School of Philosophy

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  • Major schools agreed that man should strive for the fulfilment of 4 goals:

Goals for life
Meaning
Treatise of the Goal
Artha
Economic  means or wealth
Arthashastra
Dharma
Regulation  of social orders
Dharmashastra
Kama
Physical  pleasures or love
Kamasutra
Moksha
Salvation
Darshana
  • Main aim of life was to achieve deliverance from the constant circle of life and death
  • There were two different types of schools:
  • Orthodox school: vedas were infallible. They had 6 sub-schools- Shada Darshana: Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Mimansa & Vedanta
  • Heterodox school: do not believe in the originality of the vedas and question the existence of God. 3 major sub-schools- Buddhism, Jainism, Lokayata
Orthodox Schools
Samkhya School
  • Oldest school
  • Founder- Kapila Muni, book- Samkhya Sutra
  • The word means ‘count’
  • The school went through 2 phases of development:
Original Samkhya view
New Samkhya view
1st century  AD
4th century  AD
The presence  of any divine agency was not necessary
Purusha or  spirit was necessary
Rational,  scientific view
Spiritual  view
World owed  its existence to Prakriti
Spiritual  elements + Nature = world
Materialistic  school
Spiritual  school
  • Both schools argued that salvation could be attained through acquisition of knowledge
  • Root cause of misery: lack of knowledge
  • Dvaitavada/ Dualism: soul and matter are separate entities
  • Knowledge can be acquired through:
    • Pratyaksha: perception
    • Anumana: inference
    • Shabda: hearing
  • Final view: Prakriti & Purusha are real, absolute & independent
  • Purusha: closer to attributes of male, related to the consciousness; cannot be altered
  • Prakriti: three attributes of thought, movement & transformation; closer to that of female
Yoga School
  • Origin has been expounded in the Yogasutra of Patanjali (2nd century BC)
  • It means the union of two major entities
  • Human being can achieve salvation by: meditation + physical application of yoga
  • Physical aspect: deals primarily with exercises in asanas (postures)
Means of achieving freedom
Ways of achieving freedom
Yama
Practicing  self-control
Niyama
Observation  of the rules governing one’s life
Pratyahara
Choosing an  object
Dharna
Fixing the  mind over the chosen object
Dhyana
Concentrating  on the chosen object
Samadhi
Merging of  the mind and the object- leads to final dissolution of the self
  • These techniques, they say, helps control the human mind, body & sensory organs
  • They would help the individual to move away from worldly matter and achieve the concentration required to get salvation
Nyaya School
  • Founded by Gautama, author of Nyaya Sutra
  • They believe in the technique of logical thinking to achieve salvation
  • The school argues that by using logical tools- inference, hearing & analogy; a human being can verify the truth of a proposition
  • Believes that God not only created the Universe but also sustained & destroyed it Constantly stresses on systematic reasoning and thinking
Vaisheshika School
  • Founder- Kanada
  • Believes in the physicality of the universe
  • Realistic and objective philosophy that governs the universe
  • They argue that everything in the universe was created by 5 main elements, also known as Dravya: fire, air, water, earth & ether (sky)
  • They also developed the atomic theory: all material objects are made of atoms
  • Atoms + molecules = matter, which is the basis of everything that can be touched or seen; considered to be responsible for the beginning of physics in the Indian subcontinent
  • Believed in God, considered him to be the guiding principle
  • Believed that laws of karma guided the universe
  • Believed in salvation, but it was parallel to the creation and destruction of the universe
Mimansa School
  • The word means, the art of reasoning, interpretation and application
  • Main text- Sutras of Jaimini
  • Two greatest proponents: Sabar Swami & Kumarila Bhatta
  • Focuses on the analysis of the texts of samhita and brahmana
  • Vedas contain the eternal truth and are the repositories of all knowledge
  • Salvation is possible through performing rituals, but it is also important to understand the reasoning behind it
  • Main focus- ritualistic part of the vedas, for which, they have to take assistance of the priests
Vedanta School
  • Means end of the vedas
  • Upholds the philosophies of life as elaborated in the Upanishads
  • Oldest text: Brahmasutra of Badrayana
  • Propounds that Brahm is the reality of life, and everything else is unreal or Maya
  • Atma or consciousness of self is similar to the brahm
  • Atma= Brahm, if one attains knowledge of the self, thereby, attaining salvation
  • Shankaracharya’s commentaries developed the school of Advaita Vedanta
  • Ramanujan’s view led to a new development of this school of philosophy
Shankaracharya’s view
Ramanujan’s view
Brahm was  without any attributes
Brahm  possesses some attributes
Main means  of attaining salvation: knowledge/  jnana
Loving the  faith & practicing devotion is the path to attain salvation
  • This theory also gave credence to the theory of karma
  • Believed in the theory of rebirth or punarjanma
Heterodox School
Charvaka School/ Lokayata
  • Brihaspati laid the foundation
  • This philosophy is old enough to find mention in the vedas and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
  • Believed in the materialistic view to attain salvation
  • Lokayata: derived from common people/ keen attachment to the material world (loka)
  • Completely argued against anything beyond this world
  • Denied the existence of any divine agent who could control or regulate our conduct, or the earth
  • Believed in anything that could be touched or experienced by the human senses
  • Man is the centre of all activities and should enjoy himself as long as he lives
  • Do not consider ether as the 5th element as it cannot be experienced through perception
  • Pleasure should be the ultimate objective of life
  • Theory: ‘Eat, drink & be merry’

 

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