From Vasubandhu to Caitanya: Studies in Indian Philosophy and Its Textual History

The chapter in this volume is a selection of papers presented in the general Philosophy Section at the 12th World Sanskrit Conference in Helsinki, Finland. The first part of the book, Studies in Indian Philosophy, contains nine studies on individual topics and concepts in Indian philosophy from various perspectives: historical-philological, philosophical and comparative. They are inter alia concerned with such fundamental issues as the characteristic signs of the Self, the concept of vijnaptimatrata in Vasubandhu's Yogacara, the notion of unchanging cognition in the writings of the Kashmirian author Ramakantha, the definition of existence according to the late Buddhist philosopher Jnanasrimitra, and the significance of the sadhana catustaya in Vedanta. In the second part of the book, two papers contribute to the study of the textual history of Indian philosophy, with a focus on the Patanjalayogasastra and Candrananda's commentary on the Vaisesikasutra.

About the Author(s)

JOHANNES BRONKHORST is a Professor of Indian Studies at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. He has authored several books and articles on traditional Sanskrit linguistics, Indian thought, the history of asceticism and meditation in Indian religions.

KARIN PREISENDANZ is a Professor of Indology at the University of Vienna, Austria. Her main research interests are in the areas of Nyaya, Vaisesika and Sankhya, as well as in classical Ayurveda under its philosophical, religious and cultural aspects. She is co-editor of the Publications of the De Nobili Research Library, Vienna, and of the Wiener Zeitschrift fur die Kunde Sudasiens/Vienna Journal of South Asian Studies.

PETIERI KOSKIKALLIO and ASKO PARPOLA, Secretary General and President, respectively, of the 12th World Sanskrit Conference, are Finnish Indologists. Asko Parpola is a Professor Emeritus of South Asian and Indo-European Studies at the University of Helsinki.

Preface

The General Session of the Philosophy Section at the 12th World Sanskrit Conference, Helsinki, comprised altogether twenty-two papers in practically all areas of Indian philosophy. All six traditional darsanas were covered: Nyaya and Vaisesika, Samkhya and Yoga, as well as Mimamsa and Vedanta with their sub-traditions. Furthermore, there were contributions to the philosophy of the Saiva Siddhanta tradition, on Carvaka and Buddhist philosophy, and on the grammatical philosophy of Bhartrhari. The individual papers addressed a wide variety of subjects from different perspectives and with different methodologies. They treated inter alia the lively and controversial interaction between philosophical traditions, their overlap with religious traditions, the influence of grammar on philosophy, and the dynamics of changes of meaning within individual traditions. Some papers focused on philological–historical aspects and aspects of the textual transmission of philosophical works. The present volume contains a selection of eleven representative papers by authors from India, Japan, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain and the U.S.

The editors would like to acknowledge their gratefulness to their editorial assistants, Ms. Judith Starecek (Vienna), who worked on the papers by Bogdan Diaconescu, Ravi Gupta, Shashiprabha Kumar, Taiken Kyuma, Karen Lang, Philipp A. Maas, Sujata Purkayastha and Ferenc Ruzsa, and Mr Bogdan Diaconescu (Lausanne), who assisted in the editing of the papers by Kyo Kano, Rajam Raghunathan and Alex Watson. Ms Alexandra Bockle (Vienna) was so kind to perform the important task of going through the completed volume with a view to the harmonization of style. She also read the final proofs and prepared the list of index terms. Mr Keith Allen (Oxford) did the first round of English editing for all papers written by non-native speakers.

The editors also wish to thank the hosts and organizers of the conference for their warm hospitality and efficiency, and the Finnish Cultural Foundation for its generous support of the publication of this volume.

The publication of this volume has unfortunately been delayed by a number of factors beyond our control. Nevertheless, we do hope that scholars will derive pleasure and benefit from reading it.