Hindu philosophy popularly explained : the orthodox systems.

Preface

Some of the papers embodied in this volume present the substance of lectures delivered in various places in India in furtherance of the work in which the author has been engaged for years. Two of them — those on the Sankhya Philosophy — appeared as articles in the Calcutta Review , and the paper on Yoga Philosophy in the Indian Evangelical Review j while the supplemental paper, written years ago, was published as an article in the Methodist Quarterly , then edited by Dr. D. D. Whedon. The paper on “ Hindu and Christian Philosophy Contrasted ’ ’ was delivered as a lecture at Key East, under the auspices of the American Institute of Christian Philosophy. All the papers embodied are based on standard translations of original works, and present the leading principles of the schools in the words of their celebrated founders and champions. There are a few works of recognized merit on Hindu Philosophy in the English language, barring the translations utilized in this volume ; but there is not one which makes such a copious use of the original sources of information as the volume now presented to the public, or which is better adapted to give an insight into the contents of standard works on the six great systems of Hindu Philosophy, as well as to show the similarity that subsists between its broad principles and those which modern philosophers are prone to represent as original, the peculiar outgrowth of the

IV

PREFACE.

advanced tli ought of tlie nineteenth century. The writer’s humility trusts that the book may be of use to those who, whether missionaries and clergymen or mere lovers of literature, wish to have a bird’s-eye view of Hindu Philosophy without taking the trouble of going to the sources. The volume, if it be encouraged by the public here, will be followed by another of the same size on the Heterodox Systems of Hindu Philosophy.

Ram Chandra Bose.

CONTESTS.