy of Yamunacarya, the Ramanuja school of thought, Nimbarka’s philosophy, the philosophy of Vijnana Bhiksu, and the philosophical speculations of some of the selected Puranas.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐1. It is a long book, originally in five volumes. The digital book, it seems, just gives the contents with page numbers of the printed books. Therefore, the digital book cannot be navigated properly.2. It seems that, because the digital book cannot have the diacritical marks, the spelling of the Sanskrit words have been changed to something unitelligible in most cases. Some simple ones can be understood. Example; the long vowel ‘a’ (pronounced ‘aa’) has been changed to ‘d’ – dtma for atma, dkdsa for akasha, ndstika for nastika. More complex words are unintelligible.3. At the time of writing of this book, it was still believed in the theory of the Aryan invasion of India. The timings of the composition of the vedic literature has been based on that theory, and so also the credit for the Vedas. That theory has been disproven. There was never the so called Aryan invasion of India. Ancient indiginous people of India were the Aryas (there is no ‘n’ in Arya). Vedic literature is from the ancient indiginous people of India.

⭐The Kindle edition is not indexed. There is no ‘contents’ page with links. So, navigation of this 5-volume set is almost impossible on the Kindle. You get what you pay for. I think the Kindle edition is almost unusable, unless you wish to proceed cover to cover.

⭐It is the only comprehensive review of Indian philosophy I found on Amazon. Some opinions expressed by the author expose the biases of the time. But having a bunch of facts presented concisely in one place makes up for it.

⭐This book(s) is by far the most comprehensive book on the history of Indian Philosophy written by a single author. It’s far more comprehensive than S Radhakrishnan’s Indian Philosophy Volume 1 & 2. The only problem that I have with this book is the first volume which is indeed a major problem. Though the rest of the volumes deals with other school of philosophy fairly well. I am not satisfied with the first volume.The first volume squeezes the Philosophy of Vedas, early upanishads, Buddhist philosophy, Jaina philosophy, Samkhya & Patanjali schools, Nyaya-Vaisesika Philosophy, Mimasa & the first part of Samakara school all in 1 volume. All of this major philosophy & schools in less than 500 pages ! That is way too much. If I have to give a review for the first volume alone it will be 1 star ! The philosophy of Vedas & upanishad should at least occupy a volume or two(I am being modest here, no 1 or 2 volume can really do justice to fully expound the philosophy of these 2 great immortal work(s)). He gives excuse by saying that such exposition are already there which is true but why bother about other’s work ! I want a comprehensive book which is self sufficient. But unfortunately that’s not the case for volume 1 so you have to look elsewhere for more details.The second & the rest of the volume are good but Indian Philosophy is very vast so no volumes of history can clarify the complex intricacies & the deep philosophical insights let alone comprehending it by reading a history book. With that being said we still need a good history book. This book like Bertrand Russell’s attempt to give outline of Western philosophy through his book “A history of western philosophy” is a very good way to start. But don’t think that it’s as easy going as Russell’s. For that one might try Radhakrishnan’s book instead which is fairly accessible compared to this. This book is a work of love. The author dedicated his lifetime researching about this book. It’s an unfortunate thing that the last volume containing schools of the South including Saivism & a very(very) brief account of Shiva Purana is quite short. Probably because the author was near the end of his life.All in all this is a superb book(with the exception of Volume 1) that no serious students of Indian Philosophy should miss. One more thing though, this book is produced cheaply by many Indian publishers & most of them produced it very poorly. Some of them squeezes the book in 3 volumes or so & the font is a nightmare. The paper quality is awful too which is something you don’t want because reference book like this should be in good quality. So if you don’t mind spending some more for better results buy this one from Cambridge (the book was originally published by Cambridge too). The quality is better than the one brought out cheaply by Indian publishers.

⭐Volume alone cannot cover the complex web of intricacies linking the six systems of Indian Philosophy. There is however no doubt that this book is indeed a landmark covering the subject and would be immense help to scholars and lay readers alike

⭐Well, nothing new to say on the work itself. But this edition is a great presentation at an affordable price. Immensely appreciated.

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