The 4 Vedas contain the mystical/spiritual experiences of various Rishis. Most of these are in the form of Mantras addressed to a deity or devata. The Veda also has a detailed description of rituals called Yajnas to attain. Apart from these there are a large body of texts called the Upanishads most of which appear at the end of each Vedic recension (Of course there are exceptions) that discuss esoteric spiritual doctrines, like self-realization etc. Also discussed are a multitude of topics like morals/ethics for every day living, astronomy, Grammar etc.
Many sages and thinkers had various views of what the
Veda had to say in finality. These views over time started to crystalize into
concrete systems of thought called “Darshanas”.
The Sanskrit word Darshana means
literally view or insight. Note that the view Darshana is not same as the word Philosophy. “Philosophy” in the
western tradition, is mainly intellectual. It does not seem to concern itself
with teleological problems, AKA in the Vedic tradition as attainment of Moksha
or relief from existential problems. A darshana discusses existential problems
and proposes solutions for the same. So, I will refrain from using the term
“Philosophy” here.
There are 6 Astika Darshanas
1.
Nyaya also called Anvikshiki
or logic
2.
Vaisheshika,
actually the study of mater discusses physical phenomenon)
3.
Sankhya,
Enumeration or counting of various tattvas and through this separation
of existence from matter, through intellectual enquiry alone.
4.
Yoga, a practical
application of Sankhya to attain kaivalya or apavarga(Moksha)
5.
Poorva
Mimamsa, a hermeneutical system
concerned with interpretation of Vedic statements, used for correct performance
of Vedic rituals and to attain the fruits of those performances.
6.
Uttar Mimamsa, popularly known as Vedanta now, concerned with the
relation of the Jivatma and paramatma and how can apavarga or Moksha be
attained.
All these 6 Darshanas are based on the authority of
the Veda and hence called “Astika” as they accept the statements of the Veda
like the existence of the Atma, Dharma etc. Note Astika does not mean the
acceptance of a god as commonly understood. Some Darshanas do not accept a god
or just barely mention his existence. This article is just a primer or an
introduction to each Darshana and does not go into detail of each. That would
need a separate article of its own.
Neither is the concept of pramanas introduced here. It will be done in
detail in another article
Nyaya
The Nyaya system (Literally meaning “Rules” or
“Justice”) concerns itself with epistemology or what is called “Pramana” and
logic, called syllogism in the west. Sage Gautama has written the Nyaya
sutras which discusses the 16 categories called “Padaartha”. These
sutras are called “Praachina Nyaya” or ancient Nyaya, which is different from
Navya Nyaya in vogue at present
Naiyayikas (People who follow the Nyaya
Darshana) hold that human suffering is due to the mistakes/defects produced by
actions with the “Wrong knowledge”. Moksha according to them is the gaining of
the right knowledge thus being able to avoid pain in the future. Thus, this
theory is based on realism.
Nyaya has contributed the “Five-part syllogism” as to how does one
arrive at an inference, that involves,
1.
Pratijna, the
statement to be proved
2.
Hetu, the reason
3.
Udaharana another
similar example to the Pratijna
4.
Upanaya
reaffirmation
5.
Nigamana or
conclusion
All this to be discussed in detail later. Note the
Dvaita Vedanta school is heavily reliant on the Navya Nyaya or “New school of
Nyaya”
Vaisheshika
The Vaisheshika darshana is a naturalistic system. Rishi
Kanaata Kashyapa wrote the Vaisheshika sutras. Vaisheshika accepts 7 categories of substances
unlike Nyaya. The Vaisheshikas propose that the physical universe is reducible
to the paramanu, the smallest atom. The entire universe is built up by a
combination of various atoms. Worldly experiences arise from the spatial
arrangement of atoms, their number etc. Many interesting phenomena like
gravity, the absorption of water by plant stems etc are taken up for
discussion. The Vaisheshikas propose that Moksha can be attained by a complete
understanding of the worldly experience. The Vaisheshika sutras even advocate
following the meditative practices of the “Yogachaara” school of Buddhism
for Moksha.
