Before you begin

This course asks you to keep two things in view at the same time. The first is modern psychology, a science that took shape in Europe and North America over the last 150 years. The second is a large body of ideas about the mind that grew in India over roughly three thousand years, inside texts on philosophy, religion, medicine and art. Indian psychology is the attempt to bring the second into conversation with the first.

You do not need to know anything about either before you start. This page gives you the background that the rest of Unit 1 assumes. It explains what psychology is, which Indian texts and schools matter and how old they are, what scholars mean by "Indian psychology", and how to use this guide.

What psychology is

Key concept

psychology

Literally

Greek psyche (soul, breath) + logos (study, account)

Psychology today studies how people perceive, think, remember, feel, decide and act. It also studies how these processes go wrong, and how people can be helped. A psychologist might measure how quickly drivers notice a red light, follow how children learn their first words, test a treatment for depression, or ask why people obey a group.

Most of this work rests on evidence collected from many people: experiments, questionnaires, careful observation and, more recently, brain scans. A claim counts as knowledge when other researchers can check it with the same methods and get the same result.

Closest Indian idea manovijnana (the modern Hindi word for psychology), or adhyatma vidya (the science of the self). Neither was a separate discipline in ancient India.

psychology in the glossary

For more than two thousand years, questions about the mind belonged to philosophy and medicine in Europe, just as they did in India. Then, in 1879, the German scientist Wilhelm WundtWilhelm Wundtsay: vil-helm voontGerman scientist (1832 to 1920) who opened a laboratory for psychology at Leipzig in 1879. That date is often used as the start of psychology as a separate science.Full entry in the glossaryClose opened a laboratory at Leipzig to study the mind with experiments. Many textbooks treat that date as the start of psychology as a separate science. In 1890 the American William JamesWilliam JamesAmerican psychologist and philosopher (1842 to 1910). He wrote The Principles of Psychology (1890) and described the mind as a 'stream of consciousness'.Full entry in the glossaryClose published The Principles of Psychology, which described the mind as a moving "stream of consciousness".

In the twentieth century psychology split into schools. Each school asked a different main question.

Behaviourism matters for this course because it pushed consciousness out of psychology. In 1913 Watson wrote that "the time seems to have come when psychology must discard all reference to consciousness". For several decades much of American psychology studied only what could be seen from the outside. Consciousness slowly returned through cognitive psychology, through humanistic and transpersonal psychologytranspersonal psychologyLiterally: Latin trans (beyond) + persona (person)Transpersonal psychology studies experiences that go beyond the personal self, such as mystical states, deep meditation and a sense of unity with all life.Indian link adhyatma vidya, and the study of states such as samadhi and turiya. In this sense Indian psychology was 'transpersonal' from the start.Full entry in the glossaryClose (a journal for transpersonal psychology began in 1969), and later through research on meditation. Jon Kabat-Zinn's mindfulness programme for patients in stress and pain began in 1979, and positive psychologypositive psychologyPositive psychology studies what makes life go well: happiness, strengths, meaning, gratitude and wellbeing, not only illness and problems.Indian link ananda (bliss), santosha (contentment) and anasakti. The difference: Indian traditions see lasting happiness as the nature of the self, not a mix of good conditions.Full entry in the glossaryClose, the study of wellbeing and strengths, was launched in 2000. Several of these later movements borrowed openly from Indian and Buddhist practice.

Key concept

mainstream psychology

When books on Indian psychology contrast "Indian" with "Western" psychology, they usually mean this mainstream. It is not one theory. It is a shared way of working: study people from the outside, measure what can be measured, and trust results that other researchers can repeat.

Much of its research was done with university students in Europe and North America. Critics call these samples WEIRDWEIRD samplesLiterally: acronym: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, DemocraticWEIRD stands for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic. Most psychology research has studied such people, yet presents the results as true for all humans.Indian link none; but the finding supports Indian psychologists' long-standing claim that mainstream findings are not culture-free.Full entry in the glossaryClose: Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic. A finding from such samples may not hold for a farmer in Bihar or a grandmother in Chennai. You will meet this worry again on the perspectives page.

Closest Indian idea apara vidya, knowledge gained through the senses and reason. Indian psychology sees this kind of knowledge as valid but incomplete.

mainstream psychology in the glossary

Key concept

consciousness

Literally

Latin conscire, to know together

Consciousness is the word Indian psychology cares about most. Rao (2008, p. 6) calls the "centrality of consciousness" its "defining characteristic".

The word has two senses, and you need to keep them apart. In the first sense, consciousness is awareness of something: you are conscious of these words, of a sound outside, of feeling tired. Mainstream psychology studies this sense, for example in research on attention. In the second sense, some Indian schools speak of consciousness as such: a pure awareness that is still there when there is no particular thing to be aware of. Rao and Paranjpe (2016, 1.1.5) note that mainstream psychology makes "no provision" for this second sense. Whether it exists, and how anyone could study it, is one of the big debates of this course.

Closest Indian idea chit, purusha or atman (pure consciousness), as distinct from chitta and manas (the mind and its contents).

consciousness in the glossary

What "the Indian tradition" means here

"India" in this course means the traditions of thought of the Indian subcontinent over about three thousand years. They were written in several languages: Vedic Sanskrit, classical Sanskrit, Pali (used for early Buddhist texts) and the old language of Jain scripture, among others (Kiran Kumar, 2008, pp. 25 to 26). They belong to several religions and many schools, and those schools argued with each other for centuries.

For most of their history these texts were not read from books. They were memorised and recited, and passed from teacher to student by speech. Even the word for the most famous philosophical texts, Upanishad, is usually explained as "sitting down near" a teacher.

New Sanskrit word

Veda वेद

Say

vay-duh

Literally

knowledge; from vid-, to know

There are four Vedas. The oldest, the Rig VedaRig Vedaऋग्वेदṚgvedasay: rig-vay-duhLiterally: Veda of verses; ṛc, a verse of praiseThe Rig Veda is the oldest of the four Vedas. It is a collection of 1,028 hymns to gods and powers of nature, arranged in ten books.Full entry in the glossaryClose, was composed around 1500 to 1200 BCE. It is mostly hymns of praise to gods and to powers of nature. The Atharva Veda, which is later, includes charms for curing disease, for long life and for love, so it is also an early record of healing and everyday beliefs about the mind.

