Spiritual Heritage of India (book)
Encyclopedia
The Spiritual Heritage of India is a book written by Swami Prabhavananda
(1893–1976), founder and head of the Vedanta Society of Southern California from 1930 until his death. Originally published in 1962 by Doubleday, the book has been republished with the same title in several later editions, including hardcover, paperback, and sound recording. It has been reviewed in magazines and professional journals.David G. Bradley (1964).Untitled - review of Prabhavananda's The Spiritual Heritage of India. Journal of Bible and Religion [predecessor of Journal of the American Academy of Religion
], v32 n2, pp. 186-187. A foreword by Huston Smith
was first included in a 1979 edition.
The book concludes with a bibliography and index. In the foreword, Smith wrote that one of the book's
) stated that "The Spiritual Heritage of India offers a clear Indian view of a subject that currently suffers from too much Western commentary," and that "Prabhavananda treats India's spiritual heritage in terms of 'immediate perception,' as opposed to abstract speculation.... his own translations, though limited in this volume, embody unusual poetic power" (p. 101).
Christian Century wrote that "As India seeks to define herself as a secular state it becomes ever more important for us to be informed about the kinds of theisms and nontheisms that go into her religious philosophy.[Prabhavananda's book] is a comprehensive survey; little previous familiarity is necessary on the reader's part" (p. 619
Publishers Weekly
, stated that in this book "Swami Prabhavananda, [who is] a recognized authority on the subject of Indian religion and philosophy [and] whose books are used as texts at Indian universities, explains in detail the various schools of religious thought that have developed in India" (p. 47).
A reviewer in the academic journal Philosophy stated that "Swami Prabhavananda has written a charming and authoritative book on the spiritual heritage of India, by which he means that heritage in consonance with the Vedic tradition and its culmination in Vedanta" (p. 376).
The reviewer stated that "throughout the book breathes an air of relaxed simplicity and conviction.... I was particularly refreshed by the absence of attacks on science, materialism, naturalism, and other such means to spiritual fulfilment" (pp. 376–377). A reviewer in the Hibbert Journal stated that "True to the spirit of Ramakrishna to whose Order of Monks he belongs, he is extremely catholic in his spiritual outlook, which makes his book imbued with wide sympathies and understanding. The non-specialist reader will find it a good and reliable introduction to the spiritual heritage of India. But it will be useful also to the more serious student of Indian philosophy and religion, since it covers almost the whole field of spiritual thought and practice in that ancient land"
(pp. 349–350).
, a well-known literary figure. Copley noted that Prabhavananda wrote two overviews of Indian philosophy, Vedic Religion and Philosophy (1937) and The Spiritual Heritage of India (1962). According to Copley, in the later book, "more space is given to the heterodox while trying to incorporate them within the orthodox. He saw the teachings of the Tantras
as compatible with those of the Upanishads. Here the role of the eternal feminine is introduced; the power of sakti
, of God the mother, inseparable from the Absolute.... He also sets out more fully an account of the psychology of yoga. Intriguingly, he tries to demonstrate that Freud's two basic instincts, Eros
and Thanatos
, translated here as the will to live and the will to death - and quite clearly in America with its cult of psychoanalysis Prabhavananda could not continue to ignore Freud - can be incorporated into yoga psychology" (pp. 238–239).
Swami Prabhavananda
Swami Prabhavananda was an Indian philosopher, monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and religious teacher.-Biography:...
(1893–1976), founder and head of the Vedanta Society of Southern California from 1930 until his death. Originally published in 1962 by Doubleday, the book has been republished with the same title in several later editions, including hardcover, paperback, and sound recording. It has been reviewed in magazines and professional journals.David G. Bradley (1964).Untitled - review of Prabhavananda's The Spiritual Heritage of India. Journal of Bible and Religion [predecessor of Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
The Journal of the American Academy of Religion is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Religion...
], v32 n2, pp. 186-187. A foreword by Huston Smith
Huston Smith
Huston Cummings Smith is a religious studies scholar in the United States. His book The World's Religions remains a popular introduction to comparative religion.-Education:...
was first included in a 1979 edition.
Topics covered
Following an 8 page introduction, The Spiritual Heritage of India is divided into five major sections or "books":- I. The VedasVedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
and the Upanishads. This contains chapters on general aspects of the Vedas; On the SamhitasVedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
, Brahmanas, and Aranyakas; and a lengthy chapter on the Upanishads.
