[Footnote 1: May the noble-minded scholars instead of cherishing ill feeling kindly correct whatever errors have been here committed through the dullness of my intellect in the way of wrong interpretations and misstatements.]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY……………………………………………..1
CHAPTER II
THE VEDAS, BRÂHMA@NAS AND THEIR PHILOSOPHY
1 The Vedas and their antiquity……………………………10
2 The place of the Vedas in the Hindu mind………………….10
3 Classification of the Vedic literature……………………11
4 The Sa@mhitâs………………………………………….12
5 The Brâhma@nas…………………………………………13
6 The Âra@nyakas…………………………………………14
7 The @Rg-Veda, its civilization…………………………..14
8 The Vedic gods…………………………………………16
9 Polytheism, Henotheism, and Monotheism……………………17
10 Growth of a Monotheistic tendency; Prajâpati, Vis'vakarma…..19
11 Brahma………………………………………………..20
12 Sacrifice; the First Rudiments of the Law of Karma…………21
13 Cosmogony—Mythological and Philosophical…………………23
14 Eschatology; the Doctrine of Âtman……………………….25
15 Conclusion…………………………………………….26
CHAPTER III
THE EARLIER UPANI@SADS (700 B.C.-600 B.C.)
1 The place of the Upani@sads in Vedic literature……………28
2 The names of the Upani@sads; Non-Brahmanic influence……….30
3 Brâhma@nas and the Early Upani@sads………………………31
4 The meaning of the word Upani@sad………………………..38
5 The composition and growth of diverse Upani@sads…………..38
6 Revival of Upani@sad studies in modern times………………39
7 The Upani@sads and their interpretations………………….41
8 The quest after Brahman: the struggle and the failures……..42
9 Unknowability of Brahman and the Negative Method…………..44
10 The Âtman doctrine……………………………………..45
11 Place of Brahman in the Upani@sads……………………….48
12 The World……………………………………………..51
13 The World-Soul…………………………………………52
14 The Theory of Causation…………………………………52
15 Doctrine of Transmigration………………………………53
16 Emancipation…………………………………………..58