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Indica Books

Publishers, booksellers and distributors Indica Books is located in the centre of Varanasi, in BHU Road very near Assi Crossing.

Its showroom has one of the best selections in India of books on Indology and the classical culture of India. Indica Books publishes high quality books on these subjects. Ask for our Publications Catalogue.

17/08/2026

THE SHATAKAS OF BARTRIHARI

Bhartṛhari is renowned as both a philosopher grammarian and as a poet of extraordinary depth. He is usually dated between the 5th and 7th centuries CE, in a period of great splendour of classical Hindu civilization.
As a grammarian, he is mainly known for his Vākyapadīya. His work as a poet is known by the three Śatakas (Śatakatraya: ‘three centuries’). Whether the poet author of the Śatakas and the grammarian were the same historical individual has been debated. Indian tradition has never given importance to the concrete historical individuals, but rather to their works; particular individuals blurred into their archetypes.
The Śatakas explore the fundamental conditions of human life: passion (śṛṅgāra), ethics (nīti), and renunciation (vairāgya). The Śṛṅgāraśataka, Nītiśataka, and Vairāgyaśataka together constitute one of the most enduring achievements of Sanskrit gnomic poetry (subhāṣita literature).
Each Śataka addresses a distinct dimension of life. The Śṛṅgāraśataka celebrates love, beauty, and desire, yet often with an undercurrent of irony, dissatisfaction, and impermanence. The Nītiśataka articulates a rigorous ethical vision, offering reflections on conduct, wisdom, friendship, power, learning, and the responsibilities of the individual in society. Its verses are marked by practical insight and moral clarity, frequently invoking the tension between ideal behaviour and lived reality. The Vairāgyaśataka completes the arc by turning decisively toward renunciation, exposing the futility of ambition, wealth, and sensory attachment, and affirming detachment as the highest form of freedom.
Taken together, the Śatakas trace an inner journey from engagement with the world to disillusionment and, finally, to spiritual withdrawal.

14/06/2026

TATTVAMASI
THE DIRECT WAY OF ADVAITA VEDANTA
by Gian Giuseppe Filippi

Advaita Vedānta is the simplest doctrine (siddhānta) and method (prakriyā) of Sanātana Dharma, since it requires neither prior cultural preparation nor any psychosomatic effort to be practiced. At the same time, there is no more difficult Truth in the world for the human intellect to comprehend, as advaitavāda is devoted to the mystery of the Absolute, of Brahman. The vicārin who engages in its inquiry with an ardent desire for knowledge, under the guidance of a realized Guru, may come to recognize it as his very own Ātman. Gauḍapāda, Śaṃkara, Sūreśvara, and the teachers who have followed them up to the present day have transmitted the means to ascertain that one’s true Nature lies beyond every illusion caused by lack of understanding, misunderstanding, and doubt.
This is the method of adhyāropa-apavāda, through which, by observing appearances, one comes to discern their weaknesses. In this way, through discrimination (viveka) between the true and the false, one is able to verify the unreality of what appears to the senses, the mind, and the intellect. The most immediate object available for applying this method is the world —including the seeker’s ego — as it appears in the waking state (jāgrat avasthā), with all its contradictions and inconsistencies. Should this not suffice, the inquiry may be extended to the dream state (svapna avasthā) and, further still, to deep sleep (suṣupti avasthā), the other two experiences that make up the individual’s life.
This investigation of the three avasthā-s must be carried out by listening to the teachings of the Upaniṣad-s (śravaṇa), reflecting upon what has been learned (manana), and striving to understand beyond logical and scriptural formulations (nididhyāsana). This may perplex the karma kāṇḍin-s, who often regard such a prakriyā as mere philosophy or an abstract theory. Yet the jñānin has no need of karma in order to realize that one is already, here and now, the Absolute.
The second part of the book consists of a translation of the eighteenth chapter of the Upadeśa Sāhasrī of Śrī Śaṃkara Bhagavatpāda, a text that fully confirms what has been described above.

Gian Giuseppe Filippi is a former full professor of Indology and head of the Indian Studies Institute at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy). Discoverer of the Mahabharata city of Kampilya, he directed the excavations there in collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India (1997–1999). He led the first Indological expedition in Arunachal Pradesh (2001) and the Orissa Lanja Saura Project (2004–2006). He has been following the Advaita Vedānta paramparā-s of Swami Karpatri, Swami Satchidanandendra Saraswati, and Swami Prabuddhananda Saraswati since 1997.

