cult therefore for all who are not
widely read in all the different systems to follow any advanced

67

work of any particular system, as the deliberations of that particular
system are expressed in such close interconnection with
the views of other systems that these can hardly be understood
without them. Each system of India has grown (at least in
particular epochs) in relation to and in opposition to the growth
of other systems of thought, and to be a thorough student of Indian
philosophy one should study all the systems in their mutual
opposition and relation from the earliest times to a period at
which they ceased to grow and came to a stop--a purpose for
which a work like the present one may only be regarded as
forming a preliminary introduction.

Besides the sutras and their commentaries there are also independent
treatises on the systems in verse called _karikas_, which
try to summarize the important topics of any system in a succinct
manner; the _Sa@mkhya karika_ may be mentioned as a work of this
kind. In addition to these there were also long dissertations,
commentaries, or general observations on any system written in
verses called the varttikas; the _S'lokavarttika_, of Kumarila or the
_Varttika_ of Sures'vara may be mentioned as examples. All these
of course had their commentaries to explain them. In addition
to these there were also advanced treatises on the systems in prose
in which the writers either nominally followed some selected
sutras or proceeded independently of them. Of the former class
the _Nyayamanjari_ of Jayanta may be mentioned as an example
and of the latter the _Pras'astapada bha@sya_, the _Advaitasiddhi_ of
Madhusudana Sarasvati or the _Vedanta-paribha@sa_ of Dharmarajadhvarindra.
The more remarkable of these treatises were of a masterly nature in
which the writers represented the systems they adhered to in a highly
forcible and logical manner by dint of their own great mental powers
and genius. These also had their commentaries to explain and elaborate
them. The period of the growth of the philosophic literatures of India
begins from about 500 B.C. (about the time of the Buddha) and practically
ends in the later half of the seventeenth century, though even now some
minor publications are seen to come out.

The Indian Systems of Philosophy.

The Hindus classify the systems of philosophy into two classes,
namely, the _nastika_ and the _astika_. The nastika (_na asti_ "it is
not"