- II. The Auxiliary Scriptures. Chapters on the conceptual status of the auxiliary scriptures, including summaries of RamayanaRamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
, MahabharataMahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, and Yoga VasisthaYoga VasisthaYoga Vasistha is a Hindu spiritual text traditionally attributed to Valmiki. It recounts a discourse of the sage Vasistha to a young Prince Rama, during a period when the latter is in a dejected state...
; on the Bhagavad GitaBhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
; and on the Smritis, PuranasPuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
, and TantrasTantrasTantras refers to numerous and varied scriptures pertaining to any of several esoteric traditions rooted in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. Although Buddhist and Hindu Tantra have many similarities from the outside, they do have some clear distinctions. The rest of this article deals with Hindu...
.
- III. JainismJainismJainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
and BuddhismBuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. A chapter on each of these traditions.
- IV. The Six Systems of Thought. Chapters include general remarks on the six orthodox (astika) schools of Hindu philosophyHindu philosophyHindu philosophy is divided into six schools of thought, or , which accept the Vedas as supreme revealed scriptures. Three other schools do not accept the Vedas as authoritative...
; NyayaNyaya' is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy—specifically the school of logic...
and VaisheshikaVaisheshikaVaisheshika or ' is one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy of India. Historically, it has been closely associated with the Hindu school of logic, Nyaya....
; SamkhyaSamkhyaSamkhya, also Sankhya, Sāṃkhya, or Sāṅkhya is one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy and classical Indian philosophy. Sage Kapila is traditionally considered as the founder of the Samkhya school, although no historical verification is possible...
; Yoga system of PatanjaliPatañjaliPatañjali is the compiler of the Yoga Sūtras, an important collection of aphorisms on Yoga practice. According to tradition, the same Patañjali was also the author of the Mahābhāṣya, a commentary on Kātyāyana's vārttikas on Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī as well as an unspecified work of medicine .In...
; Purva Mimamsa; and the Brahma SutrasBrahma SutrasThe Brahma sūtras , also known as Vedānta Sūtras , are one of the three canonical texts of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. A thorough study of Vedānta requires a close examination of these three texts, known in Sanskrit as the Prasthanatrayi, or the three starting points...
(also known as the Vedanta Sutras)
- V. Vedanta and Its Great Exponents. Chapters are included on GaudapadaGaudapadaGaudapada was a very early guru in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy...
; ShankaraAdi ShankaraAdi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
; BhaskaraBhāskara (philosopher)Bhāskara was an Indian philosopher in the Bhedabheda tradition of Vedanta philosophy.He wrote commentaries on the Brahma Sutras, and contested Shankara's doctrine of māyā .According to Swami Prabhavananda,...
; YamunaYamunaThe Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...
; RamanujaRamanujaRamanuja ; traditionally 1017–1137, also known as Ramanujacharya, Ethirajar , Emperumannar, Lakshmana Muni, was a theologian, philosopher, and scriptural exegete...
; NimbarkaNimbarkaNimbarka , is known for propagating the Vaishnava Theology of Dvaitadvaita, duality in unity. According to scholars headed by Prof. Roma Bose, he lived in the 13th Century, on the assumption that Śrī Nimbārkācārya was the author of the work Madhvamukhamardana...
; MadhwaMadhvacharyaMadhvācārya was the chief proponent of Tattvavāda "Philosophy of Reality", popularly known as the Dvaita school of Hindu philosophy. It is one of the three most influential Vedānta philosophies. Madhvācārya was one of the important philosophers during the Bhakti movement. He was a pioneer in...
; Vallabha; Sri CaitanyaChaitanya MahaprabhuChaitanya Mahaprabhu was a Vaishnava saint and social reformer in eastern India in the 16th century, believed by followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism to be the full incarnation of Lord Krishna...
; and Sri Ramakrishna.
The book concludes with a bibliography and index. In the foreword, Smith wrote that one of the book's
many virtues is the way it integrates the variety in the Indian heritage which, left to itself, can be bewildering. Even Buddhism and Jainism, technically considered by Hindus to be unorthodox, are here shown to be authentic expressions of the basic Indian vision. Or the Six Systems of Indian Philosophy; often regarded as competitors, they are here shown to complement one another.... Indian thought as it emerges in the reading of this book is... pre-disciplinary in the rich and holistic way that Biblical, Chinese and early Greek thought are. (p. 9)
Reviews
A reviewer in the magazine Books Abroad (later renamed as World Literature TodayWorld Literature Today
World Literature Today is an American magazine, published bimonthly at the University of Oklahoma. It was founded in 1927 by Roy Temple House as Books Abroad. In January 1977, the journal became World Literature Today...