In the 13th century after the CE Nyaya and
Vaisheshika fused into a single school called Navya Nyaya resulting in
the classical Nyaya darshana. This was the accomplishment of one Gangesha
Upadhyaya of Mithila desha, though his book Tattvachintamani. Navya-Nyāya
developed a sophisticated language and conceptual scheme that allowed it to
raise, analyse, and solve problems in logic and epistemology.
Sankhya
This darshana views reality composed of 2 independent
principles.
1.
Prakriti, nature
or matter, including the human mind
2.
Purusha, is the
witnessing conscious entity. It is independent of matter and above the experience
of the senses or the mind
When prakriti is in an unmanifested state, the 3 gunas
Satva, Rajas and Tamas are in equilibrium. But due to some reason if Prakriti
comes into contact with purusha, mayhem starts and prakriti manifests into 23
tatvas.
1. Intellect 2. Ego 3. Mind 4. The five sensory capacities known as ears, skin,
eyes, tongue and nose 5. The five action capacities known as hasta, pada, bak,
anus, and upastha 6. The 5 subtle tanmatras, which are the seeds for the gross
elements like space, earth, fire, water, air etc
Thus, all human experiences can be considered to be the interaction between
prakriti and purusha. Ignorance of the
Purusha that it is unattached with matter is the cause for suffering. Moksha
consists of understanding that the purusha is independent of prakriti.
Sage Kapila is supposed to have composed the Sankhya sutras and Ishvara Krishna supposed to have composed a Karika for this. Note that there are both theistic and atheistic schools of Sankhya. Generally, the Sankhya Sutras and Karika do not accept a god but accept mature individuals who attain to the level of gods. The Bhagavata purana teaches a theistic version of Sankhya adding “Ishvara” or god to the 23 evolutes of prakriti. Note that advaita and Vishistadvaita vedantas owe their existence to the sankhya darshanas as they accept many aspects of material creation. Advaita especially relies on sankya for the ideas of Avidya, gunas and the idea that moksha can be attained with intellectual enquiry alone.
Yoga
This is one of the most presently popular darshanas
especially in the west. Note there are different schools of Yoga like the
Shaivite school, schools from various Agamas etc. But specifically, when Yoga
is meant as a darshana, it is based on the yoga sutras of Patanjali.
This
is also popularly known as the Ashtanga yoga school, or the yoga of 8 limbs.
The theoretical frame for the yoga sutra is Sankhya and the definition of
moksha in yoga is the same as in Sankhya . The eight limbs are,
1. Yama 2. Niyama 3. Asana 4. Pranayama 5. Pratyahara
6. Dharana 7. Dhyana 8. Samadhi
The 1st two limbs mostly prescribe the
ethical and moral purity one needs to follow like, non-covetousness, control of
senses, charity etc. Patanjali accepts an Ishvara and he is characterized by
his syllable “OM”. Ishvara pranidhana or dedication to Ishvara is one of
the steps mentioned as part of Niyama.
Note that Patanjali though mentions an Ishvara, he never mentions him as
the bestowing moksha.
The 3rd step is the most popular one, again
especially in the West where Yoga has become synonymous with Asana. Various
complex poses are taught in the west, which are not mentioned by Patanjali.
They are found in the Hata Yoga pradeepaka or the Geeranda Samhita,
basically Hata yoga texts, which again are purificatory texts to make the
aspirant fit for Ashatanga yoga. Patanjali only prescribes “Sukhasana”
or just a comfortable pose for meditation.
The 4th step is pranayama which involves
breath control.
The 5th step involves withdrawal of the
senses.
The 6th step sublimating the mind such that
it can contemplate steadily on the goal, without breaking. Just a like when oil
is poured the oil flows steadily without a break.
The 7th step is focussing the mind on the
purusha.
The last step is when the mind has ceased its
vacillations and the Purusha alone shines forth, separated from Prakriti. This
is the state of Moksha or apavarga or Kaivalya. At this stage the sadhaka is
freed from the cares of worldly existence.
Note Patanjali Yoga sutras also discusses about
various yoga siddhis or powers to be attained but those are distractions to the
main goal.
