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Kumarajiva Philosoph...
Kumarajiva Philosopher and Seer
by: ShashibalaIt is a compendium of recent researches on the brilliance that ushers through Kumarajiva’s legacy, enshrined in thousands of monasteries in China, Korea and Japan, preserving the heritage. His works inspired members of Imperial houses, Emperors, writers and artists, pilgrims and philosophers.
₹1,350.00
ISBN: 9789380935614
Year Of Publication: 2015
Edition: 1st Edition
Pages : xv, 346p.
Language : English
Binding : Hardcover
Publisher: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts
Size: 29
Weight: 1300
Kumarajiva, (Jiumóluóshi in Chinese), a philosopher and seer, had a long cherished mission: propagation of the true spirit of Buddhism. He broke political, geographical, cultural and linguistic barriers; travelled through barren lands and rivers, mountains and forbidding terrains to bequeath to us a casket of sacred sutras as the most authoritative presentations by translating them from Sanskrit into Chinese. He created pure, boundless and unthinkable versions of the sutras as an obeisance to the sacred voice so that one could bathe in the pure pond of the Dharma.
Kumarajiva: Philosopher and Seer is a compendium of recent researches on the brilliance that ushers through his legacy, enshrined in thousands of monasteries in China, Korea and Japan, preserving the heritage – his translations of the sacred Sanskrit texts copied over the last sixteen centuries. The life of Kumarajiva was unique in every aspect. His works inspired members of Imperial houses, Emperors, writers and artists, pilgrims and philosophers. His angelic presence can still be felt in the monastic establishments, in the sound of recitation of sutras and in the lives of the people that have been inspired over the centuries by his translations.
The researches done by scholars from world academia are included in the present volume on his date of birth, the towns and villages where he spent his life from childhood to nirvana, historically important events of his life, his contemporaries, his contribution to the cultural sphere of East Asia especially defining a new road for Mahayana Buddhism, philosophical theories and vision, comparative studies of his translations and echoes of his translations in Chinese literature.
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Sale!Navya Nyaya Philosophy of Language ₹360.00
This book represents the philosophy of language in Navya-Nyaya, based upon an analysis of the “Verbal Suffix Chapter” (Akhyatavada) of Gangesha’s Tattvacintamani. Since this chapter elaborates what kind of verbal understanding is generated and discusses related issues, the book demonstrates the main features of that philosophy of language and serves as a good introduction to that. The analysis mainly deals with Gangesha, but in some cases it refers to Raghunatha. Since the book is an attempt to pursue philological exactness and philosophical analysis, it is hoped to interest not only Sanskrit scholars, but also philosophers in general.
The book consists of four lectures. Lecture I clarifies Gangesha’s view of the meaning of the suffixes of a finite verb, which (meaning) is greatly disputed among the Navya-Nyaya philosophers, the Mimamsa philosophers, and the Grammarians. Lecture II investigates how Gangesha determines the meaning of words and illustrates that his method bears upon ontological categories of Vaisheshika. Lecture III deals with Gangesha’s “Five Definitions of Invariable Concomitance Section” (Vyaptipancaka) and elucidates the relation between meaning and the logical structure of the definitions. The lecture also provides diagrams as a tool to represent the structure. Lecture IV explains the realistic standpoint of Navya-Nyaya by clarifying the concept of the counterpositive (pratiyogin) of absence (abhava), or a thing whose existence is negated, focusing on empty terms or non-factual expressions such as “a round triangle”, “the present King of France”, “a rabbit’s horn”, and so forth. The lecture delineates how Udayana, Gangesha, and Raghunatha observed and, as the time passed, did realism thoroughly in language analysis. -
Sale!Kundalini ₹540.00
“Tantra, an exposition of Sri-vidya, is a thread of Vedic tantu. This ray of the light of consciousness folds upon itself as a coil (kundala) forming the coiled energies of the conscious universe, thus becoming kundalini.
This book looks at Tantra from a different perspective against the common view of it being more associated with its carnal/sexual nature. Tantra is the “art of celibacy”. Human beings are a wave in the ocean of Consciousness and this wave passes through our psycho-physiological complex compound, forming the personal kundalini. All sensations in human body are manifestations of the presence of kuõóalinã. Our desires are the signals released by the kundalini. Different psycho-physical apparatuses are plugged into it like electric plugs in different socket.
This volume, while portraying kundalini from its psycho-physical and spiritual implications and impacts, tries to alleviate some misconceptions about the nature of cakras — the consciousness centres. It deals at length with the phenomena of higher levels of spiritual evolution — “raising the kundalini” and “opening the cakras” — helping one drop all mental habit patterns to achieve “liberation”.
