Dedicated to the scared memory of my father
LATE SHRI JANKI DAS JI
of Barnala, Dist. Sangrur, Punjab who taught me to appreciate the varied and variegated
socio-cultural life in the land and to respect all shades of thoughts.
– Kewal Krishan Mittal (1974)
Synopsis:
The book also exposes some of the established misconceptions about Indian philosophy that, “It is essentially spiritualistic” and the like, made current by some ‘great’ orientalists with ulterior motives and accepted uncritically by the historians of Indian philosophy. Thus, the book maintains, that like life and culture, the Indian thought is equally rich and variegated decrying the tendency to consider all other schools of thought as so many steps towards Vedánta.
The book upholds that even for Materialism we need not seek inspiration elsewhere, as we not only have a system of materialism of our own (Indian) in the Cárvaka (Lokáyata) system but it also plays a role of considerable importance in the other thought-systems.