Hindu philosophy

Hindu philosophy is one of the main divisions of Indian philosophy and constitutes an integral part of Indian culture. The great diversity in thought and practice of Hinduism is nurtured by its liberal universalism.

Darshanas

Hindu philosophy is traditionally seen through the prism of six different systems (called darshanas in Sanskrit). The six major schools of thought are listed below.

Samkhya

Main article: Samkhya

Samkhya is the oldest of the orthodox philosophical systems in Hinduism. Samkhya postulates that the universe consists of two eternal realities: Purusha (souls) and Prakriti (matter or nature). The Purushas are many and conscious but are devoid of all qualities — they are the silent spectators of prakriti. Prakriti is composed of three gunas (dispositions): sattvas, rajas, and tamas (steadiness, activity, and dullness). Because of the intertwined relationship of purusha and prakriti, when the equilibrium of the gunas is disturbed the world order must evolve. Liberation (kaivalya) consists of the realisation that purusha and prakriti are indeed different.

Although this was a dualistic philosophy, there are differences between the Samkhya and other forms of dualism. In the West the fundamental discussion is about mind/body dualism, whereas in Samkhya it is between the self and matter (the latter incorporates most of what Westerners would normally refer to as "mind"). Samkhya was originally not theistic (see nontheism, atheistic) but, in confluence with its offshoot Yoga, it developed a theistic variant.

Yoga

Main article: Yoga

Yoga is considered by some to have arisen from the Samkhya philosophy. Its primary text is the Bhagavad Gita, which explores the four primary systems: Karma-Yoga; Buddhi-Yoga; Dhyana-Yoga; and Bhakti-Yoga. In the Bhagavad Gita itself the Yoga is described as being many millions of years old (see Chapter 4.1). It is essentially described as a universal method of union with The Supreme. There has been much debate on the personal/impersonal nature of the Supreme, among various Yoga practitioners.

The sage Patanjali wrote an influential text on Raja Yoga (meditational Yoga) entitled the "Yoga Sutra". The most significant difference from Samkhya is that the Yoga school not only incorporates the concept of Ishvara (a personal God), but it also upholds Ishvara as the ideal upon which to meditate. This is because Ishvara is the only aspect of Purusha that has not become entangled with prakrti. Yoga also utilizes the Brahman/Atman terminology and concepts that are found in the Upanishads, thus breaking from the Samkhya school by adopting concepts of Vedantic monism.

Yoga lays down elaborate prescriptions for gradually gaining physical and mental control over the "personal self". This occurs until one's consciousness has intensified enough to become aware of one's "real Self" (the soul, or Atman) as distinct from one's feelings, thoughts, and actions. Realization of the goal of Yoga is known as moksha, nirvana, and samadhi, all of which hold that the Atman is nothing other than the infinite Brahman.

Nyaya

Main article: Nyaya

The Nyaya school of philosophical speculation is based on texts called the Nyaya Sutras. They were written by Aksapada Gautama, probably in the second century BCE. The most important contribution made by this school is its methodology. This is based on a system of logic that, subsequently, has been adopted by the majority of the other Indian schools, orthodox or not. This is comparable to how Western science and philosophy can be said to be largely based on Aristotelian logic.

However, Nyaya was seen, by its followers, as more than logic in its own right. It was believed that obtaining valid knowledge was the only way to gain release from suffering. They took great pains to identify valid sources of knowledge and to distinguish these from mere false opinions. According to the Nyaya school, there are exactly four sources of knowledge (pramanas): perception, inference, comparison, and testimony. Knowledge obtained through each of these can be valid or invalid. Nyaya scholars (Naiyanikas) identified, in each case, what it took to make knowledge valid and, in the process, came up with a number of explanatory schemes. In this sense, Nyaya is probably the closest Indian equivalent to contemporary Western analytical philosophy. The later Naiyanikas gave logical proofs for the existence of God (see Ishvara) and for his uniqueness, especially during their arguments against the Buddhists who at that time were fundamentally non-theistic. An important later development in Nyaya is the system of Navya-Nyāya (New Nyaya).

Vaisheshika

Main article: Vaisheshika

The Vaisheshika system was founded by the sage Kanada and postulates an atomic pluralism. In this school of thought, all objects in the physical universe are reducible to a certain number of atoms, and God is regarded as the fundamental force who causes consciousness in these atoms.