Psychology students meet the Vedas mainly because their vocabulary for the mind starts here. The Rig Veda already uses words such as manasmanasमनस्say: muh-nuhsLiterally: mind; from man-, to thinkManas is the everyday mind. It receives what the senses bring, links it together, and wavers between options. It is a tool of the self, not the self.Western link Close to 'mind' as a processor of sensory input, or to attention and working memory. The key difference: manas is not conscious by itself; the self gives it awareness.Full entry in the glossaryClose (mind) and chittachittaचित्तcittasay: chit-tuhLiterally: that which is noticed; mind (cit-, to perceive)Chitta is the whole field of the mind in Yoga, including thoughts, feelings and stored impressions. Yoga aims to calm its movements.Western link Close to 'the mind' as a whole, including the unconscious store of memories. The difference: chitta is still material; consciousness (purusha) gives it awareness.Full entry in the glossaryClose, and one hymn says: "What thing I truly am I know not clearly; mysterious, fettered in my mind I wander" (Rig Veda 1.164.37, quoted in Rao and Paranjpe, 2016, 4.1.1). Tradition treats the Vedas as shrutishrutiश्रुतिśrutisay: shru-tiLiterally: that which is heardShruti means 'heard' texts: the Vedas, including the Upanishads. Tradition holds that seers heard them in deep insight, so no human wrote them.Western link Close to 'revelation' in Western religion. The difference: shruti is not a message from a god to a prophet; it is said to be eternal and 'heard' by seers (rishis).Full entry in the glossaryClose: "heard" by seers rather than written by human authors.

Veda in the glossary

New Sanskrit word

Upanishad उपनिषद्

Written

Upaniṣad

Say

u-puh-ni-shuhd

Literally

sitting down near (a teacher); upa + ni + sad

The early Upanishads, such as the Brihadaranyaka and the Chandogya, were composed around 700 to 500 BCE. Later ones, such as the Katha, the Mundaka and the Mandukya, are a few centuries younger. They are often written as conversations. In the Brihadaranyaka, for example, the teacher YajnavalkyaYajnavalkyaयाज्ञवल्क्यYājñavalkyasay: yaag-yuh-vuhl-kyuhA teacher in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the oldest Upanishads, who debates the nature of the self with others, including the women Gargi and Maitreyi.Full entry in the glossaryClose debates the nature of the self with other thinkers, including two women, Gargi and Maitreyi.

The Upanishads ask questions that psychology still asks in another form. What is the self? What is the difference between waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep? Is there a knower behind all knowing? Their answers, especially the ideas of atmanatmanआत्मन्ātmansay: aat-muhnLiterally: self; in early use also 'breath'Atman means the self: the deepest 'I' behind body and mind. In Vedanta it is pure consciousness and is one with Brahman.Western link Close to 'self' or 'soul'. The key difference: Western psychology studies the self as a set of thoughts and traits; atman is the conscious witness of them.Full entry in the glossaryClose (the self) and BrahmanBrahmanब्रह्मन्brahmansay: bruh-hmuhnLiterally: the vast; from bṛh-, to grow, expandBrahman is the ultimate reality in Vedanta: the one source and ground of everything. It is often described as being, consciousness and bliss.Western link Close to 'the Absolute' in Western philosophy, or to God in mystical theology. The difference: in Advaita, Brahman is not separate from the self that seeks it.Full entry in the glossaryClose (ultimate reality), are explained on the perspectives on reality page.

Nearest Western idea Sometimes compared to Plato's dialogues, because they teach through questions and conversation. The key difference: their aim is direct experience of the self, not only a sound argument.

Upanishad in the glossary

After the Upanishads came several other families of texts and ideas:

• The epics, especially the MahabharataMahabharataमहाभारतMahābhāratasay: muh-haa-bhaa-ruh-tuhLiterally: the great (story of the) BharatasThe Mahabharata is a very long Sanskrit epic about a war between two related royal families. The Bhagavad Gita is one part of it.Western link Often compared with Homer's Iliad. It is much longer, and it contains whole books of moral and philosophical teaching.Full entry in the glossaryClose, which contains the Bhagavad GitaBhagavad Gitaभगवद्गीताBhagavad Gītāsay: bhuh-guh-vuhd gee-taaLiterally: song of the Blessed LordThe Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse dialogue inside the Mahabharata. Krishna advises the warrior Arjuna, who is in crisis before a battle.Western link Often read as a counselling text: a person in crisis talks with a guide. Unlike most Western therapy, the guide also gives moral and spiritual teaching.Full entry in the glossaryClose, a dialogue about duty, action and the mind.
• The Puranas, long collections of myths and legends, which took shape from about the 4th century CE and kept growing for centuries.
• Texts on duty and law, the DharmashastrasDharmashastraधर्मशास्त्रdharmaśāstrasay: dhuhr-muh-shaas-truhLiterally: teaching (śāstra) on dharmaThe Dharmashastras are Sanskrit treatises on dharma: duties, law, ritual and social rules for people of each social group and stage of life. Manu's is the best known.Western link Close to codes of law and ethics that set social roles. The difference: they tie duty to birth group and life stage, and present it as part of a cosmic order.Full entry in the glossaryClose, which set out rules of conduct for each social group and stage of life.
• Buddhism, founded on the teaching of the Buddhathe Buddhaबुद्धBuddhasay: bud-dhuhLiterally: the awakened oneThe teacher whose teachings became Buddhism. He lived in north India, probably in the 5th century BCE, and taught a path out of suffering through ethics, meditation and insight.Full entry in the glossaryClose in the 5th century BCE, with its own scriptures (the TripitakaTripitakaत्रिपिटकTripiṭakasay: tri-pi-tuh-kuhLiterally: three basketsThe Tripitaka is the main collection of Buddhist scripture. Its three 'baskets' are rules for monks, the talks of the Buddha, and the Abhidhamma.Full entry in the glossaryClose) and a detailed analysis of the mind (the AbhidhammaAbhidhammaअभिधम्मsay: uh-bhi-dhuhm-muhLiterally: higher teaching; (teaching) about the dhammaThe Abhidhamma is the part of Buddhist scripture that analyses the mind in detail. It lists the mental states and factors that make up experience.Western link Close to a classification of mental states in cognitive psychology. The key difference: it is built from trained introspection in meditation and aims at ethical change and freedom from suffering.Full entry in the glossaryClose).
• Jainism, taught by MahaviraMahaviraमहावीरMahāvīrasay: muh-haa-vee-ruhLiterally: great heroThe great teacher of Jainism, a contemporary of the Buddha, usually dated to the 6th or 5th century BCE.Full entry in the glossaryClose, a contemporary of the Buddha.
• The schools of philosophy, each called a darshana.
• Specialist sciences such as AyurvedaAyurvedaआयुर्वेदĀyurvedasay: aa-yur-vay-duhLiterally: knowledge of life (āyus + veda)Ayurveda is India's traditional system of medicine. It treats body and mind together and aims to keep health in balance, not only to cure illness.Western link Close to holistic or biopsychosocial medicine. The key difference: its concepts (doshas, gunas) do not match Western physiology, and its care includes diet, daily routine and ethics.Full entry in the glossaryClose, India's classical medicine, whose founding text is the Charaka SamhitaCharaka SamhitaचरकसंहिताCarakasaṃhitāsay: chuh-ruh-kuh suhm-hi-taaLiterally: the compendium of CarakaThe Charaka Samhita is the oldest major text of Ayurveda. It covers health, disease and treatment, and it has much to say about the mind.Western link Comparable to the Hippocratic writings of Greek medicine as a founding medical text. It differs in giving a full place to the mind and to ethics in health.Full entry in the glossaryClose, and the study of drama and emotion in the NatyashastraNatyashastraनाट्यशास्त्रNāṭyaśāstrasay: naat-yuh-shaas-truhLiterally: treatise on dramaThe Natyashastra is an ancient book on drama, dance and music, credited to Bharata. It contains an early theory of emotion called rasa.Western link Close to theories of basic emotions and of audience response in drama. The key difference: rasa is a shared, aesthetic emotion that is enjoyed, not a private reaction.Full entry in the glossaryClose.

