Title: The Six Schools or visions Darsana of Hindu Philosophy
1The Six Schools (or visions Darsana) of Hindu
Philosophy
2The six traditional (astika) philosophical
schools developed on the basis of the Vedas,
Upanishads, etc. They also responded to the
three unorthodox (nastika) movements of
Carvaka, Jainism, andBuddhism.
3- The six orthodox viewpoints
- 1. Nyaya Logicism the school of logic and
syllogistic reasoning. - 2. Vaise?ika Atomism all objects consist of a
finite number of atoms. - 3. Sa?khya Dualism the ennumeration of the
various cosmic principles (tattwas), which are
considered separate from the true self or
consciousness (purusha). - 4. Yoga Dualism techniques for purification,
meditation, and transcendence in relation to a
personal god (Isvara). - 5. Mima?sa Ritualism techniques of
interpreting and defending Vedas. - 6. Vedanta can be Monistic or Dualistic,
Panentheistic and personal theism ultimate
identity of worldly and divine.
4- Yoga has a long history and a variety of uses in
Indian thought (as we have begun to see). - It can mean "Yoking, Vehicle, Equipment,
Discipline" - As a philosophical school it is based on the Yoga
Sutras of Patañjali (2d cent. BCE). - It accepts Sa?khya metaphysics to explain the
validity of yogic processes and the concept of an
Isvara, a supreme personal God.
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6- Yoga is defined as cessation of the
modifications of consciousness and is achieved
by an eight-stage discipline of self-control and
meditation. - It involves Practical methods for direct
experience. Yoga systematically deals with all of
the levels of one's being and involves systematic
explorations of ones inner states, so as to
experientially go beyond all of them to the
center of consciousness. Yoga is often called
Sankhya-Yoga, as Yoga contains the practical
methods to realize the truths of Sankhya
philosophy in direct experience.
7- Sankhya was founded by Kapila (6th cent. BCE),
admits two basic metaphysical principles, purusha
(soul) and prakriti (materiality). Prakriti
consists of three gunas or qualities sattva
(light or goodness), rajas (activity or passion),
and tamas (darkness or inertia). When these
constituents are in equilibrium, prakriti is
static. However, disturbance of the equilibrium
initiates a process of evolution that ultimately
produces both the material world and individual
faculties of action, thought, and sense.
8- The purusha appears to be bound to prakriti and
its modifications and may become free only
through the realization that it is distinct from
prakriti. Early versions of Sankhya, now lost,
may have been theistic, but the classical system
does not include a personal God.
9Sankhya philosophy offers a framework for all the
levels of manifestation, from the subtlest to the
grossest. Sankhya comes from samyag akhyate,
which literally means that which explains the
whole. Sankhya deals with prakriti (matter),
purusha (consciousness), buddhi or mahat
(intelligence), ahamkara (I-am-ness), three gunas
(elements of stability, activity, and lightness),
mind (manas), cognitive and active senses
(indriyas), and the five subtle and gross
elements (earth, water, fire, air, and space).
10- Vedanta literally means "end (or culmination) of
the Vedas". - The three most important sources for Vedanta are
the Upanishads (commentaries and reflections on
the Vedas), the Brahma-Sutras of Badarayana
(c.200 BCE200 CE), and the Bhagavad Gita. - The original philosophical text of the Vedanta,
the Brahma Sutras of Badarayana, is purportedly a
condensation and systematization of Upanishadic
wisdom, and it is so concise and abbreviated as
to be completely incomprehensible. - This ambiguity allowed a large number of schools
and sub-schools to develop, each one based on
commentaries on the Upanishads, Brahma sutras,
Gita, and other authoritative texts. Different
interpretations of the fundamental texts of
Vedanta have given rise to three main schools
11Brahma SatyamJagan MithyaJivo Brahmaiva Na
Parah.God alone is real,The world is
unreal,The individual is none other than
GodSa?kara
12- Three Vedanta Schools
- Advaita Vedanta (monistic or nondual) of
- Gaudapada and Shankara (8-9th CE)
- The Qualified (or modified) Monism or
- Vishishtadvaita Vedanta (theistic monism) of
- Ramanuja (11-12th CE)
- Dvaita Vedanta (theistic dualism) of Mahdva
(13th) - Only the first is absolute or true monism, seeing
reality as totally unitary and identifying all
things with Brahman. - The second teaches a multiplicity or plurality
within unity. Souls and matter are considered
"the body" of Brahman but are not identical with
his essence. - The third teaches the idea of a Personal God
(Bhagavan) totally separate from souls and cosmos.
13- Vedanta generally deals with four basic topics,
- but each school explains them differently
- Brahman (God or the Absolute)
- Jivatman (the individual self)
- Creation of the world
- Moksha (liberation), the final goal of human life.
14- Shankara's monistic philosophy God, matter and
souls have qualified reality but are ultimately
unreal, and only the Absolute Brahman is real is
known as Advaita Vedanta (literally) "non-dual
Vedic commentary"). It is often considered the
the most orthodox of the orthodox Hindu
philosophies. - Ramanuja's theology, although little known in the
West, had a very strong effect upon the
development of Vaishnavite thought and popular
devotionalism in India. - Mahdva, through a succession of followers such as
Vallabha and the 16th Century saint Chaitanya,
influenced popular Vaishvanite culture, including
A.C. Prabupada Bhaktivedanta, the founder of the
Hare Krishna movement.
15- Vaisheshika School of Pluralistic Metaphysics,
atomism or individual Characteristics, was
founded by Kanada in the 3rd century BCE. - It analyzed reality into six categories
substance, quality, activity, generality,
particularity, and inherence. - The universe is made up of nine kinds of
substance earth, water, light, air, ether, time,
space, soul (or self), and mind. - Like Jainism and early Buddhism, it maintained an
infinite number of atom-like entities distinct
from souls.
16- Nyaya, traditionally founded by Akshapada Gautama
(6th cent. BCE), is a school of logic and
epistemology that defined the rules of debate and
canons of proof. Its views were accepted with
modification by most of the other schools. - Nyayas focus was the examination of the objects
of knowledge and formulation of the criteria of
valid knowledge.
17- It was the Nyaya who first developed the notion
of the pramanas, the means by which human beings
can gain true and accurate knowledge, and also
codified the rules and procedures for applying
them. The Nyaya recognized four such pramanas
perception (pratyaksha), inference (anumana),
analogy (upamana), and authoritative testimony
(shabda). The ideas about these four were
accepted with modification by virtually all
Indian philosophical schools.
18- Mima?sa or Purva Mima?sa ("Prior Interpretation)
school, founded by Jaimini (2d century BCE), set
forth sophisticated principles for interpreting
the Veda, which was regarded as entirely composed
of injunctions to ritual action. Its epistemology
and theory of meaning were constructed to show
that the words of the Veda had eternal and
intrinsic validity. - The doctrine of the eternity of the Vedas was
argued by this school and it mostly confined
itself to promoting the sanctity and power of the
Vedas. The school later was practically absorbed
into Vedanta.
19- "In religion, India is the only millionaire. The
One land that all men desire to see and having
seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that
glimpse for all the shows of all the rest of the
globe combined". -- Mark Twain (1835-1910) - What are the similarities and differences between
Hindu and non-Hindu Indian philosophy? - How are these similarities and differences taken
up in western popular culture?
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