Six Schools of Philosophy

• Many Hindu intellectual traditions were classified during the medieval period of Brahmanic-Sanskritic scholasticism into a standard list of six orthodox (Astika) schools (Darshanas), the “Six Philosophies” (Sad-Darshana), all of which accept the testimony of the Vedas.

These six philosophies are:

Samkhya

• It is considered as the oldest philosophical tradition.
• Sage Kapila is traditionally credited as a founderof the Samkhya
• It propounds that the universe as consisting of two independent realities: puruṣa(‘consciousness’) and prakṛti (‘matter’) and which attempts to develop metaphysics based on this duality.
• Samkhya posits the existence of an infinite number of similar but separate purushas, none superior to any other.
• Advaita Vedanta derives its base from this school.

Yoga

• Sage Patanjali is the founder of Yoga.
• It is closely related to the Samkhya school of Hinduism.
• The objective of Yoga is- to better oneself physically, mentally and spiritually
• The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a key text of the Yoga school of Hinduism
• It is believed that practicing  Ashtanga Yoga will lead to liberation.
• But the more important addition to Sankhya was the practice of yoga: the cessation of all mental function. The correct practice of yoga included eight things:
  • Yama: Restraint from violence, lying, theft, or avarice.
  • Niyama: Building good habits like contentment, purity, Vedic study, and meditation on God.
  • Prathyahara: Choosing an object
  • Asana: Good posture.
  • Pranayama: Breath control.
  • Dharana: Focused attention on an object.
  • Dhyana: Meditation.
  • Samadhi: Concentration so deep that self-awareness is lost.
• According to Yoga, success in the practice of yoga led to a full realization of the gulf between purusha and prakriti, and therefore liberation from suffering.

Nyaya

• The term ‘Nyaya’ means “justice”, “rules”, “method” or “judgment”
• Sage Gautama is the founder of this school with his Nyaya-sutra,
• It approaches philosophical questions in a scientific and rational approach.
• According to Nyaya, there were four valid sources of knowledge — perception, inference, comparison, and testimony
• four sources of invalid knowledge: memory, doubt, error (false certainty), and hypothetical argument (“If there was no fire, there wouldn’t be smoke, but there is smoke, so there must be fire”).
• This school believes attaining knowledge through the five senses is the sole way of attaining liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

Vaisheshika

• It was founded by Sage Kanada
• Vaisheshika school of Hinduism, like Buddhism, accepted only two reliable means to knowledge: perception and inference
• Vaisheshika School is known for its insights in naturalism. It is a form of atomism in natural philosophy.
• It postulated that all objects in the physical universe are reducible to paramāṇu(atoms), and one’s experiences are derived from the interplay of substance, quality, activity, commonness, particularity and inherence

Purva Mimamsa

• It was propounded by Sage Jaimini
• It places emphasis on the power of yajnas and mantras in sustaining the activities of the universe.
• This school of thought believes in complete authority of Vedas.
• This school of thought states that a human being can attain salvation only by acting in conformity with the principles of Vedas.

Vedanta

• It is also referred to as Uttara Mimamsa
• The influence of Upanishads on this school of thought is predominant.
• It is a monistic school of philosophy that believes world is unreal and the only reality is Brahman
• Sub-branches of Vedanta are: Advaita, Visishtadvaita, Dvaita, Dvaitadvaita, 8
• Shuddhadvaita and Achintya Bheda Abheda.