This book is a “must read” for the practitioners of Yoga and all who want to take their spiritual life to a new realm. “ -
Sale!Seven Weeks In ‘Little Tibet’: Philosophic Travelling in Ladakh ₹225.00
A German lady, a veteran Yoga practitioner, travels to Ladakh, also known as ‘Little Tibet’. There she dives as much into life in its bustling capital Leh as into moonlike landscapes and Buddhist locales. She spends a week in a solitary meditation cabin, goes on a trek and meets not just Ladakhis but also interesting fellow travellers from all over the globe.
So is this a travelogue? Or are these musings in a journal? Yes, but also much more. Charmed by her chatty narration, spiced with irony and humour, you are gently led to contemplations on life and living, changes wrought by globalization, man-woman relationships, cultural differences, loss of identities, fear as an inherent part of the human psyche and the burgeoning objects of enjoyment versus the diminishing capacity to enjoy.
Before you know it, you realise that HellaNaura’s deep reflections have awakened in you a need to integrate some spiritual viewpoints into your busy modern life. Why? Because her experiences and many joys, in spite of several difficulties, are a proof that a ‘spiritual’ outlook is an effective antidote to the crafty seduction by material and sensual gratifications. And, as she notes, even parts of Ladakhi society – formerly happy, prosperous and woven tightly together with warmth and intimacy – seem to be succumbing to its lures.
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Sale!Brahman and the World ₹450.00
“The Vedānta has been rightly called the Finest Fruit of Indian Thought and the Upaniṣads as the Finer Flowers. Vedānta grows out of the teachings of the Upaniṣads and passes into the various systems in the writings of Śaṅkara, Bhāskara, Rāmānuja, Madhva and Vallabha, the great founders of Advaita, Bhedābheda, Viśiṣṭādvaita, Dvaitādvaita and Śuddhādvaita, respectively. However, there is a perception among Orientalists that while the Upaniṣads favour the Monistic doctrine, Bādarāyaṇa’s Brahmasūtra fundamentally opposes it on some of the most crucial points.
The book thus delves deep into the philosophies of both Bādarāyaṇa and Śaṅkara in enunciating the essential features of Brahman and Its association with the world. It thus discusses topics such as what sort of cause Brahman is?, and what sort of material causality is to be ascribed to It? It also addresses the conflicting views on the nature of Brahman like that of Vivarttavāda and of Rāmānuja’s Saguṇa-Brahman.
This book proposes to take up the question of Universal Causation to examine thoroughly as how far it is right to regard Brahman as the Universal Cause and how far sūtrakāra himself lent his support to each of the inter-conflicting schools of Vedānta. This book should, therefore, benefit all who are devoted to the philosophic teachings of Advaita Vedānta and its preceptors.” -
Sale!First Five Brahmasūtras (विज्ञानभिक्षोः ब्रह्मसूत्रपञ्चचसूत्रीभाष्यम्) ₹990.00
This is an annotated English translation of Vijñānabhikṣu’s commentaries on the first five Brahmasūtra (BS) of Bādarāyaṇa called the Vijñānāmṛtabhāṣya (VijBh). This is a pioneering work as no translation of the VijBh has been done so far. Bhikṣu is perhaps the only known Vedānta scholar who has argued for Brahman along with his prakṛti-śakti being the cause of the world. He calls his Advaita philosophy as Avibhāga-Advaita and sets himself against Śaṅkara’s Advaita which argues for Brahman alone being the material and efficient cause of the world. Bhikṣu is also an unique Advaita scholar as he interprets Vedānta using Sāṁkhya/Yoga principles. One of the reasons for choosing to comment on only the first five sūtras was because the VijBh is a huge work and also because Bhikṣu’s Avibhāga-Advaita can easily be understood from his commentaries on these first five sūtras of the BS. Even though the real reason for Bhikṣu’s commentary on the fifth sūtra (BS I.1.5) should be clear to anyone familiar with Vedānta’s objection to prakṛti being the cause of the world, it needed to be seen as to how Bhikṣu, as a committed Sāṁkhya-Yoga-Vedāntācārya, defends prakṛti’s role in being the cause. Just as writing commentaries on the first four sūtras of Śaṅkara’s BSBh done by some eminent scholars present the main features of Śaṅkara’s Advaita, the commentaries on the first five sūtras of the BS by Bhikṣu could adequately present Bhikṣu’s Avibhāga-Advaita Vedānta.
