Reviews

Contemporary Indian Philosophy.–Edited by Sir S. Radhakrishnan and Dr. J. H. Muirhead. (George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London. Price 16 sh. net.)

The greatest contribution of India to the world is her philosophy, which has had a long course of development from the time of the Vedic seers of antiquity to the present day. The Indian mind, from the dawn of history, has had a peculiar aptitude for philosophic speculation and a strong fascination for the study and investigation of philosophic problems. From time to time, masterminds have grappled with its many problems and developed systems of thought and schools of philosophy. Thus, throughout the many centuries, there has been running a continuous current of noble philosophic tradition. At the present day with such a life-giving flow, have united the fertilising waters of western philosophy and modern science, and this beneficent contact has created a fresh outlook and a new inspiration. It is not commonly realised how greatly philosophic ideas have permeated all strata of Indian society. They have influenced the language of literature and of ordinary parlance among even the unlettered folk who, according to our modern notions, are not cultured. Philosophic terms and phrases are used in the daily conversations of life and understood by the common people, and the truths of Indian philosophy have become almost the life-breath of the nation. To the Westerner, philosophy is a subject for leisured study by highly cultured people. But, to the Indian, it is the language of his mother, and what to us now may seem abstruse philosophic notions are lisped by children. This is a phenomenon to be noted and borne in mind by foreigners whenever they approach Indian philosophic studies.

The plan of the Editors of this book has been to approach the great representative men of modern Indian culture and philosophy with the request to give, in their contributions, an outline of the convictions they hold on the ultimate problems of philosophy and the processes of thought by which those convictions have been arrived at. Hence, as may be expected, many have given short biographical sketches which indicate to the reader how they began to entertain those convictions. This has been evidently adopted to make the reader feel that philosophy has a bearing and influence on practical life, on the questions which humanity has to solve. There may be others in India, eminent philosophers, who have not been approached or who have not contributed to this volume, but the great men that have done so are the most representative men of modern India. Of course, one of the Editors, Sir S. Radhakrishnan, has himself contributed to the volume and he is one of the most distinguished philosophers of the world. It is naturally to be expected that, in a book which contains essays on subjects chosen by the authors themselves, there is not a logical, consistent and exhaustive treatment of the elements of Indian philosophy and its history and growth. To give such an account to the reader was not probably within the purview of the plan of the Editors.

The book contains peeps into Indian philosophy giving the reader the practical modern comparative outlook on some of the problems of Indian philosophy. Sometimes, we may find that the doubt raised by one contributor is unconsciously, or, in effect, resolved by another contributor. We may even find statements by one which cannot be reconciled with the statements of another. These are features which naturally affect symposiums of this kind. But the essays, emanating from the pen of eminent men, contain much food for deep study and reflection by the modern educated Hindu. Prof. Surendranath Das Gupta remarks that Indian philosophy is closed all round by four walls of unproved dogmas, (1) the dogma of the infallibility of the Vedic wisdom, (2) the dogma of emancipation and bondage, (3) the dogma of the law of Karma, and (4) the dogma of re-birth. This criticism seems to be more sweeping than necessary. In the region where Indian philosophy has a bearing upon the goal of human life from the point of view of religion, these beliefs, or dogmas as he calls them, may have full sway, but in the larger fields of philosophic speculation, Indian philosophers have exhibited a wonderful free-thinking, practically untrammeled by them. The theory of the infallibility of the Vedic wisdom as developed by the school of Mimamsakas is not mere dogma but really rests on an extension of the belief that the truths of the Veda have been established by the process of intuition. In the words of Sir S. Radhakrishnan in his masterly essay on ‘The Spirit in man,’ "there are certain propositions which are presupposed in experience which can neither be proved nor disproved. These unproved first principles are known by intuition. Intuition is beyond reason, though not against reason." Hence it is that the Mimamsakas confined their doctrine of the infallibility of Vedic wisdom to things beyond our limited perception. But even this infallibility has been, in practical discussions, got over by various other devices such as the supposition of a lost Vedic text and the principle of Samanvaya. Its operation in Indian philosophy can be likened to that of legal fiction in the development of ancient Jurisprudence.

