Indian and Western Perspective of Emotions: A Comparative Analysis

Emotions are crucial to our understanding of self and outer world. Being conscious of our emotions can help us navigate life more steadily and easily. It has been observed that emotions have an adaptive value, assisting us in completing basic daily activities. The importance of emotions in our daily lives cannot be understated. All of our beliefs and behaviors are shaped by our emotional experiences, which also serve as a reflection of our emotions. This paper attempts to understand Indian as well as western perspective of emotions. The Indian classical literature describes emotions as Navrasas as compared to the basic emotions in the western thought. In this paper, attempt has been made to understand whether how emotions have been understood in Indian philosophy and whether this understanding is similar to those of western theorists.