Indian Philosophy

Author(s): Sukhlal Sanghavi
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 21

Philosophy-Origin and Subject-matter
of-worship specific to Indus-civilization, and certain valid surmises began to be made as regard the practice-cum-thought of the indigenous Indian people that were there prior to the advent and spread of the Vedic Aryans the researchers are more and more definitely of the view that the currents of practice-cum-thought specifie to the pre-Vedic civilization have to some extent gained entrance in the practice-cum-thought of the latter-day people, currents which certainly underwent modification but which neither were extirpated nor could be extirpated. True, the written part of the remnants of the Indus-civilization has not yet been deciphered in a doubt-free form. And the task of determining as to which elements of this ancient Dravadiancum-Indus civilization have been preserved in the latter-day literature and in what form remains to be accomplished and is also tremendously labour -consuming. Besides, on the basis of an analysis of the Vedic literature Dr. Devadatta Bhandarkar in his book Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture' has envisaged the possibility of some religion-cum-culture having been prevailed in the eastern parts of the pre-Vedic India that is noteworthy.
14 Philosophy of Ancient India (1897) p. 32 onwards.
15 The Six Systems of Indian Philosophy (1903) pp. 58 /
Relation Between the Greek and Indian Philosophical Speculations
Generally it is understood that old are two currents of philosophical speculation viz. the Greek and the Indian, And since long have the scholars been discussing whether there is or is not a mutual relationship between the two. The question was in fact raised for the first time by the western researchers; and an attempt to answer it too was indicated by them. Later on, the Indian savants too have taken part in the task of answering it. Some German and other scholars, on the basis of a comparative study, came to maintain that the Greek philosophical speculation influenced the Indian, but scholars like Garbe14 are of the view that the Indian philosophical speculation influenced the Greek. The question has been given right consideration by Max Muller.15 Thus his confirmed view is that there is no definite evidence for maintaining that either of the two thought-currents in question has influenced the other. He admits that there is a great similarity between the Greek and Indian thought-currents but goes on to add that this similarity is no sufficient ground for proving that either has influenced the other. Too often is an identity of thought naturally generated between human groups belonging to two different geographical regions and two different periods of time. So until a doubt-free evidence is forthcoming it has to be admitted that the Greek and Indian philosophical speculations have run a parallel course without influencing each other.
-
13