New Sanskrit word

Purana पुराण

Written

purāṇa

Say

pu-raa-nuh

Literally

ancient; of old times (from purā, formerly)

The Puranas are long Sanskrit texts that tell the myths, legends and family histories of gods, heroes and saints. Tradition counts eighteen major Puranas. The first ones took shape in the 4th to 6th centuries CE, and the texts kept growing for centuries after that, so no single date fits a whole Purana. Like the epics and the law books, they belong to smritismritiस्मृतिsmṛtisay: smri-tiLiterally: that which is remembered; memorySmriti means 'remembered' texts. These are works by human authors, such as the epics, the Puranas and law books, ranked below the Vedas.Western link As a class of texts, close to 'tradition' as distinct from 'revelation'. As a mental function, close to 'memory'.Full entry in the glossaryClose, the "remembered" tradition, which ranks below the Vedas.

One example is the Bhagavata Purana, best known for its account of the life of the god Krishna. Rao and Paranjpe (2016, 6.2.4) call it the foundational work on bhaktibhaktiभक्तिsay: bhuhk-tiLiterally: sharing, devotion (bhaj-, to share, to worship)Bhakti means loving devotion to God. Bhakti yoga, the path of devotion, is one of three main paths in the Bhagavad Gita, with action and knowledge.Western link Close to religious devotion, and to positive emotions such as love and gratitude in the psychology of religion. The difference: bhakti is a full path to liberation.Full entry in the glossaryClose, loving devotion to God. Its stories and those of the two epics "have been told and retold over centuries", in poems, plays, dance dramas and even television serials, so that even people who cannot read know them well.

For psychology, the Puranas matter less as theory than as a channel. They carried ideas about duty, devotion, desire and the self to people who never studied the Vedas. The features section below comes back to this.

Nearest Western idea Closest to a body of sacred myth and legend in any scripture tradition. The difference: the Puranas mix stories of creation, family histories, law and devotion, and were meant to be performed and retold.

Purana in the glossary

New Sanskrit word

darshana दर्शन

Written

darśana

Say

duhr-shuh-nuh

Literally

seeing, view; from dṛś-, to see

Indian tradition usually counts six darshanas that accept the authority of the Vedas. They are called astikaastikaआस्तिकāstikasay: aas-ti-kuhLiterally: one who says 'it is' (asti)Astika schools are the Indian philosophies that accept the authority of the Vedas. The usual six are Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta.Western link Often translated 'orthodox', but it is not the same as 'theist'. The test is acceptance of the Vedas, not belief in God.Full entry in the glossaryClose. Three traditions reject the Vedas and are called nastikanastikaनास्तिकnāstikasay: naas-ti-kuhLiterally: one who says 'it is not' (na asti)Nastika schools are the Indian philosophies that reject the authority of the Vedas: Buddhism, Jainism and Charvaka.Western link Often translated 'heterodox'. It is not the same as 'atheist': Buddhism and Jainism are nastika but are full religious paths.Full entry in the glossaryClose. Both words are about the Vedas, not about God: classical Sankhya, for example, is astika but has no God.

