Hindu philosophy

Hindu philosophy refers to a group of dar?anas (philosophies, world views, teachings) that emerged in ancient India. These include six systems (?a?dar?ana) – Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta. These are also called the Astika (orthodox) philosophical traditions and are those that accept the Vedas as authoritative, important source of knowledge. Ancient and medieval India was also the source of philosophies that share philosophical concepts but rejected the Vedas, and these have been called n?stika (heterodox or non-orthodox) Indian philosophies. N?stika Indian philosophies include Buddhism, Jainism, C?rv?ka, ?j?vika, and others.

Scholars have debated the relationship and differences within ?stika philosophies and with n?stika philosophies, starting with the writings of Indologists and Orientalists of the 18th and 19th centuries, which were themselves derived from limited availability of Indian literature and medieval doxographies. The various sibling traditions included in Hindu philosophies are diverse, and they are united by shared history and concepts, same textual resources, similar ontological and soteriological focus, and cosmology. While Buddhism and Jainism are considered distinct philosophies and religions, some heterodox traditions such as C?rv?ka are often considered as distinct schools within Hindu philosophy.

Hindu philosophy also includes several sub-schools of theistic philosophies that integrate ideas from two or more of the six orthodox philosophies, such as the realism of the Ny?ya, the naturalism of the Vai?e?ika, the dualism of the S??khya, the monism and knowledge of Self as essential to liberation of Advaita, the self-discipline of yoga and the asceticism and elements of theistic ideas. Examples of such schools include P??upata ?aiva, ?aiva siddh?nta, Pratyabhijña, Rase?vara and Vai??ava. Some sub-schools share Tantric ideas with those found in some Buddhist traditions. The ideas of these sub-schools are found in the Puranas and ?gamas.

Each school of Hindu philosophy has extensive epistemological literature called pram??a??stras, as well as theories on metaphysics, axiology, and other topics.

Classifications

In the history of Hinduism, the six orthodox schools had emerged before the start of the Common Era. Some scholars have questioned whether the orthodox and heterodox schools classification is sufficient or accurate, given the diversity and evolution of views within each major school of Hindu philosophy, with some sub-schools combining heterodox and orthodox views.

Since ancient times Indian philosophy has been categorized into ?stika and n?stika schools of thought. The orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy have been called ?a?dar?ana ("six systems"). This schema was created between the 12th and 16th centuries by Vedantins.^:2–3 It was then adopted by the early Western Indologists, and pervades modern understandings of Hindu philosophy.^:4–5

?stika

There are six ?stika (orthodox) schools of thought. Each is called a dar?ana, and each dar?ana accepts the Vedas as authoritative and the premise that ?tman (soul, eternal self) exists. The ?stika schools are:

N?stika

Schools that do not accept the authority of the Vedas are n?stika philosophies, of which four n?stika (heterodox) schools are prominent:

C?rv?ka, a materialism school that accepted the existence of free will.
?j?vika, a materialism school that denied the existence of free will.
Buddhism, a philosophy that denies existence of ?tman (soul, self) and is based on the teachings and enlightenment of Gautama Buddha.
Jainism, a philosophy that accepts the existence of the ?tman (soul, self), and is based on the teachings and enlightenment of twenty-four teachers known as tirthankaras, with Rishabha as the first and Mahavira as the twenty-fourth.

Other schools

Besides the major orthodox and non-orthodox schools, there have existed syncretic sub-schools that have combined ideas and introduced new ones of their own. The medieval scholar Madhva Acharya (CE 1238–1317) includes the following, along with Buddhism and Jainism, as sub-schools of Hindu philosophy:

Pashupata Shaivism, developed by Nakulisa
Shaiva Siddhanta, the theistic Sankhya school
Pratyabhijña, the recognitive school of Kashmir Shaivism
Rase?vara, a Shaiva school that advocated the use of mercury to reach immortality
The Ramanuja school
The P?r?apr?jña (Madhv?c?rya) school
The P??in?ya

The above sub-schools introduced their own ideas while adopting concepts from orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy such as realism of the Ny?ya, naturalism of Vai?e?ika, monism and knowledge of Self (Atman) as essential to liberation of Advaita, self-discipline of Yoga, asceticism and elements of theistic ideas. Some sub-schools share Tantric ideas with those found in some Buddhist traditions.