The other three dogmas referred to by Prof. Das Gupta are also in the nature of unproved first experiences, or rather postulates, the probability of whose correctness is indicated by their affording satisfactory explanations for the otherwise in-explicable facts of the world and human nature. Such postulates and hypotheses are not unknown even among the material sciences which rest purely on logic, experiment and observation. Great has been the achievement of Indian philosophy in the past and the main problem for Indian philosophers, in the future, is to develop, adjust and check its theories and conclusions in the light of, and in conjunction with, the facts and theories established by science and modern thought. Just as in the ancient days, Indian philosophy largely indented on the processes of thought of the realistic school of Naiyayikas, now, the duty of Indian philosophers will be largely to view scientific conclusions from the philosophic standpoint and to utilise the scientific facts and theories to reinforce or modify, as the case may be, philosophic speculations. The attitude which Vedantic philosophy maintained towards the Naiyayika school of realism can well furnish an example for the attitude of Indian philosophy towards modern thought and science. This great book will lead the way and give the kindly light to the makers of future Indian philosophy.

Prof. A. R. Wadia makes the following caustic remark: "Emphasising the unity of the whole world, animate and inanimate, India has yet fostered a social system which has divided her children into water-tight compartments. She has become the home of untouchability and unapproachability, and, with many educated Indians, philosophy has come to be looked upon as a subject to be eschewed and treated with contempt." These observations, though they contain an element of truth, fail to take note of the historic fact that in India, ever since the Vedic age up till now, there have been two currents of thought, one flowing from this conception of the unity of the whole world, animate and inanimate, and the other due to the hard realities of racial differences. It has to be noted that, of all the countries in the world, it was in India that an honest attempt has been made for a synthesis between the two and for a practical application of the philosophic doctrine of the unity of the world. Though the synthesis has not yet been achieved, there have been evidences throughout the history of India of this attempt. The implication of the story of Dharma-Vyadha in the Mahabharata, the great Buddhist revolt centuries before Christ, the democratic movements in religious thought of the Bhakti school, the veneration and worship of saints from all castes, the tradition that some of the Rishis were of mixed birth, the organisations of the Ramanandiyas and the followers of Kabir, of the Sikhs and the Jains,–all these are forcible illustrations of the tendency of the Indian mind to effectuate an assimilation of racial differences and to bring about the abolition of the inequalities of caste hierarchy. We have to realise that the evils complained of by Prof. Wadia exist in different shapes and even aggravated forms in the other civilised countries of the modern world, and that it is only the history of India which shows that, far from annihilating the different races, Indian civilisation breathes the spirit of tolerance and of the assimilation of conflicting race-cultures.

K. BALASUBRAHMANIA AIYAR

The World’s Unborn Soul.–By Sir S. Radhakrishnan. (The Clarendon Press, Oxford. Price 2 sh.)

This is the inaugural lecture delivered by Sir S. Radhakrishnan before the University of Oxford as its Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics–a chair which he so worthily fills, to the great honour and pride of his countrymen in India. The central theme of this lecture is that "a new world is struggling to be born,’ that "we discern in the present unrest the gradual dawning of a great light, a converging life endeavour, a growing realisation that there is a secret spirit in which we are all one and of which humanity is the highest vehicle on earth, and an increasing desire to live out this knowledge and establish a kingdom of spirit on earth" and that, in this process of travail, Eastern thought, specially Hindu thought, has "its enduring value as a living force in shaping the soul of the modern man.’ Sir S. Radhakrishnan has the art of great expression. of magnificent phrasing, which makes the reader pause at every pregnant sentence, take in the idea, and dwell upon it with sympathetic imagination. Indeed this is the striking characteristic of the great masters of literature. In a short but masterly survey of the main periods of human history till the present day, he shows to us how period after period rolls on with its characteristic strivings for full expression and fulfillment, and, when one period fails to achieve its fullest development by some inherent flaws, there arises a new period out of the old, into which whatever is valuable in the old will enter. It is in this way we realise that human progress "is marked by a series of integrations, by the formation of more and more comprehensive harmonies." He visualises the new world, which is struggling to be born, as characterised by "a new social relationship and a new society, with civil liberties for all individuals and political freedom for all nations great and small," from which will have vanished "racialism and nationalism which require us to exercise our baser passions, to bully and cheat, to kill and loot." This new world will have need for the sustaining influence of Hindu thought.

