Śaivism in Philosophical Perspective: A Study of the Formative Concepts, Problems, and Methods of Śaiva SiddhāntaSaivism is one of the pervasive expressions of Indian Religious Culture stretching to the dim past of pre-history and surviving as a living force in the thought and life of millions of Hindus especially in Southern India and Northern Ceylon. The present work is scholarly reconstruction of Saivism in its characteristic and classical from as Saiva Siddhanta, focusing mainly on the philosophical doctrine and presenting a conceptual analysis of its formative notions, problems and methods. Anteceding the rise of the great systems of Vedanta including that of Sankara, Saiva Siddhanta in its fully systematised form as Mystical Theology in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries represents a constructive reaction to the theological, ethical and aesthetic aspects of Vedanta as a whole. A patient study of this much neglected phase of religo-philosophical development of India should prove useful for a more balanced understanding of Indian religiosity, providing a corrective to the view entertained not without justification that Indian religious thought does not affirms the values of freedom, love and personality. This methodical study, appended with very exhaustive glossary, bibliography and index and two-hundred pages of references and foot-notes is designed to meet the requirements of seriious students of Eastern religious thought. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 43 | |
God as Cause | 69 |
God as the only Cause | 100 |
God as the Lord of Cosmic Functions | 127 |
relation | 148 |
God as Will and Being | 177 |
the theogonic process | 187 |
The Nature of True or Valid Knowledge | 307 |
Selfvalidity of Knowledge and Revelation | 336 |
Spiritual Life as Means Sadhana | 373 |
Spiritual Life as End Moksa | 405 |
Transcendent Enjoyment | 412 |
NOTES AND REFERENCES | 421 |
God and the Absolute 189 | 481 |
Some Definitions of Validity | 580 |
Interpretation of Maya | 205 |
Doctrine of Thirtysix Tattvas | 220 |
The Doctrine of Mala | 248 |
The Self and its Knowledge | 279 |
GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS | 621 |
| 646 | |
| 658 | |
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Common terms and phrases
absence of knowledge admit advaita āgama agent apprehension argument arise asat ātman avasthā becomes bhoga bindu Bliss bondage brahman buddhi causal characteristic cit-śakti cited cognition Comm conceived concept condition consciousness constitutive cosmic functions creation darśana determinate dīkṣā Dissolution distinction Divine effect error eternal evolution existence experience freedom God's Grace ground guna ibid identical ignorance illumination implies inference infra Ch intelligent intuition involves jñāna judgment kalā karana karma kriyā latter ledge mala manifest Māpādiam material cause māyā means meditation metaphysical Meykandar middle term moksa monism nacre namely nature negation non-valid Nyaya object one's pāśa paśu pati perceived perception positive prakrti pramāņa predicate present rāga reality relation reveals śabda Śaiva Saiva Siddhānta Saivāgama Saivism śakti self's sense Śiva spirit Śruti śuddha Supakkam tattvas theory thing tion transcendent transcendental truth upādāna valid knowledge Veda Vedānta vrtti word yogin
Popular passages
Page 17 - Memory requires more than mere dating of a fact in the past. It must be dated in my past. In other words, I must think that I directly experienced its occurrence. It must have that 'warmth and intimacy...
Page 15 - ... rigid, motionless, and totally lacking in initiative or influence, cannot call forth our worship. Like the Taj Mahal, which is unconscious of the admiration it arouses, the Absolute remains indifferent to the fear and love of its worshippers, and for all those who regard the goal of religion as the goal of philosophy — to know God is to know the real — Sarhkara's view seems to be a finished example of learned error.