Different Schools of Indian Philosophy

Development in Philosophy

"Philosophy is the science of truth"

~ Aristotle 

• Philosophy arose in India as an enquiry into the mystery of life and existence.
• Indian philosophy refers to the several traditions of philosophical thoughts that originated in the Indian sub-continent.
• The Indian philosophy can be broadly classified into two broad categories -
1. Orthodox School of Indian Philosophy
2. Heterodox School of Indian Philosophy

Orthodox School of Indian Philosophy - These were generally theistic, i.e., they believe in the existence/concept of god. The orthodox schools, originally called Sanatana Dharma, are collectively referred to as Hinduism in modern times.

They are the takers of the concept of salvation. Thus, they also believe in rebirth because salvation was introduced to end the cycle of death and rebirth.

There were 6 Schools of Orthodox Indian Philosophy.

1. Samkhya
2. Yoga
3. Nyaya
4. Vaisesikha
5. Mimansa
6. Vedanta

Samkhya Philosophy - 

• The founder of this philosophy was Kapil Muni.
• The beginning of the Samkhya Philosophy can be traced back to Mahabharata Yuga, i.e., around 950 BC.
• Samkhya philosophy can be divided into Early Samkhya Philosophy and Later Samkhya Philosophy.
• As per the Early Samkhya Philosophy, universe was created due to prakriti (i.e., nature). They gave materialistic explanation of the origin of the universe (i.e., the early Samkhya Philosophy did not emphasized on the concept god/divine entity in the formation of the universe).
• But Later Samkhya Philosophy owned the origin of the universe to both the nature and the divine agency. This view became very popular and by the Gupta period, it became the essence of the Samkhya Philosophy.

i.e., in simple words, 

• Early Samkhya → no concept of god
• Later concept of god was incorporated and in Later Samkhya the concept of god got consolidated and was popularised during 4th Century AD (Gupta Period).

As per the Samkhyas, universe owes its origin to Purush (divine entity) and Prakriti (nature). 

According to the Samkhya Philosophy, each purusha experiences bhoga, apavarga and takes birth repeatedly until he/she got moksha (or Kaivalya), i.e., Samkhya Philosophy believes in rebirth.

Samkhya says that the attainment of real knowledge leads to salvation. It says that the real knowledge can be attained through -

1. Pratyaskha (i.e., perception)
2. Anumana (i.e., inferences)
3. Shabda (i.e., testimony)

Yoga Philosophy - 

• Patanjali was the founder of this philosophy.
• He was the head priest of Shungas.
• This philosophy emerged in 2nd Century BC.
• This philosophy is mentioned in Yogasutra written by Patanjali.
• It says that salvation can be attained through the observance of Astanga Yoga, which are as follows -
• Yama - means Do's
• Niyama - means Don'ts 
• Asana - means Posture
• Pranayam - means Breathing exercise
• Pratyahara - means Restrain
• Dharana - means Selecting an object
• Dhyana - means Concentrating on the object
• Samadhi - means Deep meditation
• In the last stage, i.e., Samadhi, Muldhara Chakra gets activated which leads to Kundalini Jagaran and finally the energy of the body becomes synonymous with the universe and one attains salvation (i.e., this stage is the stage of entropy).

Nyaya Philosophy - 

• It was propounded by Akshapada Gautam.
• It says that salvation can be attained through valid knowledge.
• Valid knowledge originates from reason and logic.
• To explain this he gave a famous proposition, "Where there is smoke, there is fire".
• Nyayas added one more stage in the method of enquiry, which is Upamana (or Comparison).
• The four method of enquiry to attain valid knowledge are -
1. Pratyaksha (i.e., Perception)
2. Anumana (i.e., Inference)
3. Upamana (i.e., Comparison) 
4. Shabda (i.e., Testimony)
• Basically, it emerged between 50 BC to 200 AD (during Post Maurya Period).

Vaisesikha Philosophy -

• Kanad was the founder of this philosophy. His original name was Aulukya. Because of his interest in the study of Kana, i.e., smallest particles, he came to be known as Kanad.
• This philosophy laid the foundation of physics in India.
• It says that the universe is atomic in nature and all substances in the universe are made up of atom. Atom is the smallest indivisible and indestructible part of the universe. Though inactive in themselves they are put in motion due to the god's will.
• This atomic recognition according to the Vaisesika leads to Salvation.
• It emerged during 5th Century AD.

Mimansa -

• Jaimini was the founder of this philosophy.
• It got consolidated from 6th Century AD onwards and by 8th Century AD.
• Mimansa emphasised on the importance of rituals and it says performing Vedic rituals through the assistance of priest will lead to salvation.
• The brahmin class of this period emphasised on the concept of heaven, for which they said that it is the result of accumulation of good deeds (Karma).
• Heaven is like a temporary salvation. After staying in heaven for a pre-determined period, one must again took birth on the Earth.
• But after achieving salvation (i.e., Moksha), one is free from the cycle of death-rebirth.

Vedanta 

• It was propounded by Badrayana.
• Later many other streams of this philosophy emerged which became very popular.
• Two such philosophies are as follows:
• Advaitavada Philosophy
• Visisthadvaitvada Philosophy

Advaitavada philosophy 

• It was propounded in the 8th Century AD by Saint Sankracharya, who was born in the state of Kerala.
• As per Sankaracharya, there is no difference between the creator and the creation.
• The difference that we perceived is because of our ignorance. This ignorance can be eliminated by embarking on the path of knowledge (i.e., Gyan Marga).
• He gave a famous proposition, "Aham Brahamasmi" (i.e., I'm Brahma, the ultimate god) which means one doesn't need to search god at any place else rather look within herself.

Visithadvaitavada philosophy 

• It was propounded by Saint Ramanujacharya from Srirangam, Tamil Nadu in the 12th Century AD.
• According to Ramanuja Charya, God has some special attributes. 
• He emphasised on Bhakti Marga (i.e., the path of devotion) to not only recognise the special attribute of the god but also to get the salvation.

Heterodox Philosophy

Schools that do not accept the authority of Vedas are by definition unorthodox (nastika) systems. 

They did not emphasised on the concept of any divine entity, i.e., god.

The following schools belong to heterodox schools of Indian Philosophy.

1.  Charvaka Philosophy (Brishpati) 

• It was founded by Charvaka.
• It is also known as Lokayat Philosophy (here, Lokayat means very popular among the masses).
• They rejected the concept of god, authority of Vedas and the concept of salvation and rebirth.
• It is a materialistic philosophy.
• Of all the recognised means of knowledge, they prefer perception which is reflected from the proposition, "Pratyaksham kim pramanam", i.e., what is before our eyes is self-evident.
• It emphasised that perception is only means of knowledge.
• The crux of this philosophy can be defined in the following proposition -

"Yavat jivet sukham jivet,

Rhinam kritva ghritam pibet"

यावत् जीवेत् सुखम् जीवेत्।

ऋणं कृत्वा घृतं पिबेत्।

• It means that don't worry about the future and past and enjoy the present.

2.  Ajivika 

• It is also known as Niyativada, i.e., the theory of destiny.
• It was propounded by Makhaliputra Gosala (friend of Vardhman Mahavira) who was contemporary of Mahavira.
• This philosophy says that there is no free will and whatever that has happen is happening and will happen and one can't change it.
• So, this philosophy emphasised that rather than thinking about future or past, just do your karma and don't focus on other worldly things, i.e., Work is worship.
• They said that the theory of rebirth and salvation is just a fallacy.

3.  Buddhism

4.  Jainism

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