School	Group	Best known for
NyayaNyayaन्यायNyāyasay: nyaa-yuhLiterally: rule, method, standard; 'that into which a thing goes back' (ni + i-, to go)Nyaya is the Indian school of logic and of the theory of knowledge. It studies how we can know things correctly and how to argue well.Western link Close to logic and epistemology in Western philosophy. The differences: Nyaya also aims at liberation, and its inference always includes an example from experience.Full entry in the glossaryClose	astika	Logic, valid knowledge, and how perception works
VaisheshikaVaisheshikaवैशेषिकVaiśeṣikasay: vai-shay-shi-kuhLiterally: concerned with particulars (viśeṣa)Vaisheshika is the school that sorts everything that exists into basic categories. It taught that physical things are made of tiny atoms.Western link Close to Greek atomism and to Aristotle's list of categories. Unlike Greek atomism, it counts selves and minds as separate substances.Full entry in the glossaryClose	astika	A list of the basic kinds of things that exist, including atoms
SankhyaSankhyaसांख्यSāṃkhyasay: saang-khyuhLiterally: enumeration, countingSankhya explains everything with two realities: pure consciousness (purusha) and nature (prakriti). In Sankhya, the mind belongs to nature, not to consciousness.Western link Close to mind-body dualism, as in Descartes. The key difference: Sankhya puts the mind on the material side; only pure consciousness is separate.Full entry in the glossaryClose	astika	Two basic realities: consciousness (purushapurushaपुरुषpuruṣasay: pu-ru-shuhLiterally: person, manIn Sankhya and Yoga, purusha is pure consciousness: the silent witness that is aware but does not act. It is completely separate from mind and matter.Western link Close to 'pure consciousness' or the 'witness' in consciousness studies. Unlike Descartes' mind, purusha does not think; thinking belongs to matter.Full entry in the glossaryClose) and matter (prakritiprakritiप्रकृतिprakṛtisay: pruh-kri-tiLiterally: what is made first; original natureIn Sankhya, prakriti is nature: the single source of all matter and all mental activity. It is made of three qualities, the gunas.Western link Close to 'nature' or 'matter-energy'. The key difference: prakriti includes the mind, so thoughts and feelings are natural processes, not consciousness itself.Full entry in the glossaryClose), with the mind on the side of matter
YogaYogaयोगsay: yo-guhLiterally: joining, yoking; discipline; from yuj-, to yokeYoga is both a school of philosophy and a set of practices that train body, breath and mind. Its classic text is Patanjali's Yoga Sutra.Western link Often compared with mind-body or mindfulness-based interventions. The key difference: classical Yoga is a full ethical and spiritual path, not only a technique for health.Full entry in the glossaryClose	astika	A practical method for calming and mastering the mind, set out in the Yoga SutraYoga Sutraयोगसूत्रYogasūtrasay: yo-guh soo-truhLiterally: threads (aphorisms) on yogaThe Yoga Sutra is the classic text of the Yoga school, by Patanjali. In about 195 short lines it explains how to calm and master the mind.Western link Close to a manual of attention training and self-regulation. The key difference: its goal is the freedom of pure consciousness (purusha), not only better mental health.Full entry in the glossaryClose
MimamsaMimamsaमीमांसाMīmāṃsāsay: mee-maam-saaLiterally: desire to reflect; inquiryMimamsa is the school that interprets the Vedas, mainly their rules for ritual and duty (dharma). Its founding text is Jaimini's Mimamsa Sutra.Western link Close to hermeneutics, the theory of interpretation, applied to sacred rules. It also resembles legal reasoning about how to read a law.Full entry in the glossaryClose	astika	The meaning of Vedic ritual and duty; action and its motives
VedantaVedantaवेदान्तVedāntasay: vay-daan-tuhLiterally: end of the VedaVedanta is the family of schools based on the Upanishads. They ask how the self (atman) relates to ultimate reality (Brahman).Western link Sometimes compared with idealist philosophy, which holds that mind or spirit is basic. The key difference: Vedanta claims this can be known by direct experience, not only by argument.Full entry in the glossaryClose	astika	The self and ultimate reality; Advaita VedantaAdvaita Vedantaअद्वैत वेदान्तAdvaita Vedāntasay: uhd-vai-tuh vay-daan-tuhLiterally: not-two; non-dualAdvaita Vedanta teaches that the true self (atman) and ultimate reality (Brahman) are one. The feeling of being a separate person comes from ignorance.Western link Often called monism. Advaita writers prefer 'non-dualism': reality is not two, but it is not described as one countable thing either.Full entry in the glossaryClose says they are one
Buddhism	nastika	Suffering, its causes and its end; no lasting self
Jainism	nastika	Non-violence, the soul and karmakarmaकर्मsay: kuhr-muhLiterally: action, deed; from kṛ-, to doKarma means action, and also the result that every action brings back to the person who did it, in this life or a later one.Western link Close to moral causation, or 'you reap what you sow'. The difference: in most schools karma is an impersonal law that works across lives; theistic schools say God oversees it, but even there it is not a judge's verdict on a single life.Full entry in the glossaryClose; truth seen from many sides
CharvakaCharvakaचार्वाकCārvākasay: chaar-vaa-kuhLiterally: uncertain (one guess is 'sweet-tongued', caru + vac); the other name, Lokayata, means 'directed at the world' (loka + ayata)Charvaka, also called Lokayata, is India's materialist school. It held that only matter is real and that perception is the only sure way of knowing.Western link Close to materialism and empiricism in Western philosophy. Like modern physicalism, it explains the mind as a product of the body.Full entry in the glossaryClose	nastika	Materialism: only what the senses show is real

You do not need to learn the schools now. Unit 2 studies the methods of Sankhya, Vedanta, Yoga and Buddhism in detail, and the worldview page compares what each school says is real.

Nearest Western idea Close to 'philosophy' or 'school of thought'. The difference: a darshana is meant to be lived and practised, not only argued, and most aim at liberation.

darshana in the glossary

How old is all this?

The timeline below uses the dates that most historians accept today. Three warnings help you read it. First, "BCE" means "before the Common Era" and "CE" means "Common Era"; they count the same years as BC and AD. Second, "c." stands for circa, "about". Third, almost every early date is an estimate, because the texts were passed on by memory for centuries before anyone wrote them down. Kiran Kumar (2008, p. 30) notes that there are few datable records in India before the time of the Buddha. Many classical texts were composed as sutrassutraसूत्रsūtrasay: soo-truhLiterally: threadA sutra is a very short sentence that holds a teaching in a few words. Whole texts were written this way so that students could learn them by heart.Western link Close to an aphorism or a numbered list of propositions. Unlike most Western aphorisms, sutras were meant to be read with a long commentary.Full entry in the glossaryClose, very short sentences that students learned by heart, with long commentaries added later.

Main texts and schools, with mainstream scholarly dates

• Text or tradition
• Institution or event

1. c. 2600 to 1900 BCE

   Institution or event: Cities of the Indus (Harappan) civilisation

   No text can be read. Claims that its seals show yoga are speculation.

2. c. 1500 to 1200 BCE

   Text or tradition: Rig Veda

   The oldest Indian text. Early words for mind.

3. c. 700 to 500 BCE

   Text or tradition: Early Upanishads

   The self, Brahman, and the states of waking, dream and deep sleep.

4. 6th or 5th century BCE

   Text or tradition: Mahavira and Jainism

   Soul, karma, non-violence, many-sidedness.

5. 5th century BCE

   Text or tradition: The Buddha

   Suffering, craving, no-self. Died about 405 BCE.

6. c. 300 to 100 BCE

   Text or tradition: Later Upanishads

   Katha (which compares the person to a chariot; see the next page), Mundaka, Mandukya.

7. around 200 BCE (debated)

   Text or tradition: Bhagavad Gita

   Part of the Mahabharata, which took its final shape around the start of the Common Era.

8. 2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE

   Text or tradition: Natyashastra

   Drama, and a detailed theory of emotion.

9. c. 100 BCE to 200 CE (uncertain)

   Text or tradition: Charaka Samhita

   Ayurveda: body and mind treated together.

10. 1st to 2nd century CE

    Text or tradition: Yoga Sutra of Patanjali

    A short manual for mastering the mind. No later than the 5th century.

11. 4th to 6th century CE

    Text or tradition: The first Puranas

    Myths and legends of gods, heroes and saints. The texts kept growing for centuries.

12. 5th century CE

    Text or tradition: Buddhaghosa and Vasubandhu

    Systematic Buddhist analysis of the mind (Abhidharma).

13. 8th century CE

    Text or tradition: Shankara

    The leading teacher of Advaita Vedanta.

14. c. 990 to 1020 CE

    Text or tradition: Abhinavagupta

    Develops the theory of aesthetic emotion.

