A concise dictionary of Indian philosophy : Sanskrit terms defined in English /

The literature on Indian philosophy, both by Indian and by Western scholars, has been enormous in both introductory and scholarly treatments of various schools. There is, however, a paucity of reference works giving knowledge of basic terms of classical concepts found in major schools of Indian philosophy, without presupposing expert grounding in the subject. The book under review admirably fulfills this need. The various schools dealt with are Buddhism, Jainism, Carvaka, Nyaya, Vaisesika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa, Vedanta, Saiva Siddhanta, Vira Saivism, Kashmir Saivism, and Sivadvaita. The book is both basic and comprehensive. As described by the author, "It is basic in that (i) it includes virtually all the words basic to the various Indian philosophical systems, and (ii) it defines these terms in their dictionary or common and literal meanings. The book is comprehensive in that it defines many of its terms with the specific meanings that a word has for a specific school" (pref.). The terms in Sanskrit are given in Devanagari script, plus romanized transliteration, and are defined in English; arrangement is in the order of the English alphabet. The transliteration is word by word, except in a very few cases based on grammatical rules (sandhi cheda) that dictate the breaking up of long words, e.g., "Suksmendriya" has been transliterated as "Suksma-indriya." This is a very useful aspect of the dictionary. The scheme of transliteration and pronunciation is given in the beginning of the text. Also very useful are 14 charts, which give, at a glance, information regarding relationships, categories, and sourcebooks relevant to the individual schools. One may differ with the author in regard to the index of important words, which appear in the text but were not given individual definitions. The book is very carefully printed with various diacritical marks. No error was found in either the Sanskrit terms in Devanagari script or in the romaniztion. Though the major work in Indian philosophy remains the four-volume Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, ed. by Karl H. Potter (1970-87, CH Dec '70, Apr '82), the work under a review is a kind of "ready reference" which will be found useful both by scholars and generalists. Recommended for any institution involved in the study and teaching of Indian philosophy, religion, culture, and history. O. P. Sharma University of Michigan