Although the Vaishesika system developed independently from the Nyaya, the two eventually merged because of their closely-related metaphysical theories. In its classical form, however, the Vaishesika school differed from the Nyaya in one crucial respect: where Nyaya accepted four sources of valid knowledge, the Vaishesika accepted only two -- perception and inference.

Purva Mimamsa

Main article: Mimamsa

The main objective of the Purva ("earlier") Mimamsa school was to establish the authority of the Vedas. Consequently this school's most valuable contribution to Hinduism was its formulation of the rules of Vedic interpretation. Its adherents (Mimamsakas) believe that one must have unquestionable faith in the Vedas and perform the fire-sacrifices or yajñas regularly. They believe in the power of the mantras and yajñas which sustains all the activity of the universe. In keeping with this belief, they place great emphasis on dharma, which consists of the performance of Vedic rituals.

The Mimamsa accepted the logical and philosophical teachings of the other schools, but felt they did not sufficiently emphasize attention to right action. They believed that the other schools of thought, which pursued moksha (release) as their ultimate aim, were not completely free from desire and selfishness. Instead the very striving for liberation stemmed from a selfish desire to be free. According to Mimamsa thought, only by acting in accordance with the prescriptions of the Vedas may one attain salvation, rather than liberation.

Later in history the Mimamsa school shifted its views in this regard and began to teach the doctrines of God and mukti (freedom). Its adherents then advocated the release or escape from the soul from its constraints through jnana (enlightened activity). Although Mimamsa does not receive much scholarly attention, its influence can be felt in the life of the practising Hindu because all Hindu ritual, ceremony, and religious law is influenced by it.

Vedanta

Main article: Vedanta

Also known as the Uttara ("later") Mimamsa school, Vedanta concentrates on the philosophical teachings of the Upanishads rather than on the ritualistic injunctions of the Brahmanas.

While the traditional Vedic karma kanda (ritualistic components of the Vedic religion) continued to be practised as meditative and propitiatory rites, gearing society (through the Brahmins) to self-knowledge, more Jnana (knowledge)-centered understanding began to emerge. These were mystical streams of Vedic religion that focused on meditation, self-discipline and spiritual connectivity, rather than on more practical aspects of religion such as rituals and rites.

The more abstruse Vedanta (meaning literally the end or the goal of the Vedas) is the essence of the Vedas, encapsulated in the Upanishads. Vedantic thought drew on Vedic cosmology, hymns and philosophy. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad appeared as far back as three and a half thousand years ago. While thirteen or so Upanishads are accepted as principal, over a hundred exist. The most influential Vedantic thought, advaita vedanta, based on the Upanishads, considers the consciousness of the Self - Jivatma - to be continuous with and indistinguishable from the consciousness of the Supreme Spirit or Brahman - Paramatma.

The Upanishads are acknowledged by scholars and philosophers from both East and West, from Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi and Aurobindo Ghosh to Erwin Schrödinger, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, to be beautiful as poetry and superlatively rich in philosophy.

The cryptic way in which the aphorisms of the Vedanta sutras are presented leaves the door wide open for a multitude of interpretations. This led to a proliferation of Vedanta schools in six sub-schools. Each of these interprets the texts in its own way and has produced its own series of sub-commentaries, all claiming to be faithful to the original. Four of them are given here.

1.Advaita Vedanta

Main article: Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta is probably the best-known of all Vedanta schools. Advaita literally means "not two"; thus this is what we refer to as a "monistic" (or non-dualistic) system, which emphasises oneness. Its first great consolidator was Adi Shankaracharya (788–820). Continuing the line of thought of some of the Upanishadic teachers, and also that of his teacher's teacher Gaudapada, Shankara expounded the doctrine of Advaita — a non-dualistic reality. By analysing the three states of experience (waking, dreaming and deep sleep) he exposed the relative nature of the world and established the supreme truth of the Advaita: the non-dual reality of Brahman in which atman (the individual soul) and brahman (the ultimate reality expressed in the trimurti) are identified to be the same. Ishvara or God is seen as the manifestation of Brahman to human mind under the influence of an illusionary power called Avidya.

Some of the later teachers who branched away from the Advaitic line of thought accused Adi Sankara of teaching Buddhism while pretending to be a Hindu. However, many more see him as drawing from monist concepts ingrained in texts ante-dating the Buddha, like the more abstruse sections of the Vedas, as well as the older Upanishads, several of which are conservatively and thus reliably dated as far back as 1000 BCE, or even 1500 BCE.