Sources: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Oxford Bibliographies, as checked in the research for this unit; Encyclopaedia Britannica for the Puranas. The Gita, Charaka and Purana dates are especially uncertain.

Many traditions, not one

Because there are so many schools, languages and religions, is it fair to speak of one "Indian tradition" at all? The editors of one course textbook admit the doubt: "one may doubt whether it actually makes sense to speak of a single Indian tradition" (Cornelissen, Misra and Varma, 2014, p. xii). They still argue for a common core, and quote a line from the Rig Veda (1.164.46) that is often translated as "Truth is one; the wise call it by many names". Kiran Kumar (2008, p. 21) prefers to speak of Indian "psychologies", in the plural.

What "Indian psychology" means

The phrase sounds simple, but scholars use it carefully, because it is easy to confuse with three other things. Rao and Paranjpe (2016, 1.1.1 to 1.1.2) and Rao (2008, pp. 2 to 3) draw the lines like this.

Rao and Paranjpe (2016, 1.1.3) define Indian psychology as "a system of psychology that is rooted in classical Indian thought and is implied in numerous techniques prevalent in the subcontinent for psycho-spiritual development such as the various forms of yoga". The editors of the other textbook give a shorter definition: "an approach to psychology that is based on ideas and practices that developed over thousands of years within the Indian subcontinent" (Cornelissen, Misra and Varma, 2014, p. xi).

Put together, the two give a short working definition: Indian psychology is the systematic study of mind, consciousness, behaviour and human well-being, based on Indian philosophy and spiritual traditions. This is a summary of what the books say, not a quotation from any one of them.

Two points in these definitions surprise most students.

It is not the psychology of Indians. Rao (2008, p. 2) writes that "Indian psychology is not the study of psychology of Indians". The word "Indian" names where the ideas came from, not who they apply to. Rao and Paranjpe compare it with psychoanalysis, which began in Europe but is used everywhere. Rao also points out that Buddhist psychology, which he counts as part of Indian psychology, developed in Sri Lanka, Tibet and Japan as well as in India. Rao adds that "there is no chauvinist intent in using the phrase" (2008, p. 3).

It is a theory, not only a place of origin. Indigenous psychology, in Rao and Paranjpe's sense, can be done from any point of view: a behaviourist and a psychoanalyst could both study Indian villagers. Indian psychology instead comes with its own claims about what a person is, and so it competes with other schools of psychology. This is why Rao (2008, p. 3) calls it "more than indigenous psychology".

Five meanings of 'Indian psychology'

Kiran Kumar (2008, pp. 28 to 29) lists five ways the phrase has been used: (1) the history and state of psychology in India; (2) psychological ideas found in the Indian schools of philosophy; (3) labels such as "Buddhist psychology", "Hindu psychology" or "Psychology of Yoga"; (4) new systems built by Indian psychologists from a tradition, such as Indra Sen's integral psychology; and (5) the psychology of Indian people. He notes that most scholars mean the second when they say "Indian psychology proper".

Rao's model of the person

The clearest statement of what Indian psychology claims comes from K. Ramakrishna Rao, co-author of the course textbook Psychology in the Indian Tradition. His model starts from a single word.

New Sanskrit word

jiva जीव

Written

jīva

Say

jee-vuh

Literally

living being; from jīv-, to live

For Rao, psychology is the study of the jiva, the living person. The person has three parts. The body includes the brain, the nervous system and the senses. The mind does the thinking, feeling and willing; Rao calls it "the hypothetical cognitive instrument" between body and consciousness, and treats it as matter, though a very fine or "subtle" kind. Consciousness is not physical at all and cannot be reduced to the body or the mind. It does not act on the mind; it is "reflected" in it, as light is reflected in a mirror (Rao and Paranjpe, 2016, 1.1.3).

The person is also described by three roles: a knower, an enjoyer or sufferer of experience, and an agent who acts. Rao and Paranjpe link these to the three parts of the mind that Western psychology has long named: cognition (knowing), affect (feeling) and conation (willing).

Nearest Western idea Close to 'person' or 'the embodied self' in psychology. The difference: the jiva is thought to continue across many lives.

jiva in the glossary

Rao's model of the person

Three layers, each with its own way of knowing. The innermost, consciousness, is the most fundamental: the others exist for it, and it lights them up. It is drawn inside the mind only to show depth; in Rao's model it is not part of the mind.

Body

The brain, nervous system and senses. Physical.

Way of knowing learning by the brain and senses: hearing and observing (shravanashravanaश्रवणśravaṇasay: shruh-vuh-nuhLiterally: hearingThe first step of knowing in Vedanta: hearing or studying a teaching. Rao links it to learning from observation, the way science learns.Western link Close to learning by instruction or by observation. The difference: it is only the first of three steps, and the later steps change the knower, not only what the knower knows.Full entry in the glossaryClose)

Mind

Thinking, feeling and willing. Material, but subtle: finer than the body.

Way of knowing understanding by the mind: reflecting and reasoning (mananamananaमननsay: muh-nuh-nuhLiterally: thinking over, reflection; from man-, to thinkThe second step of knowing in Vedanta: thinking a teaching through, testing it with reason until doubts are removed.Western link Close to critical thinking and reflection. The difference: the aim is to remove doubt so that deep meditation can follow, not to reach a final answer by reasoning alone.Full entry in the glossaryClose)

Consciousness

Not physical. It does not change, and it lights up whatever the mind holds.

Way of knowing realising through consciousness: deep meditation (nididhyasananididhyasanaनिदिध्यासनnididhyāsanasay: ni-di-dhyaa-suh-nuhLiterally: deep, steady meditation; from dhyai-, to meditateThe third step of knowing in Vedanta: deep, steady meditation in which the truth that was heard and understood becomes one's own direct experience.Western link No close Western match. It is nearer to contemplative practice than to any research method; supporters see it as a trained first-person method.Full entry in the glossaryClose)

Sources: Rao (2014), pp. 8-9; Rao and Paranjpe (2016), section 1.1.3. This is Rao's model, not a finding that mainstream psychology accepts.