) stated that "The Spiritual Heritage of India offers a clear Indian view of a subject that currently suffers from too much Western commentary," and that "Prabhavananda treats India's spiritual heritage in terms of 'immediate perception,' as opposed to abstract speculation.... his own translations, though limited in this volume, embody unusual poetic power" (p. 101).
Christian Century wrote that "As India seeks to define herself as a secular state it becomes ever more important for us to be informed about the kinds of theisms and nontheisms that go into her religious philosophy.
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
, stated that in this book "Swami Prabhavananda, [who is] a recognized authority on the subject of Indian religion and philosophy [and] whose books are used as texts at Indian universities, explains in detail the various schools of religious thought that have developed in India" (p. 47).
A reviewer in the academic journal Philosophy stated that "Swami Prabhavananda has written a charming and authoritative book on the spiritual heritage of India, by which he means that heritage in consonance with the Vedic tradition and its culmination in Vedanta" (p. 376).
The reviewer stated that "throughout the book breathes an air of relaxed simplicity and conviction.... I was particularly refreshed by the absence of attacks on science, materialism, naturalism, and other such means to spiritual fulfilment" (pp. 376–377). A reviewer in the Hibbert Journal stated that "True to the spirit of Ramakrishna to whose Order of Monks he belongs, he is extremely catholic in his spiritual outlook, which makes his book imbued with wide sympathies and understanding. The non-specialist reader will find it a good and reliable introduction to the spiritual heritage of India. But it will be useful also to the more serious student of Indian philosophy and religion, since it covers almost the whole field of spiritual thought and practice in that ancient land"
(pp. 349–350).
Other
The Spiritual Heritage of India was discussed in Antony Copley's (2006) book about Prabhavananda's disciple Christopher IsherwoodChristopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
, a well-known literary figure. Copley noted that Prabhavananda wrote two overviews of Indian philosophy, Vedic Religion and Philosophy (1937) and The Spiritual Heritage of India (1962). According to Copley, in the later book, "more space is given to the heterodox while trying to incorporate them within the orthodox. He saw the teachings of the Tantras
Tantras
Tantras refers to numerous and varied scriptures pertaining to any of several esoteric traditions rooted in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. Although Buddhist and Hindu Tantra have many similarities from the outside, they do have some clear distinctions. The rest of this article deals with Hindu...
as compatible with those of the Upanishads. Here the role of the eternal feminine is introduced; the power of sakti
Sakti
Sakti is a town and a nagar palika in Janjgir-Champa district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh.It was the seat of the princely Sakti State.-Geography:Sakti is located at . It has an average elevation of 237 metres .-Demographics:...
, of God the mother, inseparable from the Absolute.... He also sets out more fully an account of the psychology of yoga. Intriguingly, he tries to demonstrate that Freud's two basic instincts, Eros
Eros
Eros , in Greek mythology, was the Greek god of love. His Roman counterpart was Cupid . Some myths make him a primordial god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite....
and Thanatos
Thanatos
In Greek mythology, Thanatos was the daemon personification of death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appearing in person...
, translated here as the will to live and the will to death - and quite clearly in America with its cult of psychoanalysis Prabhavananda could not continue to ignore Freud - can be incorporated into yoga psychology" (pp. 238–239).
Editions
The original edition was published by in London by Allen and Unwin in 1962. Editions include:- London: George Allen & Unwin (1962), hardcover, OCLC 67572212, OCLC 460779291, OCLC 1907182 (374 pages)
- Garden City, NY: Doubleday (1963), hardcover, OCLC 269556, ASIN B001OMOO2I, ASIN B000NW9XI0
- Garden City, NY: Anchor (1964), paperback, OCLC 7496498, OCLC 80147018, ASIN B001RQXVTS (374 pages)
- Hollywood, CA: Vedanta Press (1969), paperback, ISBN 9780874810226 (short ISBN 0874810221) (374 pages)
- Madras, India: Sri Ramakrishna Math (1977), paperback, OCLC 500503758, ISBN 9788171201457 (short ISBN 8171201458) (374 pages)
- Hollywood, CA: Vedanta Press (1979), paperback, ISBN 9780874810356 (book itself lists only 10-digit ISBN 0874810353) (374 pages)
- Enfield, NSW, Australia: Royal Blind Society Student and Special Transcriptions (1996), sound recording, OCLC 221972992
- New Delhi: Cosmos (2003), hardcover, ISBN 9788177557466 (short ISBN 8177557467) (361 pages)
- New Delhi, India: Indigo Books (2004), paperback, ISBN 978-8129200563 (short ISBN 8129200562) (361 pages)