History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 02: The Creative Period

The book is organized around the historical formation of Indian philosophical thought. Chapter I studies the transition from the later Vedic period to the Brāhmaṇa period, including the position of the Veda in Indian life, changes in ritual, social and political organization, ethical ideas, aesthetics, cosmogony, theogony, monotheistic tendencies, conceptions of life and death, and the development of sacrificial symbolism. Chapter II surveys Brāhmaṇa speculations, focusing on the chronology and contents of the Brāhmaṇas, the sacrificial system, the nitya, kāmya, soma, aśvamedha and other sacrifices, the role of mantras, the relation of devas and asuras, bandhu-theory, sacrifice as a cosmic principle, creation theories, and early psychological reflections. Chapter III analyzes the transition from Brāhmaṇa thought to the Upaniṣadic period, including bhakti, penance, asceticism, transmigration, liberation, the Āraṇyakas, and the chronology and literary form of the Upaniṣads. The following chapters offer critical expositions of major Upaniṣadic texts, especially the early and classical Upaniṣads, examining prāṇa, Ātman, Brahman, creation myths, ethical deductions, metaphysical psychology, mysticism, eschatology, and the philosophical method of dialogue and symbolic interpretation.