Rao (2014, pp. 8 to 9) sets out twelve principles of Indian psychology. The first two are often quoted in his own words: "Psychology is the study of the person (jiva)" and "The person is consciousness embodied." Here is the full list in plain words:

1. Psychology is the study of the person.
2. The person is consciousness embodied.
3. The person is not cut off from others; at deep levels people are connected.
4. Consciousness itself is different from all material things, including the brain and the mind.
5. The mind is different from both consciousness and the brain. It is material but subtle, and it links consciousness and the brain.
6. Consciousness in a body is limited and clouded by the forces of mind and body.
7. Becoming an individual gives us a point of view, reasoning and the ego.
8. The ego brings attachment and craving, and these bring anxiety, stress, disease and suffering.
9. The way out of this situation is self-realisation.
10. Self-realisation is freedom (mokshamokshaमोक्षmokṣasay: mok-shuhLiterally: release, freedom; from muc-, to freeMoksha means liberation: final freedom from the cycle of rebirth and from suffering. It is the highest of the four aims of life.Western link Close to 'salvation' in religion, or to 'self-transcendence' in transpersonal psychology. The difference: moksha is freedom through knowledge or insight, not a reward from outside.Full entry in the glossaryClose), reached by undoing the mind's conditioning in states beyond ordinary thinking.
11. A person learns through the brain, understands through the mind and realises through consciousness. Rao links these to the three classical steps of study in Vedanta: shravanashravanaश्रवणśravaṇasay: shruh-vuh-nuhLiterally: hearingThe first step of knowing in Vedanta: hearing or studying a teaching. Rao links it to learning from observation, the way science learns.Western link Close to learning by instruction or by observation. The difference: it is only the first of three steps, and the later steps change the knower, not only what the knower knows.Full entry in the glossaryClose (hearing or studying a teaching), mananamananaमननsay: muh-nuh-nuhLiterally: thinking over, reflection; from man-, to thinkThe second step of knowing in Vedanta: thinking a teaching through, testing it with reason until doubts are removed.Western link Close to critical thinking and reflection. The difference: the aim is to remove doubt so that deep meditation can follow, not to reach a final answer by reasoning alone.Full entry in the glossaryClose (thinking it through) and nididhyasananididhyasanaनिदिध्यासनnididhyāsanasay: ni-di-dhyaa-suh-nuhLiterally: deep, steady meditation; from dhyai-, to meditateThe third step of knowing in Vedanta: deep, steady meditation in which the truth that was heard and understood becomes one's own direct experience.Western link No close Western match. It is nearer to contemplative practice than to any research method; supporters see it as a trained first-person method.Full entry in the glossaryClose (deep meditation on it). The diagram above shows the pairing.
12. YogaYogaयोगsay: yo-guhLiterally: joining, yoking; discipline; from yuj-, to yokeYoga is both a school of philosophy and a set of practices that train body, breath and mind. Its classic text is Patanjali's Yoga Sutra.Western link Often compared with mind-body or mindfulness-based interventions. The key difference: classical Yoga is a full ethical and spiritual path, not only a technique for health.Full entry in the glossaryClose is the method of liberation. It takes different forms for different kinds of people: through knowledge, through devotion (bhaktibhaktiभक्तिsay: bhuhk-tiLiterally: sharing, devotion (bhaj-, to share, to worship)Bhakti means loving devotion to God. Bhakti yoga, the path of devotion, is one of three main paths in the Bhagavad Gita, with action and knowledge.Western link Close to religious devotion, and to positive emotions such as love and gratitude in the psychology of religion. The difference: bhakti is a full path to liberation.Full entry in the glossaryClose) and through action.

A different view: Durganand Sinha

Not every Indian psychologist accepts that Indian psychology is a separate school. Durganand SinhaDurganand SinhaIndian psychologist (1922 to 1998) at Allahabad. He led the call to 'indigenize' psychology in India, so that it fits Indian life and problems.Full entry in the glossaryClose, who led the call to make psychology in India fit Indian life, took another line. In 1965 he argued that Indian thought should be mined for ideas, or hypotheses, which should then be tested "by the application of scientific methodology". His aim was "a universal psychology", one science for everyone, enriched by Indian ideas. Collecting parallels between Indian texts and Western theories, he warned, "would keep us on the fringes".

Later he named the dangers more sharply. "Revivalism is one of the pitfalls of indigenization which in the field of psychology is seen in the form of antiscientism, esoterism, and an attitude that whatever is ancient and traditional is per se good" (Sinha, 1994). Esoterism means treating knowledge as a secret for a small inner circle. He also warned against "cosmetic indigenization": dressing Western research in Indian words without changing anything. Ajit K. DalalAjit K. DalalIndian psychologist at the University of Allahabad who studied health beliefs and folk healing, and wrote a widely used history chapter on psychology in India.Full entry in the glossaryClose stands between the two camps. He treats Indian psychology as one kind of indigenizationindigenizationIndigenization is the process of making a discipline fit a local culture, either by building it from local ideas or by adapting imported theories and methods.Indian link no classical term. It is part of modern efforts to renew Indian psychology.Full entry in the glossaryClose, and agrees with Rao that it is indigenous psychology and more.

Who wrote your textbooks

All three course textbooks were written or edited by people active in the Indian psychology movement. Rao and Paranjpe (2016, 1.2) describe their own book as "an offshoot of the Pondicherry Manifesto", the 2002 statement that launched the movement (see the discipline page). That does not make the books wrong. It means they make a case, and you should read them as arguments, alongside critics such as Sinha.

Features and goals of Indian psychology

Your lectures list the main features and goals of mainstream psychology and of Indian psychology. This section gathers them in one place, as a summary. Most points are taught more fully elsewhere in the unit, and the links take you there. Both sides are more varied than any list.

Features of mainstream psychology

The Concept card above described mainstream psychology as a shared way of working. Its main features are these.

• Objectivity. Theories rest on data that other people can observe and check, not on one person's private experience. Rao and Paranjpe (2016, 1.3.1) call this ideal objectivism.
• Quantification and proof. Researchers turn what they observe into numbers, such as scores and reaction times. They state a prediction in advance, called a hypothesis, and use statistics to test whether the data support it (see the paradigm-debate page).
• Theory-building. A hypothesis that passes its tests is treated, for the time being, as a general law, and such laws are joined into theories. Rao and Paranjpe call this the "hypothetico-deductive approach": make a guess, work out what should follow from it, and check that by observation.
• Correlation and generalisation. Much research measures whether two things rise and fall together, for example sleep and exam marks. This is a correlation. The aim is "generalizations that reflect universal laws" (Rao and Paranjpe, 2016, 1.3.1).
• Individual differences: a half-true criticism. Indian writers often say that mainstream psychology misses individual differences. That fits experimental psychology, which treated them as "errors" (Cornelissen, Misra and Varma, 2011, p. 129). It does not fit psychology as a whole: one branch, differential psychology, specialises in measuring how people differ.

The table on the paradigm-debate page sets the two pictures side by side, question by question, with three cautions. Below the table it explains the names psychology gives to the two approaches: general laws across many people, or one person in depth. Read it before you write an exam answer that compares them.

