Publisher's Synopsis
Human Life on earth is a matter of misery and sorrow; this is a problem which seems to have engaged with minds of the Indian thinkers since ancient times. The answer to this question, as most of them appear to believe, is in the affirmative. It is an important business of philosophy, according to the Indian tradition, to seek to attain a state which is completely free from the clutches of misery and sorrow. This state has been variously spoken of as Moksha, Mukti, Kaivalya, Apavarga, Nirvana, and so on by the adherents of various schools of philosophy in India, and philosophy is therefore, truly called Tatvajnana, or Darshana. Whether all these words signify one and the same state, may be a moot point. But the fact of a complete cessation of suffering applies equally to all of them.
The notion of suffering as a dominating factor in human life has loomed very large in Indian philosophy. In fact, it may be called the starting point of philosophical inquires. Human suffering is traditionally supposed to be divided into three main types as follows:
