Basics of Indian Philosophy- An Introduction

In my years of young adolescence, ‘philosopher’ was a mocking title given to the person who was deeply immersed in his thoughts and unconcerned with his surroundings. This idea of the philosopher as an unhinged person continued in my subconscious. Which led to my disliking the discipline of philosophy without knowing what the discipline is all about. Decades later, when the coronavirus pandemic caused untold devastation and fear and uncertainty gripped humanity, I became almost paranoid. I desperately wanted to calm my agitated mind. I wanted to do something that I hadn’t done before – that which would also require a will to break the wrongly held beliefs and biases. So, I decided to break my prejudice by knowing what the discipline of philosophy was all about. I began with the books Sophie’s World, followed by A History Of Western Philosophy. Now, I think reading philosophy helps in a better understanding of the human condition.

While reading Sophie’s World and A History of Western Philosophy, I found no mention of the philosophies and philosophers of the east in these books except for some passing remarks on Buddhist Philosophy. I recently attempted to learn about various schools of Eastern Philosophy. Notwithstanding the different cultures and religions, political systems, history and religions, and times, the questions concerning the philosophers across the world have remained remarkably similar. The questions have always been, like

1. What is self?

2. What is the best way to live?

3. Where do we come from?

4. What happens when we die?

Let me now introduce you to various schools of philosophy of non-Hellenic cultures which developed and flourished in the Indian subcontinent, collectively termed Indian Philosophy. The school of philosophy in Sanskrit is called ‘Darsana‘. The literal meaning of Darsana is “to-see”. These Darsanas have a common origin in ancient sacred texts from of Vedic period (circa 1500 BCE). These texts, from the oldest Rg Veda to the Upanisids, are called Vedas. Veda in Sanskrit means knowledge. The Vedas are referred to by the term ‘Sruti’. A word that can be translated as “what can be heard”. Traditionally, it is thought that these texts had no human or divine authors. They are believed to have existed eternally in some form before they were written.

The first four Vedas- the Rgveda, the Yajurveda, the Samveda and the Atharveda – are considered the most sacred “Sruti”. They are the oldest texts of ancient Vedic religion. This religion was based on a complex sacrificial and ritual system. Of the Vedas, the Rigveda is the most ancient. It is composed of ten books. These ten books tell us about Vedic culture and religious practices. While their focus is on the practicalities of rituals and sacrifice, they also contain philosophical speculations on the origin of life and the universe. The later ‘Sruti’, the Upanisids, include more abstract philosophical reflections than the earlier texts, revealing the transition of Vedic religion towards the interest in inner life. They asserted that knowledge is more important than performing the rituals in ignorance of their real significance. The Upanisds also advanced the idea that purpose of the Vedic ritual can be accomplished within the person’s mind and body without need to light fires and sacrifice animals.

Most of the philosophical traditions in India have soteriological concerns, that is, concern about ultimate liberation from rebirth, in their metaphysics. However, it shall be a misstatement to say, as some from the west do, that philosophy in India is little more than religion. Indeed, philosophers in India have not distinguished philosophical and religious questions in the way these were done in the west. But, philosophers in India sought to understand and explain the fundamental features of the cosmos and the nature of individual being within it by using and sharing the common framework of philosophical traditions and methodologies for logic,reason and knowledge . Therefore, whether their enquiries were religious or philosophical becomes irrelevant.

The core elements of the shared framework of all Darsanas except for Carvakas are

1. The cyclical view of time. On the cosmic level, the view translates that the world is never definitely created or destroyed. It goes through cycles of creation, destruction and recreation. This cycle of creation, destruction and recreation is called ‘Samsara.’

2. The other core element is Karma. The interpretation of the nature of Karma differs between the Darsanas. However, they hold a conviction that Karma is what holds an individual within ‘Samsara.’

In Indian philosophical tradition, there are nine Darsanas – schools of Philosophy. Six of them regard the Vedas as authoritative and are called Astika ( affirmers). And the other three which don’t hold the Vedas as authoritative are called Nastika. ( non-affirmers or dissenters). The distinction between Astika and Nastika schools has nothing to do with belief in a God or gods. The difference is purely based on their stance toward the Vedas.

The six Astika Darsanas are

1. Nyaya Darsana – It is School of Logic. Its foundational text is Nyaya Sutra ( third century CE), and with Vaisesika Darsana, they represent the empirical stance of Hindu culture.

2. Vaisesika Darsanas – is school of Atomism. Its foundational text is Vaisesika Sutra ( third -second century BCE). It, along with Nyaya Darsana, is the most analytic Darsana of the Asitika school.

3. Samakhya Darsana- It is school of Dualistic Discrimination. Its foundational text is Samkhya Karika ( fourth-fifth century CE). It is a non-theistic tradition within Astika Darsana. This school with Yoga Darsana expresses philosophical tendencies within Indian culture to seek liberation through the pursuit of pure consciousness.

4. Yoga Darsanas– is school of Classical Yoga. Its foundational text is Yoga Sutra ( third century CE). It is closely linked with Samkhya Darsana and intended to foster altered states of consciousness through physically based practices.

5. Mimamsa Darsana – is school of Vedic Exegesis. It believes in Pluralism. Its foundational text is Purva Mimamsa Sutra ( third century CE). It is also a non-theistic tradition, like Samkhya Darsana, and

6. Vedanta Darsana- This school of philosophy draws its source mainly from Upanisids. It is School of non-dualism, which champions Monism. Its foundational text is Brahma Sutra ( first century CE)

The three Nastika Darsanas are

1. Carvaka —is school of Materialism, Hedonism and Skepticism.
2. Jaina – hold that reality is many-sided ( Anekanta) and people adopt different perspectives (Nayas ), which allows them to see selective aspects of reality. Therefore, things cannot be unconditionally true, but only true in certain aspects.
3. Buddhism – There are four schools of Buddhist philosophy – Theraveda School, Mahayana School, Vajrayana school and Zen School. Each school has its metaphysical views on nature of reality, human mind and human condition. However, they share the Buddhism’s core beliefs of, the four noble truths, the eightfold path and the three universal laws.

In the next three or four blogs, I plan to write what some of these Darsanas have said on the two questions which preoccupied philosophers in India. These questions were

1. What is the fundamental nature of reality?

2. What is the identity of true self?

Thank you for reading

References

1. Eastern Philosophy – the basics by Victoria S. Harrison

2. Indian Philosophy- A very short introduction by Sue Hamilton.