Freedom Transcendence And Identity: Essays in memory of Professor Kalidas Bhattacharyya (An Old and Rare book)

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About the Book:

KALIDAS BHATTACHARYYA (1911-1984) belonged to that select band of Indian philosophers who did not remain content with the mere exposition of classical Indian thought systems. Grounded equally well in the intricacies of both Eastern and Western philosophical systems, he refused to harp on the superiority or inferiority of either. According to him, the essential nature of Indian philosophical quest lies in its concept of 'total man' which finds expression in 'the unity of spirit and matter', in the grand idea of 'freedom', which is the realization of self-in man through action.

This commemoration volume in honour of Professor Kalidas Bhattacharyya presents a selection of papers from contributors whose accomplishments in the different areas of Indian philosophy are of a high order. Great ideas, classical and modern, are brought within the ambit of rational enquiry and examined with critical insight.

In presenting the volume to the reader, the Indian Council of Philosophical Research pays its tribute to the memory of one of the outstanding philosophers of our time.

EDITOR'S PREFACE:

KALIDAS BHATTACHARYYA, one of the very few outstanding philosophers of India, passed away just when he was at the top of his distinguished career. With his death India has lost one of her luminaries in his full bloom.

The son of an illustrious father, the late Professor Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya, Kalidas Bhattacharyya was a profound scholar, a prolific writer and the producer of a generation philosophers who have earned international acclaim. Many of his students are now actively engaged in their philosophical pursuits in the USA, the UK, Canada and various other parts of the globe.
The late Professor Kalidas bhattacharyya, in his capacity as a National Fellow of the Indian Council of Philosophical research, New Delhi, chose Visva-Bharti University as the proper place for his philosophical activities, not because he was once associated with this university as the director, Centre of Advanced Study in Philosophy or as its Vice-Chancellor or as Professor emeritus, but solely because he had an overwhelming respect and admiration for the unique philosophical vision of Maharshi Debandranath and particularly of Rabindranath Tagore which he further expanded and to which he added a new flair by his own deep philosophical insight. Under the influence of the concepts of freedom and transcendence as propounded in the Upanisads and subsequently by the traditional Indian philosophical systems, Professor Bhattacharyya fully worked out has own philosophy of man in his monograph entitled The Indian Concept of Man which he further developed in 'Some Philosophical Issues in Kathopanisad' Perhaps the best paper he wrote during his life time.

Shrimati Santwana Majumdar worked hard and prepared for this volume a list of publication of her teacher which will go a long way towards the proper understanding of Professor Bhattacharyya's vast range of study and indicating the depth of his philosophical insight.

It will be seen that the contributors of this volume have independently focused on the main thrust which constitutes the chief undertone of the total philosophical Outlook of Professor Bhattacharyya. What is worth paying attention to is the overall Indian dimension in the papers a dimension which had been almost a matter of commitment with the late Professor Kalidas Bhattacharyya.

I remain grateful to professor D. P. Chattopadhyaya, Chairman, the Indian Council of Philosophical Research for accepting my proposal for publishing such a memorial volume. The task of editing this volume which he gave me is for me an honour, I am afraid, I do not really deserve. I offer my grateful thanks for their spontaneous response.

Santiniketan

PRADIP KUMAR SENGUPTA