From Vasubandhu to Caitanya

by Johannes Bronkhorst

The chapters in this volume are a selection of papers presented in the general Philosophy Section at the 12th World Sanskrit Conference in Helsinki, Finland. The first part of the book, Studies in Indian Philosophy, contains nine studies on individual topics and concepts in Indian philosophy from various perspectives: historical-philological, philosophical and comparative. They are inter alia concerned with such fundamental issues as the characteristic signs of the Self, the concept of vijnaptimatrata in Vasubandhu's Yogacara, the notion of unchanging cognition in the writings of the Kashmirian author Ramakantha, the definition of existence according to the late Buddhist philosopher Jnanasrimitra, and the significance of the sadhana catustaya in Vedanta. In the second part of the book, two papers contribute to the study of the textual history of Indian philosophy, with a focus on the Patanjalayogasastra and Candrananda's commentary on the Vaisesikasutra.