Characteristics

School	Samkhya	Yoga	Ny?ya	Vai?e?ika	M?m??s?	Advaita	Vishishtadvaita	Dvaita	Achintya Bheda Abheda	Pashupata	Shaiva Siddhanta	Kashmir Shaivism	Rase?vara	P??ini Dar?ana	Akshar-Purushottam Dar?ana
Classification	rationalism, dualism, atheism	dualism, spiritual practice	realism, logic, analytic philosophy	naturalism, atomism	exegesis, philology, ritualism	monism, non-dualism	qualified monism, panentheism	dualism, theology	simultaneous monism and dualism	theism, spiritual practice	Monotheism	theistic monism, idealism	alchemy	linguistics, philosophy of language	qualified monism, panentheism
Philosophers	Kapila, I?varak???a, V?caspati Mi?ra, Gu?aratna more..	Patañjali, Yajnavalkya, Vyasa	Aksapada Gautama, V?tsy?yana, Udayana, Jayanta Bhatta more..	Kanada, Pra?astap?da, ?ridhara's Ny?yakandal? more..	Jaimini, Kum?rila Bha??a, Prabh?kara more..	Gaudapada, Adi Shankara, Madhusudana Saraswati, Vidyaranya more..	Yamunacharya, Ramanuja more..	Madhvacharya, Jayatirtha, Vyasatirtha, Raghavendra Swami	Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Six Goswamis of Vrindavana, Visvanatha Chakravarti, Krishnadasa Kaviraja, Baladeva Vidyabhushana, Rupa Goswami, more..	Haradattacharya, Lakulish	Tirumular, Meikandadevar, Appayya Dikshita, Sadyojyoti, Aghorasiva	Vasugupta, Abhinavagupta, Jayaratha	Govinda Bhagavat, Sarvajña R?me?vara	P??ini, Bhart?hari, K?ty?yana	Bhagwan Swaminarayan, Shastriji Maharaj, Bhadreshdas Swami
Texts	Samkhyapravachana Sutra, Samkhyakarika, S??khya tattvakaumud? more..	Yoga Sutras, Yoga Yajnavalkya, Samkhya pravacana bhasya	Ny?ya S?tras, Ny?ya Bh??ya, Ny?ya V?rttika more..	Vai?e?ika S?tra, Pad?rtha dharma sa?graha, Da?apad?rtha ??stra more..	Purva Mimamsa Sutras, Mimamsasutra bh?shyam more..	Brahma Sutras, Prasthanatrayi, Avadhuta Gita, Ashtavakra Gita, Pañcada?? more..	Siddhitrayam, Sri Bhasya, Vedartha Sangraha	AnuVyakhana, Brahma Sutra Bahshya, Sarva Sh?str?rtha Sangraha, Tattva prakashika, Nyaya Sudha, Nyayamruta, Tarka Tandava, DwaitaDyumani	Bhagavata Purana, Bhagavad Gita, Sat Sandarbhas, Govinda Bhashya, Chaitanya Charitamrita,	Ga?ak?rik?, Pañch?rtha bh?shyadipik?, R??ikara bh?shya	Sivagamas, Tirumurais, Meikanda Sastras	Shiva Sutras of Vasugupta, Tantraloka	Ras?r?ava, Rasah?idaya, Rase?vara siddh?nta	V?kyapad?ya, Mahabhashya, V?rttikak?ra	Swaminarayan Bhashyam, Swaminarayan-Siddhanta-Sudha
Concepts Originated	Purusha, Prak?ti, Gu?a, Satk?ryav?da	Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dh?ra??, Dhyana, Samadhi	Pratyak?a, Anum?na, Upam?na, Anyathakyati vada, Ni??reyasa more..	Pad?rtha, Dravya, S?m?nya, Vi?e?a, Samav?ya, Param??u	Apauru?ey?tva, Arth?patti, Anuapalabdhi, Satahpr?m??ya v?da	Jivanmukta, Mah?v?kyas, S?dhana Chatu??aya, three orders of reality, Vivartavada	Hita, Antarvy?pi, Bahuvy?pi more..	Prapacha, Mukti-yogyas, Nitya-samsarins, Tamo-yogyas	Sambandha, Abhidheya, Prayojana (Relationship, Process, Ultimate Goal)	Pashupati, eight pentads	Charya, Mantram?rga, Rodha ?akti	Citi, Mala, Upaya, Anuttara, Aham, Svatantrya	P?rada, three modes of mercury	Spho?a, Ashtadhyayi	Akshar Purushottam Upasana

^ ^a ^b ^c Advaita, Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita have evolved from an older Vedanta school and all of them accept Upanishads and Brahma Sutras as standard texts.
^ Vyasa wrote a commentary on the Yoga Sutras called Samkhyapravacanabhasya.(Radhankrishnan, Indian Philosophy, London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1971 edition, Volume II, p. 344.)

Overview

Epistemology

Epistemology is called pram??a. It has been a key, much debated field of study in Hinduism since ancient times. Pram??a is a Hindu theory of knowledge and discusses means by which human beings gain accurate knowledge. The focus of pram??a is how correct knowledge can be acquired, how one knows, how one doesn't, and to what extent knowledge pertinent about someone or something can be acquired.

Ancient and medieval Hindu texts identify six pram??as as correct means of accurate knowledge and truths: pratyak?a (perception), anum??a (inference), upam??a (comparison and analogy), arth?patti (postulation, derivation from circumstances), anupalabdi (non-perception, negative/cognitive proof) and ?abda (word, testimony of past or present reliable experts) Each of these are further categorized in terms of conditionality, completeness, confidence and possibility of error, by the different schools. The schools vary on how many of these six are valid paths of knowledge. For example, the C?rv?ka n?stika philosophy holds that only one (perception) is an epistemically reliable means of knowledge, the Samkhya school holds that three are (perception, inference and testimony), while the M?m??s? and Advaita schools hold that all six are epistemically useful and reliable means to knowledge.

S?mkhya

Samkhya is the oldest of the orthodox philosophical systems in Hinduism, with origins in the 1st millennium BCE. It is a rationalist school of Indian philosophy, and had a strong influence on other schools of Indian philosophies. S?mkhya is an enumerationist philosophy whose epistemology accepted three of six pram??as as the only reliable means of gaining knowledge. These were pratyak?a (perception), anum??a (inference) and sabda (?ptavacana, word/testimony of reliable sources).

Samkhya school espouses dualism

Release Date :

12:00am on Wednesday 1st January 1969