A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism Klaus K Klostermaie

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 editor
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 monument,
however, is the eighth/ninth century
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 philosopher,
one of the first to show serious
interest in Indian thought, especially
Vedänta.
emotions
See BHÄVA, RASA.
environment
Vedic Hinduism was very environmentally
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, salinization
of the soil due to poor irrigation
methods and overexploitation of fertile
land led in many areas of India to serious
problems long before the industrialization
of the country. Modern India has
very serious environmental problems
caused by overcrowding, pollution,
irresponsible industrial development,
neglect and overuse of land. Many agencies
are trying to deal with the problem,
rediscovering in the process some
ancient ecological wisdom.
epics
See MAHÄBHÄRATA; RÄMÄYAŒA.
epistemology
The age-old Indian equation of emancipation
with knowledge and understanding
led very early to questions of epistemology,
especially an attempt to define
the criteria of proofs for truth
(PRAMÄŒAS). Hindus, basing their tradition
on the Veda, accepted ŸRUTI as
‘true’, and Vedic propositions as prooftexts.
An early controversy arose
between the MÏMÄßSAKAS, who accepted
only injunctions (vidhi) as ‘revealed’,
and the VEDÄNTINS, for whom the purpose
of the Veda was ultimate knowledge
(VIDYÄ). In debates with non-Vedic
systems, such as those of the various
schools of Buddhism and Jainism,
Hindus developed their own epistemology.
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 (presumption)
and abhäva (absence). As a