The west-centrism in approaching the knowledge systems of east has been sufficiently highlighted and problematized. This paper argues that the attempts have often been restricted to a framework of colonial gaze that prevents the Indian classical philosophy from gaining a vantage of its own. The approach to the classical traditions have been largely fragmented, catering to the pressure of proving its “relevance” either as a knowledge system or as texts with useful resources and answers to contemporary problems. This “problem solving” framework at the very outset de-recognizes the capacity of an entire philosophical tradition of problem identification and formulation, unsettling terrains of knowledge by asking new questions. The article presents a case for theorizing relevance as a prerequisite to resolving some of these issues.

在处理东方知识体系方面的西方中心主义已经得到充分强调和问题化。本文认为，这些尝试常常被限制在一种殖民凝视的框架内，这种框架阻止了印度古典哲学获得自己的优势。古典传统的方法在很大程度上是支离破碎的，以满足证明其“相关性”的压力，无论是作为知识系统还是作为具有有用资源和当代问题答案的文本。这种“问题解决”框架从一开始就否定了整个哲学传统的问题识别和制定能力，通过提出新问题来扰乱知识领域。本文提出了将相关性理论化为解决其中一些问题的先决条件的案例。