Poorva Mimamsa
This darshana is a hermeneutical school that concerns
itself with the correct performance of various rites prescribed in the Veda to
attain various fruits like heaven, progeny, wealth. Rishi Jaimini is the
pioneer of this school, having composed the Poorva Mimamsa sutras. Among the
four human purushartas or goals, this darshana concerns itself with a deeper
enquiry of dharma. This school postulates that through Dharma one can attain
higher regions of experience thus reducing the pain of earthly existence.
This darshans has developed sophisticated rules based
on grammar and logic along with its own rules for sentence interpretation. Mimamsa
is especially concerned with correct sentence formation. Whereas grammar or
Vyakarana is concerned with the origin of words.
Note that Jaimini does not care much to discuss about
moksha in the poorva mimamsa sutras or does not postulate the need for a God to
disburse the fruits of vedic karma to their performers. According to this
school Moksha is an extreme state of absence of pain. Moksha can happen only
when the individual soul has zeroed down its karmic balance. Thus, one has to
continue to perform his mandated Vedic rite without expecting fruits to keep
sin at bay and avoid performing karma with desire. Thus, when the resultant
karmic balance is zero, one attains moksha, a state where one is not born
again.
After Jaimini and in the medieval times, many theistic
schools of Poorva mimamsa came into being. Like Vedant deshikas “Seshvara
mimamsa” etc.
This school has a sophisticated language theory. This
has resulted in this school being used in artificial intelligence. One such
application is the usage of the tenets of this darshana to teach unmanned cars
ethics, using what is called deontic logic. For more info go to https://mimamsa.logic.at/
Uttara
Mimamsa or Vedanta
This also a very popular darshana in modern times,
especially advaita Vedanta. This darshana mainly talks about Moksha based on the Upanishads, Brahma sutra and the
Bhagavat Geetha called prasthana trayam.
There are 3 main schools of Vedanta
Advaita:
The most famous proponent of this darshana is
Shankaracharya. He wrote a commentary from an Advaitic perspective for the
Brahma sutras, Upanishads an the Geetha. Note that advaita existed even before
Shankara. For example, it is evident from the Vaakypadiya text from Bartruhari
the celebrated Grammarian that, even Vaiyakaranas or grammarians followed
advaita with some differences from the Shankara school.
This school considers the Jivatman(Individual self)
and he paramatman(Supreme self) to be one. Moksha is the realization by the
Jiva that he is not limited and is not different from the paramatma in terms of
consciousness. As per the Shankara school, worldly experiences happen due to
the misidentification of the individual self with the body. Moksha can be
attained now in this life by realizing that one is not the body but the eternal
atman. On loosing one’s identity with the body one enters a state of tranquillity.
Advaita can be theistic or atheistic as moksha is not dependant on an Ishvare.
Shankar prefers a theistic approach, where the grace of god is needed to
realizing one’s own self as the “parabrahman”. Texts like the Yoga Vasishta
explicitly state that such a realization is one’s own effort.
Vishistadvaita
Ramanuja was the main proponent of this school and wrote commentaries for
the Brahma sutra, Geetha and the Upanishads from a Vishitadvait perspective.
But through the compositions of the Azhwars or vaishnavite saints, called Divya
prabhandam, the school existed earlier than Ramanuja. This school is a theistic
school of Vedanta as it posits that Ishvara can only bestow moksha. According to this darshana, the Jiva is an
amsha of the paramatma, just like small sparks are an amsha of the main fire
source. This school of Vedanta prescribes sharanagati or surrendering to
Ishvara and a lifelong service to him. After the present life is over, the
devotee reaches vaikuntam and enjoys the bliss of the lord, still maintaining
his distinct identity with Ishvara.
Dvaita:
This too is a theistic school and presupposes a God that can give Moksha.
The main acharya of this school is Madhvacharya who again wrote a commentary on
the Prasthana trayam from a Dvaitic point of view. This school is heavily based
on Nyaya. This school consider the Jiva and paramatma to be entirely different.
It mainly teaches the differences between matter, individual Jivas and
paramatma. Moksha according to this school can be attained with the grace of
Hari and Krishna Bhakti. After the present life ends the devotee attains the
abode of Ishvara and each devotee enjoys bliss in proportion to the capability
of the Individual jivas, the separation between Jiva and Ishvara Astika
Darshanas – Ramanathan intact.
Note each school of Vedanta have different sub sects
and this article will not discuss all that.
