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A Rational Refutation of the Hindu Philosophical Systems
1862 · 330 pages
A Rational Refutation of the Hindu Philosophical Systems
by Nehemiah Goreh
A systematic examination of the six darshanas — Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa, and Vedanta — by Nehemiah Goreh, a Chitpavan Brahmin of Benares trained as a Sanskrit pandit who argued against Christianity before he converted to it. Written first in Hindi as Shad-darshana-darpana (1860) and rendered into English by Fitz-Edward Hall two years later, it works from inside the tradition, quoting the primary texts and standard commentaries and meeting each system in its strongest form. The long third section on Vedanta — half the book — is its heart.
The changed life
A Sanskrit pandit of Benares who wrote against the Christian faith before embracing it, Goreh set down here the very reasoning that dismantled his own position — autobiographical in argument rather than narrative.
Summary
A Rational Refutation of the Hindu Philosophical Systems (1862) is Nehemiah Goreh's systematic examination of the six classical darshanas — Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa, and Vedanta. He wrote it first in Hindi as Shad-darshana-darpana (1860); Fitz-Edward Hall rendered it into English two years later. Goreh was a Chitpavan Brahmin of Benares, trained as a Sanskrit pandit, who had argued against Christianity before converting to it, and the book carries the weight of that reversal.
What sets it apart is that it works from the inside. Goreh argues from the primary Sanskrit texts, quotes the standard commentaries, and takes each system in its strongest form before objecting to it. The long third section on Vedanta — half the book — is the core: chapters on the three kinds of existence, the falseness of the world, and whether the soul can be identical with Brahma while remaining subject to ignorance. He pauses, too, to dismiss the then-fashionable comparison between Vedantic idealism and the philosophy of Berkeley.
The result is autobiographical in argument rather than in narrative. This is the reasoning that took apart Goreh's own former position, set out at length — the fuller, more technical companion to his shorter and better-known Letter to the Brahmos.
Who was Nehemiah Goreh?
Nehemiah Goreh (1825–1895), born Nilakantha Shastri Goreh, was a Chitpavan Brahmin of Benares and an accomplished Sanskrit pandit who first opposed Christianity in writing before he came to accept it. After his conversion and baptism he took the name Nehemiah and became one of the most formidable Indian Christian apologists of his century.
He was ordained in the Anglican Church and in his later years moved toward Anglo-Catholic practice, joining the Society of St. John the Evangelist. This Rational Refutation is the longer and more technical of his major works; the shorter Letter to the Brahmos from a Converted Brahman of Benares is the companion volume, and Goreh wrote a good deal besides.
Common questions
- How does this relate to Goreh's Letter to the Brahmos?
- The Letter to the Brahmos is Goreh's shorter, better-known work; this Rational Refutation is its longer companion — the same reasoning in fuller, more technical form. It is not his only work, and the two stand well side by side.
- What are the six darshanas the book examines?
- They are the six classical schools of Hindu philosophy: Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa, and Vedanta. Goreh treats each in turn, giving roughly half the book to the long third section on Vedanta.
A note on the text. A Rational Refutation of the Hindu Philosophical Systemsis in the public domain. What you're buying is our edition — the careful typesetting and design. The original text is also available free here.