Features of Indian psychology

There is no single agreed list. Ajit Dalal (2014, pp. 33 to 35) describes features that he finds "common across all systems and schools relevant to Indian psychology". He does not number them; this guide counts six. Rao and Paranjpe (2016, 1.1.5 and 1.4) add others, and their Table 1.1 contrasts Indian and Western psychology area by area. The table below joins these lists with the features your lectures add. The first six rows are Dalal's, in his order. The rest come from your lectures, and where a course book supports a row, the row names it.

Two of these features are not taught elsewhere in the unit. The first is learning through story and community. Rao and Paranjpe (2016, 6.2.4) write that "even the illiterate folk know the stories so well that enthusiastic villagers stage dramas based on stories from the epics", with young people acting the roles without a written script. The second follows from it: the same ideas reached both the learned and ordinary people. Teachers also carried them out of Sanskrit into the languages people spoke. By writing in Marathi, the poet-saint Jnaneshwar made "the concepts and principles of spirituality accessible to a wider community beyond that of the Brahmins", the priestly class (Rao and Paranjpe, 2016, 9.2.1).

'Pandita' and 'pamara'

Your notes may describe this feature as reaching everyone "from the pandita to the pamara". Pandita means a learned person; English took the word "pundit" from it. Pamara is harsher than it may sound. Wojtilla (2018) shows that its meaning ranges from "a low man" or "a fool" to a peasant in a village community. In an exam, write "the learned and ordinary people" instead. The course books do not use the pair.

A fair answer also names the weak side of these features.

• Experience is not explanation. Rao and Paranjpe (2016, 1.1.5) admit that in Indian psychology "theory takes a backseat" to practice, and that "This is sometimes seen as a weakness by Western scholars." A meditator's report tells us what the meditator experienced. It does not, by itself, explain how the experience arose or show that it reveals a truth. Kiran Kumar (2008, p. 26) lists the problems of building a psychology from scattered old texts: "lack of clarity, lack of details, lack of compatibility, lack of continuity". The scientific-paradigm page adds a sharper criticism by the scholar Robert Sharf.
• For everyone, but not equally. The split between Vedic learning for some and stories for the rest was partly a split of caste. Rao and Paranjpe (2016, 2.7) point out that the law books (the DharmashastrasDharmashastraधर्मशास्त्रdharmaśāstrasay: dhuhr-muh-shaas-truhLiterally: teaching (śāstra) on dharmaThe Dharmashastras are Sanskrit treatises on dharma: duties, law, ritual and social rules for people of each social group and stage of life. Manu's is the best known.Western link Close to codes of law and ethics that set social roles. The difference: they tie duty to birth group and life stage, and present it as part of a cosmic order.Full entry in the glossaryClose) barred Shudras from learning the Vedas, and "prescribed harsh penalties" for a Shudra who overheard Vedic chanting. Shudras were the lowest of the four varnasvarnaवर्णvarṇasay: vuhr-nuhLiterally: colour; class, kindVarna is the old four-fold division of society: priests and teachers, rulers and warriors, traders and farmers, and workers who serve.Western link Close to 'social class' or 'occupational group', but varna claimed religious authority and in practice was fixed by birth. It is not the same as jati, the birth-based caste group.Full entry in the glossaryClose, the classes of classical Hindu society. Cultural continuity carried such rules forward too.
• Ideals, not history. Holism and sustainability describe what the texts recommend, not how Indians have always lived. Rao and Paranjpe themselves admit that mining and deforestation in India now show "the same exploitative attitude toward nature" as elsewhere, as the worldview page notes.
• Some schools, not all. Most of the features describe Advaita VedantaAdvaita Vedantaअद्वैत वेदान्तAdvaita Vedāntasay: uhd-vai-tuh vay-daan-tuhLiterally: not-two; non-dualAdvaita Vedanta teaches that the true self (atman) and ultimate reality (Brahman) are one. The feeling of being a separate person comes from ignorance.Western link Often called monism. Advaita writers prefer 'non-dualism': reality is not two, but it is not described as one countable thing either.Full entry in the glossaryClose, the paired schools of SankhyaSankhyaसांख्यSāṃkhyasay: saang-khyuhLiterally: enumeration, countingSankhya explains everything with two realities: pure consciousness (purusha) and nature (prakriti). In Sankhya, the mind belongs to nature, not to consciousness.Western link Close to mind-body dualism, as in Descartes. The key difference: Sankhya puts the mind on the material side; only pure consciousness is separate.Full entry in the glossaryClose and Yoga, and Buddhism. The materialist CharvakaCharvakaचार्वाकCārvākasay: chaar-vaa-kuhLiterally: uncertain (one guess is 'sweet-tongued', caru + vac); the other name, Lokayata, means 'directed at the world' (loka + ayata)Charvaka, also called Lokayata, is India's materialist school. It held that only matter is real and that perception is the only sure way of knowing.Western link Close to materialism and empiricism in Western philosophy. Like modern physicalism, it explains the mind as a product of the body.Full entry in the glossaryClose school, which accepted only perception as knowledge, fits few of them.

Goals of mainstream and Indian psychology

Many introductory psychology textbooks give mainstream psychology four goals:

1. Describe what people do and experience, for example how many students feel anxious before exams.
2. Explain why it happens.
3. Predict when it will happen, and to whom.
4. Control or change it, for example by teaching students a way to manage exam anxiety.

The last two have a long history. In 1913 the behaviourist John B. WatsonJohn B. WatsonAmerican psychologist (1878 to 1958) who launched behaviourism in 1913. He said psychology should study only behaviour that can be observed, not consciousness.Full entry in the glossaryClose wrote that psychology's "theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior".

The goals of Indian psychology, as your lectures present them, are of another kind. Most have direct support in the course books; where the guide is interpreting, it says so.