With a few strokes of the pen, he reveals to us the fundamental trait of Hindu religious thought and practice, viz., the insistence on spiritual experience. This distinctiveness, he says, was observed even by the ancients. Philostratus says "all wish to live in the nearness of God but only the Hindus bring it to pass." The basic conception of our Seers and Saints is that "when man apprehends the Supreme Being, returns to the concrete, and controls his life in the light of its truth, he is a complete man," and that then "he reaches an almost inconceivable universality." All students of Hindu philosophy and religious literature will at once realise that this sums up beautifully the main teaching of Hindu religion, whatever may have been the variety of its speculations about religious problems. It is this ideal which is connoted by the Sanskrit term of Jivanmukta, and it is this message which the Lord delivers in the Gita when he commands Arjuna, the perfect man, to work for Loka-samgraha, hating none, with love and friendship to all. At the present day, it is the spirit of the Jivanmukta working for Loka-samgraha that should permeate the citizens of the world, and usher the birth of this great new world’s soul.

K. BALASUBRAHMANIA AIYAR

Why the Village Movement?–(A plea for a new economic order in India.) By J. C. Kumarappa (Published by the Hindustan Publishing Co. Ltd., Rajahmundry. Price, Inland As. 8/- Foreign 1 sh.)

With an agriculturally minded Viceroy, and a leader who represents the peasant’s view-point towards life and its problems, the Village Movement has attained very great importance in our country. Mr. Kumarappa argues the case for rural rehabilitation, with thoroughness and skill. The first two parts of his work deal with the question from a general and historical standpoint. The operative portion comes in the third part, which abounds with suggestions and solutions. The difficulty lies in co-ordinating the movement with the forces actually at work. The trend is in favour of the towns, centralisation and industrialisation on a large scale necessitating the neglect of rural areas. Mr. Kumarappa challenges the new order of things and points out the pitfalls and snares which follow in its wake. He would not only make the Indian village throb with healthy life and activity, but also reduce international trade to a minimum, and ensure universal peace by removing the factors which make for rivalry, jealousies and conflicts. Perhaps he is in the right; but the task before the All-India Village Industries Association is of an uphill character, and a much wider diffusion and understanding of its ideals and programme will be needed before they could be effectively implemented.

N. S. SRINIVASAN

KANNADA

Solo-Gelavo? (Defeat or Victory?).–By Devudu Narasimha Sastry. (Manohar Grantha Mala, Dharwar. pp. 122. Price, As 12)

Mr. Devudu Narasimha Sastry needs no introduction to the Kannada reading public. He has already made for himself a place in the literary renaissance of our days. The present book is a collection of three stories of love. They are not love stories in the traditional manner in which the pangs of separation are soon forgotten in the rapture of love’s fulfillment, but represent in distinct pictures three different phases of love. There is no regular development of one particular aspect as one might expect, but all the three stories are one in this, that before the sacred flame all men and women are mere moths. In fact the three stories represent how in life the woman makes the man surrender by first surrendering herself. She allows herself to be first defeated and then in turn, and almost in spite of the man himself, defeats him. There can however be no regular question of defeat or victory, in the face of the unity of love which binds them both together, although the one of them won and the other to all appearance yielded. That is how, as the author has given clear suggestion in putting an interrogatory mark against the title of the book, the question remains to be solved, and there remains no necessity of its being solved, as to who wins and who is won over. Both of them win, win all that human hope can ask for, and are in possession of a supreme blessing which nothing else in life can outweigh. People who are out of sympathy with life’s happiness cannot be good judges of the same, and when man sometimes casts away for some reason great pledges of a perfect happiness, the subconscious self remains ever craving for what it has lost in its rejection. That however is a human imperfection and like any other brings so much of uneasiness in life. The progress of the human spirit outward towards a proper realisation of things, through all the imperfections that surround it, forms the theme of the three pictures presented here.

If, in the first story, the man is deliberately casting away a great promise of happiness in refusing to be united with his sweet yet serious wife, the second one shows,–what in fact is a continuation of the conclusion of the first, after they have united as they must,–the opportunity to understand each other better. The two hearts that had touched each other then, are here seen mingling with each other. In the third, both the man and the woman know one another perfectly, and the woman in her unalterable love has surrendered herself totally though the man is still on uncertain ground. He has not been able in all his quest for beauty to understand that the heart of beauty pulsates with nothing else than beauty itself. He has not felt its power as yet, but soon realises that he can no longer keep himself when Indira (indirectly) opens his eyes to the depth of attachment with which Nila was looking up to him. The youthful ardour and romance of the first pair softens, in the case of the second, into an intensified domestic happiness when the woman realises that she can no longer afford to be a mere loving girl but has to be the mistress of the home and the queen of all affections. In the third, all distinctions between the two hearts that had waited to repose in each other fade away when the opportunity for their rapturous meeting arrives, and when they meet they are one.