11/05/2026

FROM S*X TO SAMADHI ? by Swami Karpatri
Rajneesh, later known as Osho (1931-1990), was a controversial modern guru. Central to Rajneesh’s philosophy was an iconoclastic critique of traditional institutional religions, conventional morality, and social norms. He proposed that human sexuality, rather than being repressed, could become a gateway to higher consciousness if approached with mindfulness and awareness, and should be given full freedom. According to him, complete detachment and samādhi can only be achieved through the satisfaction of every physical and psychic impulse, without any inhibitory restraint. He published "Sambhog se Samādhi kī Or" (in Hindi), in 1969, and "From S*x to Superconsciousness" in 1971.
Swami Karpatri (Hariharananda Saraswati, 1907-1982) was recognized as a jīvanmukta and a very learned champion of Sanātana Dharma orthodoxy and orthopraxis. He clearly understood the danger of Rajneesh’s teachings and wrote "Kyā Sambhog se Samādhi?" (From S*x to Samādhi?) as a rigorous refutation (khaṇḍana) of Rajneesh’s ideas — an attempt to protect the traditional understanding of brahmacarya and transcendence from what he perceived as a materialistic reinterpretation of yoga and spirituality.
Drawing from the scriptures (śāstra-s), he clearly expounded the place and value of kāma — desire, and especially sexual desire, one of the most entrenched desires — in traditional Hindu culture. Kāma is even said to be the origin of the universe, when the unmanifested Divinity wished to create multiplicity. Swami Karpatri shows clearly how Hindu tradition accepts kāma in its proper place — it is even one of the four aims of life (puruṣārtha-s) — but he insists that, as the scriptures repeatedly tell, it should be controlled and regulated. Indulging in desire, far from extinguishing it, makes it stronger. Control of the senses is of utmost importance, as told for example in the Bhagavad Gītā and so many other sacred texts.
Indica Books has published a clear and learned English translation of this important book.

05/05/2026

CONFUSIONS IN ADVAITA VEDANTA

Dennis Waite, author of over 12 books on Advaita, presents Volume 2 of his rigorous exploration into the most contentious topics facing spiritual seekers. While the first volume looked specifically at the relative value of knowledge and experience for enlightenment, this essential sequel asks whether ignorance is an actual entity that must be destroyed.
This book is designed for spiritual seekers who are committed to the teaching of Advaita but remain uncertain about the ‘correct’ understanding of the core principles. This work reveals Śaṅkara’s view of the matter and show where other authors diverge, enabling the reader to discern essential teaching from academic complexity.
All of the key, post-Śaṅkara concepts and arguments are addressed, such as mūlāvidyā, avidyāleśa, mithyājñāna. Contrary views such as those of Ramanuja’s ‘Seven Untenables’, are covered, and the attempts by Sri Satchidanandendra to re-establish Śaṅkara’s authentic teaching.
The book then considers exactly what happens, once Self-knowledge has brought about ‘enlightenment’. What happens to the jīva who is now a jñānī, and does the world disappear?
Waite explicitly highlights areas of confusion to enable the reader to understand what is important and what can be safely ignored. The fundamental purpose is to lead seekers to a deep and proper understanding of traditional Advaita Vedānta.

Indica Books has published the second volume of "Confusions in Advaita Vedanta" by this prestigious author.

22/02/2026

RAMANUJA
Ramanuja repudiates the doctrine of the illusoriness of the material world and the finite self (jivatman), and postulates that ultimate Reality is one in which the material world and the finite self find a necessary place. He claims that the ideals by which we live—the perfections of truth, goodness and love—are rooted in the very heart of the Eternal. Unlike Shankara, who, as a stern metaphysician, follows the dictates of the intellect, even if it condemns the world of experience to ultimate unreality, Ramanuja is primarily a realist, abiding by the data of physical, moral and religious experience and seeking to systematize them into a Whole in which they are not ultimately lost, but gain new meaning and value. In Ramanuja, Indian theism of several centuries attains its loftiest philosophical expression.
The aim of this work is twofold—firstly, to deal with such conceptions of the Deity as led to Ramanuja’s views (the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, Vaishnava portions of the Mahabharata, the Vishnu Purana, the Bhagavata Purana, and the Hymns of the Alvars, all of which directly influenced Ramanuja’s view of the Deity), and secondly, to deal with Ramanuja’s own conception of the Deity.
Published fort the first time in England in 1934, this book may still be useful to the people interested in Ramanuja’s philosophy, about which much less has been written than about the Advaita of Shankara.

15/11/2025

MIND-BODY RELATIONSHIP
IN INDIAN PHILOSOPHY

This book is an attempt to understand the mind-body relationship from the standpoint of Indian philosophy. The author exposes the topic as dealt with in traditional Indian schools of philosophy, in particular by Samkhya-Yoga schools and also by Ayurveda. He also presents the Nyaya-Vaisheshika and Vedantic perspectives, as well as the Charvaka who, like modern Western materialists, do not believe in the separate existence of the mind from the physical body. The author also presents western studies and tendencies on this subject.
The problem of the relation of mind and body is no special problem in Indian philosophy because Indian thinkers do not equate mind with the self. In Indian philosophy the word ‘mind’ is used in the sense of manas or antahkarana (internal organ) and not in the sense of atman (self). But Western thinkers differentiate mind from body on the one hand and equate mind with the self on the other hand. Some of them have advanced ‘interactionism’, where mental and bodily states interact. But if the stuff of the mind is so different from the stuff of the body, then how do they influence one another? This problem vanishes when we look at the point from the Yoga perspective. Here also there is interactionism between mind and body, but in Yoga philosophy the mind is not different from the body. Mind and body both come under the same category, as mind is subtle matter — both are transformations of prakriti. Ayurveda also believes in the reciprocal effect of mind on body and vice-versa, thereby proving the intimate relationship of mind and body.

