THE RENAISSANCE IN INDIA
accepts and life labours to assimilate. Philosophy in India has been the intellec-tual canaliser of spiritual knowledge and experience, but the philosophical intellect has not as yet decidedly begun the work of new creation ; It has been rather busy with the restatement of its past gains than with any new statement which would visibly and rapidly enlarge the boundaries of its thought and aspiration. The contact of European philosophy has not been fruitful of any creative reaction ; first because the past philosophies of Europe have very little that could be of any utility in this direction, nothing of the first importance in fact which India has not already stated in forms better suited to her own spiritual temper and genius, and though the thought of Nietzsche, of Bergson and of James has recently touched more vitally just a few minds here and there, their drift is much too externally pragma-tic and vitalistic to be genuindy asami-
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