Feelings, impulses, wishes, and fantasies-the dynamic content of the inner world-occupy the deepest recesses of the psyche. It is through introspection and empathy, essential to psychotherapy, that the outside observer can grasp the meaning of the inner world of an individual.

First published in 1978, The Inner World is an inquiry into the development of Indian identity. It examines the network of social roles, traditional values, and customs with which the threads of Indian psychological development are interwoven and, in doing so, reveals important aspects of Indian society, myths, rituals, fables, and arts. Hailed by critics globally as the best application of psychoanalysis to Indian culture, this Oxford India Perennials edition of The Inner World includes a new Prologue situating the work in the contemporary scenario.