CIT Consciousness (Foundations of Philosophy in India)

h FOUNDATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY IN INDIA GENERAL EDITORS Ranjit Nair (coordinator)

Arindam Chakrabarti MrinalMiri J.N. Mohanty G.c. Pande

The series FOUNDATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY IN INDIA, initiated by the Centre for Philosophy and Foundations of Science, New Delhi, aims to make available a critical reassessment of the philosophical achievement of the classical Indian tradition in such a way that it contributes to the dialogue between civilizations of the new century. Although a wealth of literature is already available in translation, it exists in scattered form and is primarily oriented towards philological rather than philosophical concerns. The series will, uniquely in the history of scholarship in this area, focus on concepts and theories, rather than the conventional schools. The objective in each case will be to proVide a rigorous and analytical examination of key arguments and doctrines in a manner that makes them available for contemporary engagement and reflection. Although there is an interest worldwide in Indian philosophy, the absence of a corpus of texts which presents the contents of the tradition in a scholarly, well-researched yet accessible format, has long been a handicap. The FOUNDATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY IN INDIA series will, it is hoped, fill this gap in a systematic and comprehensive manner.

CIT CONSCIOUSNESS

Bina Gupta

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of qxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennaj Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Sao Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain ,other countries Published in India By Oxford University Press, New Delhi © Oxford University Press, 2003 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2003 All rights reserved, No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford Universio/ Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same conditioIl on any acquiror ISBN 019 566 1133

Typeset in Nalandagar 10/12 By Le Studio Graphique Printed at Pauls Press New Delhi 110 020 Published by Manzar Khan, Oxford University Press YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001

ToSwati, the actualization of my dreams and more

Contents Priface l. Introduction

ix

1

2. Consciousness: Its Beginnings in the Upanil?ads

15

3. The Objectivist Theory of Nyaya-Vaisel?ika

39

4. The Subjectivist-Objectivist Theory

66

of Yogacara Buddhism

5. Subjectivist-Transcendental Theory

94

of Advaita Vedanta

6. Transformations of the Advaita Theory

139

of Consciousness

7. Comparative Assessment: Questions,

166

Criticisms, and Concluding Reflections

Abbreviations Bibliography Index

185 187 195

Preface

The book is an attempt to understand the conceptions of consciousness in Indian philosophy. I became interested in this work, while working on my book, The Disinterested Witness: A Fragment ofAdvaita Vedanta PhenomenologyCNorthwestern University Press, 1998),which is primarily devoted to Advaita Vedanta. I, however, should add that its focus is chiefly, though not exclusively, on the Vivara.Q.a School of Advaita Vedanta. It attempts to unfold the Advaita Vedanta phenomenology of the levels of consciousness. An important part of this phenomenology of consciousness is that, at a certain level, consciousness is simply a witness to its own operations and divergent modes. My goal in The Disinterested Witness was not to lay down the entire theory of consciousness in Advaita Vedanta, but only a part of it, namely, the idea of a consciousness or a level of consciousness which simply witnesses, without getting involved in, the ongoing process of experience. So, I call this phenomenology a 'fragment'. Soon after I completed this book, I realized that the larger picture of' consciousness' in the entire spectrum of Indian philosophy had yet to be worked out. Thus the transition to the investigation of the general conception of consciousness seemed natural and inevitable. Accordingly, the general spectrum of the theory of consciousness is the focal point of this work. Two additional factors inspired me to undertake this work. First, the contemporary Western philosophical scene has generated a lot of excitement and debates on the philosophical problems of consciousness. Consciousness has been a continuing cornerstone of recent continental philosophy. Husserlians have made it one of their central themes. Heideggerians have challenged its centrality, and deconstructionists have sought to deconstruct the metaphysics of presence on which consciousness philosophies are based. Second, I was also inspired by the new interest in 'consciousness research' by the brain sciences and analytic thinkers. It seemed to me that these philosophers who are most seriously engaged in thinking about consciousness may find the thoughts

x

Preface

of the Indian philosophers useful and interesting, even though they may not accept these ideas in their entirety. The Sanskrit term for consciousness is 'cit. I presume sceptics, historicists, cultural relativists, and their kin would debate ad nauseum, whether cit can really be translated as 'consciousness'. I do not believe that there is anything like exact translation, nor do I believe that the entire content of a concept is inaccessible to those who are outside of its original home. 'Cit and' consciousness' have enough of common content to warrant treating them as synonyms without any anxiety. I treat them so. In reading this book, my readers must keep the following points in mind. First, this book, like The Disinterested Witness, has not been written from a historical perspective. My concern has been philosophical, better yet, conceptual. Second, my interpretation is based upon my understanding of the classical sources in Indian philosophy. In giving these interpretations, I have tried to be faithful to the Indian tradition in order to enable my readers to have an accurate and authentic understanding of the various theories of consciousness. Third, I have also made comparisons with Western theories, where I thought such comparisons would be conducive to understanding the conceptions of consciousness not only for my Western readers but also for the nonWestern readers. Fourth, my attempt in this work cannot be separated from my own attempt to develop a theory of consciousness to my satisfaction. It hardly needs to be said that my theory of consciousness is Advaitic . in its general features. I am convinced that no system of philosophy in the West or the East has thought so deeply on the nature of consciousness as the Vedanta·has. This book clearly demonstrates that there exists an amazing variety of the conceptions of consciousness in Indian philosophy. These conceptions developed within a period of about 1500 years, and contain very ~ophisticated