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VIII Preface India that Indian philosophy should be read, or only as a record of the past thoughts of India. For most of the problems that are still debated in modern philosophical thought occurred in more or less divergent forms to the philosophers of I ndia. Their discussions, difficulties and solutions when properly grasped in connection with the problems of our own times may throw light on the course of the process of the fu ture reconstruction of modern thought. The discovery of the important features of Indian philosophical thought, and a due appreciation of their full signi- ficance, may turn out to be as important to modern philosophy as the discovery of Sanskrit has been to the investigation of modern philological researches. I t is unfortunate that the task of re-interpretation and re-valuation of Indian thought has not yet been undertaken on a comprehensive scale. Sanskritists also with very few exceptions have neglected this important field of study, for most of these scholars have been interested more in mythology, philology, and history than in philosophy. Much work however has already been done in the way of the publication of a large number of important texts, and translations of some of them have also been attempted. But owing to the presence of many technical terms in advanced Sanskrit philo- sophical literature, the translations in most cases are hardly in- telligible to those who are not familiar with the texts themselves. A work containing some general account of the mutual rela- tions of the chief systems is necessary for those who intend to pursue the study of a particular school. This is also necessary for lay readers interested in philosophy and students of Western philosophy who have no inclination or time to specialise in any Indian system, but who are at the same time interested to know what they can about Indian philosophy. In my two books The Study of Patanjali and Yoga Philosophy in relation to other Indian Systems of Thought I have attempted to interpret the Sarrkhya and Yoga systems both from their inner point of view and from the point of view of their relation to other Indian systems. The present attempt deals with the important features of these as also of all the other systems and seeks to show some of their inner philosophical relations especially in regard to the history of their development. I have tried to be as faithful to the original texts a5 I could and have always given the Sanskrit or Pali technical terms for the help of those who want to make this book a guide