Spiritual Heritage of India

The reader will find an expose of the main Vedas, Samhitas, Upanishads, followed by the philosophical ideas presended in Smrti and Sruti, then the schools of Jainism and Buddhismq as well as the orthodox schools of Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vasesika, Mimamsa nd Vedanta. A special chapter is dedicated to the main branches of Vedantic thought - Advaita, Visista-Dvaita and Dvaitadvaita with special accent on the views of Badarayana, Gaudapada, Sankara, Ramanuja, Nimbarka, Vallabha, Sri Caitanya, and Ramakrishna.

Contents: Preface. Introduction.

1. The Vedas: general aspects.
2. Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas.
3. Upanisads.
4. The auxiliary scriptures.
5. The Bhagavad-Gita.
6. The Smrtis, the Puranas, the Tantras.
7. Jainism.
8. Buddhism.
9. The six system of thought: general remarks.
10. Nyaya-Vaisesika.
11. The Samkhya system.
12. The Yoga system of Patanjali.
13. The Purva Mimamsa.
14. The Uttara Mimamsa or the Vedant Sutras.

Vedanta and its great exponents:
15. Gaudapada.
16. Samkara.
17. Bhaskara.
18. Yamuna.
19. Ramanuja.
20. Nimbarka.
21. Madhwa.
22. Vallabha.
23. Sri Caitanya.
24. Sri Ramakrsna.

25. Epitome.

Bibliography
Part I. Work significantly referred to in this book.
Part II. Other works pertaining to Indian philosophy.

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"The Spiritual Heritage of India is a brief history of the philosophy of a country that has never distinguished philosophy from religion. The account extends from centuries of which there is no historical record to the recent Sri Ramakrsna revival of the ancient Vedanta. This book brings together in one volume the spiritual magnificence of the sacred books such as the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita, three ancient Indian scriptures which are the foundation of the Hindu spiritual heritage."In connection with each of the subjects taken up the author supplies sufficient quotation from the texts concerned, as incidental illustration and sometimes also as appended passages, to give body and force to the exposition. His approach is clear and practical, and at the same time profound and richly poetic. This book takes the reader on a journey through the wisdom enshrined in these celebrated classics."This book is both an excellent introduction for readers who are coming to the subject for the first time, and a series of meditations for those who already know it well. The author has ably entered into these ancient Indian treasure-houses of spirituality and offer their ancient wisdom to the modern spiritual seeker."