Table Of ContentPhilosophical Trends in
Modern Maharastra
By the Same Author
Khristaraandalaca Sanksipta Itihasa ( Marathi )
Philosophical Trends in
Modern Maharastra
Matthew Lederle
POPULAR PRAKASHAN
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© 1976 by M. Loderlc
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First published
1976
( 3029 )
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sp’ra':
IN PIAM MEMORIAM
PATRIS MEI ET MATRIS MEAB
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With gratitude I acknowledge the assistance and encourage
ment given to me during the preparation of this work. First
and above all I thank my revered Research Guide, Professor
Devidas iDattatraya Vadekar. I am indebted to many a scholar
and friend who shared his knowledge of the philosophical
trends in Maharastra with me. I am grateful to Father J. Toscano,
S. J., and Father D. Donnelly, S. J., for going through the
English manuscript of the author whose mother-tongue is Ger
man. Special mention must be made of the ever helpful librar
ians in Pune and Bombay, and specially of srI K. S. Hingwe
and his co-operative and eilRcient staff of the Jayakar Library,
University of Pune.
I am grateful for the pleasant co-operation received from the
management and the staff of the Popular Prakas'an, Bombay,
the Publisher and of the Safigam Press, Pune, the Printer of
this work. Heartful thanks to Dr. M. P. Pethe for his generous
assistance in preparing the index. Finally, I am indebted to the
authorities of the University of Pune for allowing this book,
submitted to them as a Disserti^tion for the Degree of Doctor
of Philosophy, to be published by Popular Prakakn.
PREFACE
This book aims at explaining the philosophical trends existing
in modern Maharaatra. The State of Maharastra is more or loss
coextensive with the area in which Marathi is spoken as the
mother tongue of a great majority of the people. Modem
Maharastra begins with the end of the Pes'vS rule in 1818. The
period covered in this study shows the mental agony and an
guish, the failure and the success which accompanied the mani>
'fold attempts at achieving a renaissance of Indian society.
The keeiiest and most creative minds in India during the past
one hundred , and fifty years were to a large extent engaged in
the struggle for political independence and social reform. This
gave rise to a literature on political and social thought. Besides
works on these subjects we find another group of writings which
can be classified under the heading of spirituality. Much that
belongs to this group is merely hagiographical and devotional
literature. But there are publications which furnish serious philo
sophical ideas, presented in a religious garb. It is mainly in
works on social philosophy, politics and spirituality, which often
include discussions on ethical questions, that we have to search
for signs of philosophical trends.
Our main intention is not to investigate the history of sociah
reconstruction, political thought, or religious movements in
Maharastra. We rather aim at understanding the answers to the
main questions that occupy the philosophic mind, by investigat
ing the available political, social and spiritual literature. Such
questions are ; What is man? How does he orientate himself
in the context of the universe? What is his idea of the Absolute?
How does his metaphysical thought shape his moral theories?
What did people think and speak and write about the ultimate
causes of things? Such an enquiry will reveal modern Maha-
rastrian philosophy. Philosophy has been taken for this purpose
in a broad sense, to cover not only the technical philosophy of
the universe, but also the philosophy of individual and social life.
X Philosophical Trends in Modern MahSrastra
Though few books deal exclusively with methodological, meta
physical and ethical problems, this does not mean that these
problems were not discussed, that solutions to them were not
attempted. There is an innate urge in man to search for the
underlying principles of knowledge and of the reality with which
he finds himself confronted. Since most of the available literature
deals only in an indirect way with philosophy, a fuller treat
ment of the philosophical ideas requires an introduction to the
different thinkers and their activities in the social and political field.
The intellectual effort of modern Maharastra will only be under
stood if these answers, which are man’s great concern, are given
in coheirent form, fitting into a logical whole where one state
ment supports another. The synthesis of philosophical trends
will naturally lead to an evaluation of them. We do not, however,
evaluate them in reference to any particular system of philosophy,
whether of Sankara, Bradley, or Thomas Aquinas. We rather
investigate the ideas proposed by a particular thinker and see
how far they are logically coherent and how far they have been
verified by rational evidence.
Valuable work has already been done in investigating the
philosophical trends in modern MahSrastra. Prabhakar Padhye
and S. R. Tikekar 'published in 1935 a work on the different
intellectual movements up to that time.i The book was written
for the general educated readership and had, therefore, to avoid
many more intricate problems. Besides, the authors could not
consider developments on books published after the year 1935.
Their intimate knowledge of MaharSstrian society, persons and
events gave the authors a sure touch in placing them in proper
perspective. The same service has also been done by shorter
studies on the philosophical scene in modern Mahanstra. Among
these works, of special importance because they include the whole
of the modern period and because of the competence of their
authors, are a lecture by N. G. Damle® on the philosophical
1 P. Padhye, and S. R. Tikakar, Ajakdlacd Mahardffra, Vmcartka Pragatl,
Bombay, 1935.
2 N. G. Damle, ‘Tattvajnanavi^ayaka VaAgmaya va tyaca Vikssa A. A.
Kulkarpi, ed., PradakfinS, Gelya Se-Savaie Varfdtila Mardfhi VdAgmaydce
Samikfana, 2nd ed., Pu^e, 1956.
Preface xi
literature in Mahfiraa^ra and its development, and a study
by D. K. Bedekar® on the philosophical efforts in modem
Maharastfa.
: Up to now no detailed and'extensive study has been made of
the philosophical trends in modern Maharastra taking philosophy
5 in the meaning described above. This work aims at a complete
5 presentation. The vastness of the subject, however, imposes a
j selection, choosing what is important and representative for an
} understanding of the main influence,'their interconnections and
I interactions and their contribution to the development of the
I philosophical climate of our own time. Influences from outside
f MahSrastra, Indian or Western, have been explained in their
I proper context as far as this was required.
A study of the philosophical trends of our own time cannot
rely on mere book knowledge. The author has, wherever it was
possible, consulted the main representatives of the various move
ments and discussed the result of the research with them. This
study has led him to a deeper understanding and appreciation of
Maharastra which has been his home for about two tapa, a tapa
being a term of twelve years. By origin a German national he
is now by choice an Indian citizen. What made him finally to
undertake this work was the desire to understand the growth of
the modern Indian mind.
India is a developing country, passing through rapid social
and economic changes. Its intellectual climate too is changing;
this implies also the acceptance and creation of new philosophical
ideas. Specially in Bengal and Maharastra the literature related
to these changes is considerable. It shows the breaking-through
bf new ideas, and the reaction and struggle of traditional thought
in the face of the new challenge. This study relates to modern
Indian philosophy, a field which is fairly unknown outside of
India, especially as the main streams of modern thought are ex
pressed in works written in modern Indian languages.
A study of the MahSrastrian scene can contribute to a deeper
understanding of the modern Indian mind and of the intellectual
changes that are sweeping over the world.
3 D. K. Betjekar, ‘ Tattvamjrnamsa, Adhunika Kala O. B. Sardgi,
ed., Mahard(^ra-Jivana, Vol. I, Puije, 1960, pp. 252-90.
