A Modern Introduction to Indian Ethics (My Impressions of Indian Moral Problems and Concepts) An Old and Rare Book

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FOR a long time I had a mind to study ethical problems in Indian Philosophy. Recently on account of the fellowship made available to me by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, it was possible for me to study these problems in depth and formulate the results of my study. The present work is the outcome of this study.

I should make it clear at the outset that I am not quite satisfied with what I have done. First, although I went through a very large literature in original, ranging from some parts of Vedas and Upaniṣads to relevant portions from Paņini's Aşțadhyayi and Patañjali's Mahabhaşya on it, Bhartṛhari's Vakyapadiya, chapters of the Mahabharata like Adiparva, Vanaparva, Anuśasanaparva, Śantiparva, Shrimad Bhagawatgita (with important commentaries on it) and Anu-Gita, also some smrti litera- ture, and works like Pañcatantra, Hitopadeșa, I am not able to incorporate all these results in the span of this study. I think I shall have to write two more parts, one given to the Mahabharata except the Bhagwatgita and Anu-Gita and the other for Bhagawatgita, Anu-Gita and smrtis. There should, in fact, be two more parts, dealing with Buddha and Jain literature. I have not been able to formulate the results of all these for various reasons. In the first place, although the ethical message in the story literature is clear to me, I found it difficult to put it in the thesis-form. For all these are only illustrations of the accepted or prescribed moral code. I have not been able to get the evidence and arguments as to how this moral code was formulated and what the methodology of this moral code was. Moreover, I find several contrary statements in this literature. This is also the case with the Bhagawatgita and the smrti literature. I think, although these are profound writings, I shall have to devote more time to understand them in all their dimensions. I have, therefore, decided to present in this book, my basic findings only and I call it the first part.