Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism

65 epistemology

are a favourite with Indian sculptors

and painters.

Eliade, Mircea (1907–86)

Historian of religion and author of

many well-known books. General edi-

tor of the 16-volume Encyclopedia of

Religions.His early studies of Hinduism

culminated in his Yoga: Immortality

and Freedom(1930).

Ellora, also Elurä

Famous site in Mahärä•flra, near

Aurangabad, with Buddhist, Jain and

Hindu caves. The best-known monu-

ment, however, is the eighth/ninth cen-

tury Kailäsanäflha Ÿiva temple, the

world’s largest monolithic structure. It

is carved out of the mountainside with

numerous sculptures relating to Ÿiva

mythology. The work started under the

Rastrakuta king Krishna I and took

about a century to complete.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

(1803–82)

Popular American writer and philoso-

pher, one of the first to show serious

interest in Indian thought, especially

Vedänta.

emotions

SeeBHÄVA, RASA.

environment

Vedic Hinduism was very environmen-

tally conscious: pollution of land and

water was forbidden and care was taken

to preserve the natural fertility of the

environment. Puräæic ideas such as the

concept of the material world as God’s

body sharpened the awareness of the

sacredness of nature. Many large tracts

of land were kept in pristine condition

as places for the gods to inhabit. With

the Islamic conquest, and later with

European colonial administration, that

tradition waned and the country

became increasingly exploited. Overuse

of grazing areas, deforestation, saliniza-

tion of the soil due to poor irrigation

methods and overexploitation of fertile

land led in many areas of India to seri-

ous problems long before the industrial-

ization of the country. Modern India has

very serious environmental problems

caused by overcrowding, pollution,

irresponsible industrial development,

neglect and overuse of land. Many agen-

cies are trying to deal with the problem,

rediscovering in the process some

ancient ecological wisdom.

epics

SeeMAHÄBHÄRATA; RÄMÄYAŒA.

epistemology

The age-old Indian equation of emanci-

pation with knowledge and understand-

ing led very early to questions of episte-

mology, especially an attempt to define

the criteria of proofs for truth

(PRAMÄŒAS). Hindus, basing their tradi-

tion on the Veda, accepted ŸRUTIas

‘true’, and Vedic propositions as proof-

texts. An early controversy arose

between the MÏMÄßSAKAS, who accept-

ed only injunctions (vidhi) as ‘revealed’,

and the VEDÄNTINS, for whom the pur-

pose of the Veda was ultimate knowl-

edge (VIDYÄ). In debates with non-Vedic

systems, such as those of the various

schools of Buddhism and Jainism,

Hindus developed their own epistemol-

ogy. The NYÄYA(1) school especially

investigated questions of logic and

epistemology. From the early Middle

Ages it became customary for Hindu

scholarly writers to preface their works

with a statement detailing which

pramäæas they embraced: all accepted

ÿabda (the word of scripture) and

pratyak•a(direct perception); some

used in addition upamäna (analogy),

anumäna (inference), arthapatti (pre-

sumption) and abhäva (absence). As a

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