The first is a well constructed story and the second a well painted picture, though here and there the colours are laid too thick on the canvas. There is nothing offensive specifically, but one feels that the picture is a trifle overdrawn in the romantic effusiveness of the two. The third, properly illustrating the thesis with which the author starts, does not fall short of others in any other respect except that the general effect of the story seems to have been achieved at a slight sacrifice of probability. Altogether, Mr. Devudu has certainly broken new ground in the writing of Kannada short stories when he illustrates how an undercurrent of some fundamental fact of feeling or thought can supply so much of Life.

V. M. INAMDAR

TELUGU

Geya-guchchamu (A Collection of Songs).–By S. Gurunadha Rao. (Vinukonda, Guntur Dt. Price As. 8.)

Simple and homely ideas rendered artistic by being put in rhyme and metre have a direct appeal to the mass mind and they gain in beauty by the simple language in which they are clothed, without the obtrusion of high-sounding and abstruse combination of words.

The songs in this neatly got-up book are for the most part patriotic, and deserve to be sung by the people in all assemblages where political propaganda is to be carried on. These political songs have certainly an exhilarating effect, and we wish for more of the type, by which Gandhian principles can be easily broadcast to take a firm root in the minds of the people. Some songs of another kind–which by the by remind one of Nanduri Subba Rao’s ‘Yenki Songs’–are very good. The song of Radha appeals by its long-drawn syllables, the sun-song by its suggestive beauty, and the rain-song for its natural description.

V. SRIRAMULU

Visvarupam.–By K. Kondiah, M.Sc., Department of Chemistry, The Hindu University, Benares. (Published by the Andhra University, Waltair. Price Rs. 2.)

We are living in an age of Science. At every step Science is being pressed into service to increase human happiness. It is applied in times of war to fight the enemy and in times of peace to increase the comforts of man. It is necessary that every one should know the fundamental principles of Science and appreciate the varied manifestations of Life. Hence the need for books giving a clear exposition of scientific principles and the recent theories advanced to explain the various phenomena of Nature cannot be over-emphasised. Jeans, Lodge, Eddington and others have written books in English for the lay reader. But such books must be written in all languages to make this knowledge available to all the peoples of the world. And, Mr. Kondiah has done signal service in this direction by writing his book in Telugu.

This book is based on ‘The Universe Around Us’ by Sir James Jeans. Mr. Kondiah has included the later developments also. In the first part of the book, the author deals with the nature of the nebulae, their distances, their temperatures, their relative weight, and the enormous velocities with which they travel. The second part deals with the nature of the atoms and their structure. The atom closely resembles the solar system. As Lodge has pointed out, "A molecule is like a constellation; and an ordinary piece of matter is like the Milky Way. Astronomy helps us to illustrate the atom, the atom is helping us to understand some things in astronomy; and, rather strangely, there are newly discovered facts about the internal structure and temperature of the stars which give us further information about atoms. The two provinces of knowledge, apparently in every sense so far apart, act and react on each other." The estimation of the ages of the earth and the stars and the origin of the Sun’s energy forms the third part. The fourth part of the book deals with the origin of the solar system. The fifth part deals with the stars, their temperatures, their relative weights and their luminosities.

The first difficulty in writing a scientific treatise in a vernacular language lies in the translation of technical terms. The Nagari Pracharini Sabha of Benares compiled a list of technical terms in Hindi and this list has been later revised by the Hindu University of Benares. Such a list of technical terms is necessary in Telugu also. The author has got over the difficulty of coining new technical equivalents by adopting the above and those used by Dr. B. N. Seal in his book ‘The Positive Sciences of the Hindus.’ A glossary of technical terms is given at the end of the book. The language is easy, flowing and effective.

An interesting feature of the book is the comparison the author has drawn between the results obtained by scientific experiments and the conclusions arrived at by our ancients through pure metaphysical reasoning.

K. JAGANNATHACHARI