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    Plato and Vedic Idealism
    Plato and Vedic Idealism
    Plato and Vedic Idealism
    Ebook61 pages1 hour

    Plato and Vedic Idealism

    By Swami Paramananda

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    About this ebook

    Vedanta, along with Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, and Mimamsa, is one of the six Hindu theist philosophies. It focuses heavily on the Upanishads, which center concepts such as Brahman (ultimate reality) and Atman (soul, self).

    In Plato and Vedic Idealism, which was first published in 1924, Swami Paramananda explores similarities between Greek philosophy, with emphasis on Plato, and Vedic philosophy.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBorodino Books
    Release dateDec 1, 2018
    ISBN9781789124392
    Plato and Vedic Idealism

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      Book preview

      Plato and Vedic Idealism - Swami Paramananda

      This edition is published by Muriwai Books – www.pp-publishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – muriwaibooks@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 1924 under the same title.

      © Muriwai Books 2018, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      PLATO AND VEDIC IDEALISM

      BY

      SWAMI PARAMANANDA

      "All ancient books which have once been called sacred by man will have their lasting place in the history of mankind, and those who possess the courage, the perseverance, and the self-denial of the true miner, and of the true scholar, will find even in the darkest and dustiest shafts what they are seeking for,—real nuggets of thought, and precious jewels of faith and hope."

      Max Müller.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      MAKER OF THE BEAUTIFUL 5

      I—GREEK PHILOSOPHY AND INDIAN THOUGHT 6

      II—SECOND PERIOD OF GREEK THOUGHT 9

      III—PLATO AND VEDIC IDEALISM 14

      IV—CONCEPTION OF THE SOUL AND ITS IMMORTALITY 18

      PART II—Platonic Myths and Vedic Parables 22

      I—THE SOUL IN ITS COURSE 22

      II—CREATION 27

      III—SEARCH AFTER ULTIMATE REALITY 29

      CONCLUSION 36

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 37

      MAKER OF THE BEAUTIFUL{1}

      It is beauty I love.

      Though like the foolish moth

      Oft I burn my limbs in the flame;

      Yet evermore my soul craves

      its attainment.

      Beauty in the rose draws my heart;

      Beauty of dawn exalts my soul;

      Stillness of the night fills me

      with wonder;

      Beauty of face and beauty of sight

      Awaken in my soul love and ever

      greater love.

      In love and with love

      I seek the Maker of the beautiful.

      I—GREEK PHILOSOPHY AND INDIAN THOUGHT

      IT is the natural instinct of every human being to inquire; but the method of inquiry varies according to individual tendencies. Some try to find the cause of creation exclusively in external phenomena, others seek it in internal nature; but every system of philosophy without exception is the outcome of this search, whether directed to the inner or to the outer realm. Since it rises from the instinctive desire of man to know, however, it is very difficult to fix an historic date when this search began. In India the oldest record, contained in the Rig-Veda, the most ancient known Scripture, is placed by conservative authorities at between two and three thousand years before Christ.

      Turning to Greece, Thales (636 B. C.) appears as the first marked figure in Greek philosophical research. His investigations led him to the conclusion that water is the most vital principle in the universe. As he studied Nature—sky, sea, earth—he found water present everywhere. He observed that man, animal, plant, all alike depend on water for their life and sustenance; therefore he concluded that water is the basis of creation. His disciple Anaximines went one step further and regarded air as the most vital principle. Just as our soul, being air, he said, holds us together, so do breath and air encompass the whole world. The next eminent philosopher in the Ionian School, Heraclitus, (503 B. C.), declared fire to be the basic principle of life.

      This tendency of the human mind to find a satisfactory explanation for creation in external phenomena is not peculiar to the Greek philosophers only, but is to be found in every ancient philosophical system. This was undoubtedly the origin of all nature worship. As man apprehended the great elemental forces playing about him, he was overwhelmed with awe and wonder; and gradually personifying these forces as gods, he sought to propitiate them, and to gain their blessing and protection. We observe this in the

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