The Mind of India

Reviews / Votes

"Splendidly organized, incorporating the best of translations, this collection presents the educated layman with a concise but noble spectrum of Indian philosophy from 2000 B.C. to the present.

"Included are Vedic hymns and excerpts from the Upanis-hads, the Bhagavad Gita, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. There are generous portions from the Laws of Manu and the teachings of modern mystics Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, and Krishnamurti. Gandhi's writings on nonvio-lence and Tagore's on soul-consciousness are represented. The volume concludes with twentieth-century theories of value, the self, and God, by philosophers Radhakrishnan and Coo-maraswamy, among others.

"Each section begins with a succinct explanation of that particular philosophy's place in Indian history, and short biog-raphies of the philosophers. Eighteen of the most significant and recurring theses are outlined in the introduction. There is a chronology and bibliography.

"Gerber, lecturer in philosophy at the University of Mary-land, has produced a rare ambassador of a book-an anthology for which both East and West will be grateful."-Leona B. Bagai, Books Abroad