Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals : 18-1. SWAMI kRISHNANANDA

16/03/2019
18.  The Purpose of Philosophy-1.

A talk given on the 1st of February, 1979, while inaugurating the 24th Conference of the All-India Philosophical Congress, at the Sivananda Ashram.

On this auspicious occasion of holy Vasanta Panchami, I have the honour to welcome to this holy Ashram all the learned delegates of the Akhila Bharatiya Darsana Parishad. At this august moment, I invoke the grace of the Almighty upon you all for your health and long life, so that you may be blessed by the Divine Being for a more energetic endeavour in the direction of true pursuit of the Goal of all existence, which is the central theme of philosophical endeavour.

By way of a few inaugural words I have the privilege to present in a short outline what I feel from the bottom of my heart at the present moment.

This is a session, an Adhivesana, of the Akhila Bharatiya Darsana Parishad – An All-India Philosophical Congress – constituted by highly elevated spirits whose total being may be expected to be tuned to the great ideal of philosophy. We have philosophies of different kinds. We have a philosophy of physics, a philosophy of mathematics, and a philosophy of any art or science. When we speak of philosophy in this sense, we are referring to the rationale behind any particular technique of approach, art, or science or any branch of learning. But, as you would all appreciate, philosophy, in its true connotation, has been used in a special significance and not in the general sense of the rationale behind the arts and the sciences taken in an isolated manner. If we may endeavour to put the whole matter in one sentence, in our attempt to define philosophy, it may safely be said that philosophy is the reaction of the whole being of man to the whole of Reality. It is not merely intellectual function. It is not mere ratiocination. It is not activity of any particular aspect of the psychological organ. It is the whole being of man that is worked up into activity which is set in tune with the entire structure of Reality. This, in my opinion, is the function of philosophy. It investigates into the nature of phenomena by reference to ultimate causes and not merely to secondary causes or immediate causes.

To be continued ..