Essay name: Glories of India (Culture and Civilization)
Author: Prasanna Kumar Acharya
This book, 鈥淕lories of India on Indian Culture and Civilization鈥�, emphasizes the importance of recognizing distinct cultural traits across different societies. The historical narrative of Indian civilization highlights advancements in agriculture, medicine, science, and arts, tracing back to ancient times. The author argues for the need to understand the past to meaningfully engage with the present and future.
Page 353 of: Glories of India (Culture and Civilization)
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INDIAN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION
The Padartha-dharma-samgraha of Prasastap膩da
(5th century A D.) is hardly a coniment on the Vaiseshika-
Sutra because it gives "a completely new exposition of
the same subject-matter, with additions of importance."
The Nyayakandali of 艢rilhara (991) is a commentary
on it; it holds the same view of theism and adds the
non-existence as a seventh to the six Nyaya categories-
substance, quality, action, generality, particularity and
inherence, whence the name of the system is usually
derived, and its inseparable relation. Udayana also
wrote a comment, Kira峁嚹乿al墨, on Prasastap膩da's
Bhashya, and an independent text, the Laksha峁嚹乿al墨. The
Upask膩ra of Sankara Mi艣ra (160) is a formal comment
on the Vaiseshika-sutra but not an adequate one.
There are a number of short handbooks which deal
with the doctrines of both as a whole and present a
fusion of the two traditions, and serve as the guide books
to the two schools. They include the Saptapadarthi of
Sivaditya which is datei earlier than Gangesa; the
Tarkabhasha of Kesava Misra which is assigned to the
13th or 14th century; the Tarka-kaumudi of Laugh膩kshi
Bhaskara which dates after 1400; the Tarka-samgraha of
Annam Bhatta of southern India which has an important
commentary before 1585; and the Tarkamrita of
Jagadisa (1700). The Bhasha-parichcheda of Vi艣va-
natha (1634) consists of 166 memorial and borrowed
verses. In this period the divergence of view between
Nyaya and Vaiseshika had reduced to minor points. The
schools were now fully theistic; Udayana like Udyotkara
was probably a Saiva and identified God with 艢iva.
SAMKH YA-SUTRA OF KAPILA
Both the authorship and date of the Samkhya-
Sutra are uncertain. Jacobi and other European scholars
do not accept Kapila as the founder of the system.
They also doubt the traditional date, 300-550 B. C.
because the development out of it of the Buddhist
doctrine is not admitted, both the doctrines being
ascribed to some Upanishads. The Katha Upanishad
is regarded as a preliminary stage in the development
of the Simkhya system. But the Samkhya system does
not adopt the authority of the Veda. The Absolute of
the Upanishads tends to become meaningless with the
Sakhya. It postulates only an infinite number of
