Book contents
- The Origins of Philosophy in Ancient Greece and Ancient India
- The Origins of Philosophy in Ancient Greece and Ancient India
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- The Ancient Texts
- Translations
- Anglicisation of Sanskrit
- Abbreviations
- Part A Introductory
- Part B The Earliest Texts
- Part C Unified Self, Monism and Cosmic Cycle in India
- Chapter 5 The Economics of Sacrifice
- Chapter 6 Inner Self and Universe
- Chapter 7 The Powerful Individual
- Chapter 8 The Formation of Monism
- Chapter 9 The Hereafter
- Chapter 10 Reincarnation and Karma
- Part D Unified Self, Monism and Cosmic Cycle in Greece
- Part E Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index of Principal Ancient Passages
- Index
Chapter 9 - The Hereafter
from Part C - Unified Self, Monism and Cosmic Cycle in India
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2019
- The Origins of Philosophy in Ancient Greece and Ancient India
- The Origins of Philosophy in Ancient Greece and Ancient India
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- The Ancient Texts
- Translations
- Anglicisation of Sanskrit
- Abbreviations
- Part A Introductory
- Part B The Earliest Texts
- Part C Unified Self, Monism and Cosmic Cycle in India
- Chapter 5 The Economics of Sacrifice
- Chapter 6 Inner Self and Universe
- Chapter 7 The Powerful Individual
- Chapter 8 The Formation of Monism
- Chapter 9 The Hereafter
- Chapter 10 Reincarnation and Karma
- Part D Unified Self, Monism and Cosmic Cycle in Greece
- Part E Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index of Principal Ancient Passages
- Index
Summary
Chapter 9 describes the earliest extant Indian beliefs about the afterlife, which were superseded by the idea of individually accumulated metaphysical merit accompanied by the danger of repeated death, which develops into the idea of subjection in the hereafter to a repeated cosmic cycle. All this prefigures the combination of individually accumulated karma with the universal cycle of reincarnation (sam?sara), from which escape was sought by various forms of renunciation. An important factor in these developments was the individual accumulation and universal circulation of money.
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- Information
- The Origins of Philosophy in Ancient Greece and Ancient IndiaA Historical Comparison, pp. 167 - 192Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019