• Knowing oneself. Rao and Paranjpe (2016, ch. 1) call atmanam viddhi, "know thy self", the central teaching of Indian thought and "the cornerstone of Indian psychology". Knowing oneself includes knowing one's own needs, desires and motives, and seeing how they trap a person. In their account, attachment gives rise to desires, and desires multiply in an endless circle (1.1.4).
• Growth beyond normal. The aim is not only to bring a troubled person back to the average. Indian psychology, Rao and Paranjpe write, "aims at elevating humans to a higher level of being, well beyond the Western 'repair and rebuild' model" (2016, 1.1.5).
• A future aim that guides behaviour now. The four purusharthaspurusharthaपुरुषार्थpuruṣārthasay: pu-ru-shaar-thuhLiterally: aim of a person (puruṣa + artha)The purusharthas are the four aims of human life: dharma (right living), artha (wealth and security), kama (pleasure and love) and moksha (liberation).Western link Close to models of human needs and goals, such as Maslow's hierarchy. The difference: the aims form a moral framework in which ethics guides the others, not a ladder of needs.Full entry in the glossaryClose, dharmadharmaधर्मsay: dhuhr-muhLiterally: that which holds or supports; from dhṛ-, to holdDharma is the right way of living: duty, ethics, and the order that holds society and the world together. It depends partly on one's role and stage of life.Western link Close to 'ethics', 'duty' or 'moral order'. The difference: dharma joins personal ethics, social roles and cosmic law, and it depends on context.Full entry in the glossaryClose, arthaarthaअर्थsay: uhr-thuhLiterally: aim, purpose; object, meaning; wealthArtha is the life aim of wealth, work and material security. It is one of the four purusharthas and is a worthy goal when pursued within dharma.Western link Close to economic and security needs, or to work and career in psychology. The difference: artha is a duty and a value, not only a need.Full entry in the glossaryClose, kamakamaकामkāmasay: kaa-muhLiterally: desire, longing, love; from kam-, to desireKama is the life aim of pleasure, love and desire. It is one of the four purusharthas and is accepted as good when it follows dharma.Western link Close to 'desire', 'libido' or 'hedonic pleasure'. The difference: kama is a proper life goal inside a moral order, not a drive to be either freed or repressed.Full entry in the glossaryClose and mokshamokshaमोक्षmokṣasay: mok-shuhLiterally: release, freedom; from muc-, to freeMoksha means liberation: final freedom from the cycle of rebirth and from suffering. It is the highest of the four aims of life.Western link Close to 'salvation' in religion, or to 'self-transcendence' in transpersonal psychology. The difference: moksha is freedom through knowledge or insight, not a reward from outside.Full entry in the glossaryClose, give a person aims to work toward across a whole life. Rao and Paranjpe (2016, 2.10) speak of "setting up goals worth pursuing in life". Because the aim lies ahead, it shapes what a person does today, much as a student's aim of a degree shapes the student's week. The worldview page explains the four aims.
• Telling consciousness apart from nature. Your notes may call this goal "the alignment of prakriti and purusha". Here prakritiprakritiप्रकृतिprakṛtisay: pruh-kri-tiLiterally: what is made first; original natureIn Sankhya, prakriti is nature: the single source of all matter and all mental activity. It is made of three qualities, the gunas.Western link Close to 'nature' or 'matter-energy'. The key difference: prakriti includes the mind, so thoughts and feelings are natural processes, not consciousness itself.Full entry in the glossaryClose is nature, including the mind, and purushapurushaपुरुषpuruṣasay: pu-ru-shuhLiterally: person, manIn Sankhya and Yoga, purusha is pure consciousness: the silent witness that is aware but does not act. It is completely separate from mind and matter.Western link Close to 'pure consciousness' or the 'witness' in consciousness studies. Unlike Descartes' mind, purusha does not think; thinking belongs to matter.Full entry in the glossaryClose is pure consciousness. In Sankhya and Yoga the two never truly mix, so the goal is not their union but learning to tell them apart. The reality page explains why, and in what narrow sense "alignment" still fits.
• Individual and universal values. Your notes may list this goal without explaining it. One reading that the books support: the four aims and the four stages of life, the ashramasashramaआश्रमāśramasay: aash-ruh-muhLiterally: place of effort; hermitage; stage of life (from śram-, to strive)An ashrama is a stage of life. Tradition names four: student (brahmacharya), householder (grihastha), forest-dweller in retirement (vanaprastha) and renunciant (sannyasa).Western link Close to life-span stage theories, such as Erikson's eight stages. The difference: the ashramas are moral duties tied to life aims, and they end with spiritual preparation for death.Full entry in the glossaryClose, move a person from values tied to a place, a role and a stage of life toward freedom from all such ties. Kiran Kumar (2008, p. 24), drawing on the scholar A. K. Ramanujan, sees this pattern across Indian culture: "a movement towards the context-free rule from context-sensitivity". The student and the householder build a life of relationships, and the later stages slowly loosen those ties, ending in moksha.

How to use this guide

Each page of the unit uses the same tools. Here is what they do.

• Word cards. A word with a dotted underline has a card. Hover over it on a computer, or tap it on a phone, to see its meaning, its spelling in Devanagari script, a hint for saying it, and the nearest Western idea. A second tap, or a click, opens the full glossary entry. Sanskrit and Pali words are underlined in a reddish brown; ideas from psychology and the names of people in blue.
• Concept cards. A large card like the ones on this page is the first full introduction of a key word. Read these slowly; the rest of the course assumes them.
• Western bridges. A bridge box sets an Indian idea beside the nearest Western one, then says where they are alike and where they differ. Both halves matter.
• Claim checks. These boxes flag popular or textbook claims that need care, such as doubtful dates.
• Side notes. Extra detail sits in side notes, in the margin on wide screens and behind a button on phones. You can skip them on a first reading.
• Try this. Each page ends with a question built on a situation. Write or think through your answer before you open the reasoning.

If the marks above and below Sanskrit letters puzzle you, read Reading Sanskrit words once. It takes five minutes and makes every later page easier.

Try this

Ananya, an MSc student in Bengaluru (an invented example), tells her study group: 'Indian psychology just means studying Indians. My survey of 300 Indian college students, using an American anxiety scale, is Indian psychology.' Her friend Joseph replies that her survey says nothing about the mind as Indian texts describe it.

Using Rao and Paranjpe's distinctions, what kind of work is Ananya's survey? What would make a study count as Indian psychology in their sense, and would Durganand Sinha draw the line in the same place?

Show the reasoning

In Rao and Paranjpe's terms, Ananya's survey is psychology in India, and also a small piece of research on the psychology of Indians. It uses a Western concept (anxiety as the American scale defines it) and a Western tool on Indian participants. Rao (2008, p. 2) says plainly that Indian psychology "is not the study of psychology of Indians". For a study to count as Indian psychology in their sense, it would have to start from a model rooted in classical Indian thought, for example Yoga's account of the restless mind or Rao's model of body, mind and consciousness, and ask questions that the model raises.

Durganand Sinha would agree that the survey is not indigenous research, because it imports a Western tool without checking whether it fits. But he would not ask Ananya to adopt a separate Indian school. He would ask her to draw a hypothesis from Indian thought, for example about how detachment from results affects exam stress, and test it with sound scientific methods. So both critics reject her claim, for different reasons: Rao and Paranjpe because she lacks the Indian theory, Sinha because she lacks the testing of Indian ideas.