Encyclopedia of Indian philosophies. Vol. IV

Sāṃkhya is one of India's oldest philosophical systems, and this volume of the Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, coedited by Gerald] ames Larson and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya, and under the generaI editorship of Karl H. Potter, traces the history of the system from its beginnings in the third or fourth century B.e.E. up through the twentieth century. The volume includes a lengthy Introduction (written by G.J. Larson) which discusses the history of the system and its philosophical contours overall. The remainder of the volume includes summaries in English of alI extant Sanskrit texts of the Sāṃkhya system. Many of the summaries are of texts that have never been edited, translated or studied before, most notably extensive treatments of the Yuktidipikā, the Sāṃkhyavṛtti and the Sāṃkhyasaptativṛtti. The volume is designed for philosophers, cultural historians and students of comparative studies generally. In addition, since the volume contains so much material that has never been published before, it will also prove to be of interest to area specialists, Indologists and Sanskritists.

Gerald James Larson is professor of the history of religions, Department of Religious Studies, University ofCalifornia, Santa Barbara, USA. He is the author of Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of its History and Meaning (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1979; revised second edition); Myth in Indo-European Antiquiry (coedited with C. Scott Littleton and J. Puhvel, University ofCalifornia Press, 1974) ; andln HerImage (coedited with P. Pal and R. Gowen, Regents of the University of California, 1980); and numerous articles on Indian philosophy and religion.

Ram Shankar Bhattacharya is editor of the journal Purāṇa; senior research scholar in the All India Kashiraj Trust, Fort Ramnagar, Varanasi; and was for some years in the research department of Saṃpūrṇānanda Sanskrit University, Varanasi; he is the author of numerous editions, translations and studies of original Sanskrit texts in Hindi, Bengali, Sanskrit and English.