Dr. Deo Brat Chaube is a retired professor of the Dept. of Philosophy and Religion, Banaras Hindu University.

21/09/2025

PATRA-SAMVAD

Thakur Jaideva Singh (1893-1986) was a renowned musicologist and a great scholar of Indian Philosophy. He was a true representative of Indian culture, a towering figure in the world of scholarship, as an erudite scholar of several subjects, as a teacher of philosophy, as one of the most eminent musicologists of India, and as a distinguished author in both English and Hindi.
Thakur Saheb maintained contact with a great number of scholars, artists and important personalities the world over by simple correspondence, entrusted to the postal services. Out of those letters, academically valuable ones have been selected as source material of this collection. This collection contains important correspondences with great scholars such as: Swami Lakshman Joo, Pt. Gopinath Kaviraj, Vasudeva Sharan Agrawala, Anand K. Coomaraswamy, André Padoux, etc.
“Patra-Samvad: Correspondence with Eminent Scholars”, recently published by Indica Books, is a compilation of scholarly correspondences of Thakur Jaideva Singh with more than hundred contemporary scholars. It is not only a mere collection but a reflected repository of wisdom in the fields of philosophy, especially Kashmir Shaivism, and Indian musicology.
This book is a unique document for knowing the intellectual panorama of Indian culture in the second part of the 20th century.

https://www.indicabooks.com/product/thakur-jaideva-singh-patra-samvad-correspondence-with-eminent-scholars/

01/08/2025

TRIPURA RAHASYA

"The Mystery of Goddess Tripura" is a treatise that presents the mythology, theories, and practices related to the goddess Tripura Sundari. It presents its teachings combining deep philosophical discourses with “puranic” stories, making it a quite readable book.
Srividya conceives of the highest reality as feminine: the goddess Rajarajeshwari or Tripura Sundari. “The most beautiful of the three cities” — meaning the three worlds (loka-s: earth, heaven and the intermediate or psychic world), the three bodies of man (physical: sthula; subtle; sukshma; causal: karana) and the three states (waking: jagrat, dream: svapna; deep sleep: sushupti). It is the Consciousness behind everything that exists, transcendental and non-dual. In this supreme Consciousness, identical to Atman, the universe is reflected like a city is reflected in a mirror.
Srividya is the most intellectual sakta initiatory path among all the Ta***ic currents; as an integral part of cognitive enquiry (jnana vicara), along with Advaita Vedanta it is also known as Brahma Vidya. The Srividya tradition is a traditional lineage that integrates Veda and Ta**ra in a particular style. This jnana khanda is presented as the essence of Vaidika, Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakta and Pasupata knowledge.
The symbolic structure (mandala, yantra, cakra) specific to Tripura is the Sriyantra or Sricakra.
INDICA BOOKS has recently published a clear translation of this treatise.

06/07/2025

THE SARANGI

The sarangi is the main bowed instrument of Hindustani music. It has three gut melody strings that are stopped by the left-hand cuticles or the skin above the nails. Around 36 sympathetic strings give a hauntings echo. Traditionally the sarangi’s public role has been to provide melodic accompaniment for vocal music, but its players have always practised and performed solo sarangi in their homes and at musicians’ gatherings. The constraints posed by the sarangi’s unusual construction and technique have given birth to a unique instrumental manifestation of vocal music that has never before been examined in a musicological work.
Indica Books has published “Sarangi Style in Hindustani Music” by Nicolas Magriel. This is the most complete book on any Indian instrument.

This beautifully illustrated book attempts to answer these questions: What is sarangi music? In what ways does it reflect or differ from the vocal music on which it is based? In what ways do the unique features of the sarangi and its technique affect its capacity to emulate vocal music? The approach is empirical, supported by extensive sargam transcription and analysis of video-recorded music and informed by the author’s fifty years of experience as a student, performer and teacher of the sarangi and Hindustani vocal music. The discussion is supplemented by 170 online video files and 555 audio examples.

https://www.indicabooks.com/product/sarangi-style-in-hindustani-music/

06/05/2025

ONE HUNDRED POEMS OF KABIR

Kabir is well known in India. Born in Benares around 1440 of Muslim parents, he was accepted in early life as a disciple by Swami Ramananda. Ramananda had brought to Northern India the religious revival which Ramanuja, the great 12th century expositor of Vishisht¬ad¬vaita Vedanta based on bhakti, had initiated in the South.
Kabir hated religious exclusivism and decried religious hypocrisy and ritualism. He was not a religious ascetic but a weaver, who earned his living at the loom. He preached “the religion of love”, through which one discovers the omnipresent Reality, the “All-pervading”, “the breath of all breath”, within Whom “the worlds are being told like beads”.
His poems, written in a popular dialect of Hindi and addressed to the common people — which he probably sang to his disciples while working at his loom — are still very present in the India of the 21st century. Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, this book was published for the first time in London in 1915. Indica Books has published a beautiful edition of this small spiritual classic.

https://www.indicabooks.com/product/one-hundred-poems-of-kabir/

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