In this fourteenth century text 'A Compendium of all the Philosophical Systems' (of India) the author successively passes in review the sixteen philosophical systems current in India at the time, and gives what appeared to him to be their most important tenets, and the principal arguments by which their followers endeavoured to maintain them. In the course of his sketches he frequently explains at some length obscure details in the different systems.
The systems are arranged from the Advaita-point of view. They form a gradually ascending scale-the first, the Charvaka and bauddha, being the lowest as the farthest removed from Advaita, and the last, Sankhya and Yoga being the highest as approaching most nearly to it.
The present translation was originally published serially in the Banaras Pandit between 1874 and 1878 and was carefully revised and republished in book form later and a second edition was printed in 1894. |