Subsequent Vedantins debated whether the reality of Brahman was saguna (with attributes) or nirguna (without attributes). Belief in the concept of Saguna Brahman gave rise to a proliferation of devotional attitudes and more widespread worship of Vishnu and Shiva. Advaita Vedanta is strictly grounded in the thought that the ultimate truth is Nirguna Brahman. The Vishistadvaita and Dvaita schools believed in an ultimately saguna Brahman.

2.Vishistadvaita

Main article: Vishishtadvaita

Ramanujacharya (1040–1137) was the foremost proponent of Saguna Brahman, the concept of Brahman or God, the ultimate power, having a definite form, name, and attributes: he saw Sriman Narayana as the supreme Brahman. He taught that Ultimate reality had three aspects: Ishvara (Vishnu), cit (soul), and acit (matter). Vishnu is the only independent reality, while souls and matter are dependent on God for their existence. Because of this qualification of Ultimate reality, Ramanuja's system is known as qualified non-dualism.

3.Dvaita

Main article: Dvaita

Like Ramanuja, Madhvacharya (1218–1317) identified God with Vishnu, but his view of reality was purely pluralistic. It is incorrectly addressed as Dvaita (dualism) when the right name should be 'Tattvavada' (pluralism). According to this philosophy, there are three ultimate realities : Ishvara(god), jiva(soul), jada(matter). Five distinctions are made: 1. god is distinct from a soul; 2. god is distinct from a matter; 3. a soul is distinct from a matter; 4. a soul is distinct from another soul, and 5. a matter is distinct from another matter. Souls are not created, dependent upon ishvara and are supported by His will. This theology addresses the problem of evil in a lucid manner, for the souls are not created by god.

4.Dvaitadvaita (Bhedabheda)

It was proposed by Nimbarka, a 13th Century Vaishnava Philosopher who hailed from Andhra Region. Nimbarka’s philosophical position is known as Dvaita-advaita or Bhedabheda. The categories of existence, according to him, are three, i.e., Chit, acit, and Isvara. Cit and acit are different from Isvara, in the sense that they have attributes (Guna) and capacities (Swabhaava), which are different from those of Isvara. Isvara is independent and exists by Himself, while 'cit' and 'acit' have existence dependent upon Him. So, at the same time 'cit' and 'acit' are not different from Isvara, because they cannot exist independently of Him. Here, difference means a kind of existence which is separate but dependent, (para-tantra-satta-bhava) while non-difference means impossibility of independent existence (svatantra-satta-bhava).

Thus, according to Nimbarka, there are three equally real and co-eternal realities, viz. Brahman, the cit and the acit. Brahman is the Controller (niyantr), the cit the enjoyer (bhoktr) and the acit the object enjoyed (bhogya).

For Nimbarka the highest object of worship is Krishna and his consort Radha, attended by thousands of gopis, or cowherdesses, of the celestial Vrindavana. Devotion according to Nimbarka, consists in prapatti, or self-surrender.

5.Suddhadvaita

It was proposed by Vallabhacharya (1479 - 1531) who belonged to Andhra region but eventually settled in Gujarat.

6.Acintya Bheda Abheda

Chaitanya (1486–1534), a devotee of Krishna, proposed a synthesis between the monist and dualist philosophies by stating that the soul is equally distinct (bheda) and non-distinct (abheda) from God, whom he identified as Krishna, and that this, although unthinkable (acintya), may be experienced in devotion. A number of modern movements belong in this tradition, including ISKCON, sometimes called the Hare Krishna movement. ISKCON has recently been participating in bringing the academic study of Krishna into western academia in the theological discourse on Krishnology.

See also

• Important publications in Hindu philosophy
• Adi Sankara
• Swami Vivekananda
• Sri Aurobindo
• Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
• Buddhist philosophy
• Jainism
• Carvaka or Lokayata, an ancient philosophy that could be called Hindu except that it does not accept the Vedas
• Pramana

Further reading

• JOY: The Journal of Yoga scholarly journal dedicated to Indian philosophy, consciousness studies, and yogic spirituality.
• Advaita Vedanta All 11 principle upanishads from an advaitic viewpoint

External links

• Advaita Vedanta homepage
• Dvaita Homepage
• Encyclopedic Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
• Hindu Dharma
• Hinduism: A Perspective
• Indian Philosophy (Essay)
• Indian Religion and Philosophy
• On the Origin and Development of Epistemology in Indian Philosophy by Jayandra Soni
• The Six Systems of Hindu Philosophy by Raghavan Iyer
• Spiritual Sanskrit Scriptures (Streaming, RealPlayer)