Religion philosophy
Samkhya
 It is the oldest the orthodox philosophical systems in Hinduism and denies
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the existence of God. Sage Kapila is traditionally considered as the founder
of the Samkhya school.
The main principle of this philosophy is dualism of consciousness and
matter.
Matter means Nature (Prakriti, creative energy, energy) has three phases
(Satya, Raja and Tama). An imbalance in the intertwined relationships of
these dispositions causes the world to evolve from Prakriti. This evolution
from Prakriti causes the creation of 23 constituents; including buddi
(intellect), ahamkara (ego) and mana (mind).
Inner instruments (Antah-karans): Buddhi, Ahamkara and Mana, External
instruments (Bahya karanas): Gyanendriyas and Karmendriyas, Gross
element (Akash, Vayu, Agni, Jala, Prithivi), Subtle elements (Shabda,
Sparsha, Roopa, Rasa, Gandha),
Purusa is the enternal pure consciousness, due to ignorance, identifies
itself with products of Prakriti. This results in endless transmigration and
suffering. However, once the realization arises that Purusa is distint from
Prakriti, the self is no longer subject to transmigration and absolute
freedom arises.
Yoga
Yoga is the name of one of the six philosophical schools founded by Patanjali, and Patanjali
is widely regarded as the compiler of the formal Yoga philosophy. His famous quotation: योग:
चित्त-वृचत्त चिरोध: ((yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ)
Yoga school accepts the Samkhya philosophy.
Patanjali's writing also became the basis for a system referred to as "Ashtanga Yoga"
("Eight-Limbed Yoga").. The Eight Limbs are:
•Yama (The five "abstentions"): Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (Truth, non-lying), Asteya
(non-covetousness), Brahmacharya (non-sensuality, celibacy), and Aparigraha (nonpossessiveness).
•Niyama (The five "observances"): Shaucha(purity), Santosha(contentment), Tapas
(austerity), Svadhyaya (study of the Vedic scriptures to know about God and the soul), and
Ishvara-Pranidhana (surrender to God).
•Asana: Literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras refers to the seated position used
for meditation.
•Pranayama ("Suspending Breath"): Prāna, breath, "āyāma", to restrain or stop. Also
interpreted as control of the life force.
•Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): Withdrawal of the sense organs from external objects.
•Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object.
•Dhyana ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation.
•Samadhi ("Liberation"): merging consciousness with the object of meditation.
In the view of this school, the highest attainment does not reveal the experienced diversity
of the world to be illusion. The everyday world is real. Furthermore, the highest attainment is
the event of one of many individual selves discovering itself; there is no single universal self
shared by all persons.
Naya
The most important contribution made by this school is its
methodology. This methodology is based on a system of logic that has
subsequently been adopted by the majority of the Indian schools. This
is comparable to the relationship between Western science and
philosophy, which was derived largely from Aristotelian logic.
From this methodology, existence of God is proved.
The valid knowledge was the only way to gain release from suffering.
Four sources of knowledge: perception, inference, comparison, and
testimony. Knowledge obtained through each of these is either valid or
invalid. Nyaya developed several criteria of validity.
Nyaya recognizes sixteen categories (padathas or pramana): Doubt
(Samsaya), Aim (praayojana), Example (drstanta), Conclusion (siddhanta), Syllogism (avayava), Hypothetical
reasoning (tarka), Settlement (nirnaya), Discussion (vada), Wrangling (jalpa), Cavilling (vitanda), Fallacy
(hetvabhasa),Quibbling (chala),Sophisticated refutation (jati), Point of defeat (Nigrahasthana)
The methodology of inference involves a combination of induction and deduction by moving from particular to
particular via generality. It has five steps, as in the example shown:
•There is fire on the hill (called Pratijñā, required to be proved)
•Because there is smoke there (called Hetu, reason)
•Wherever there is smoke, there is fire, e.g. in a kitchen (called Udāhārana, example of vyāpti)
•The hill has smoke that is pervaded by fire (called Upanaya, reaffirmation or application)
•Therefore there is fire on the hill (called Nigamana, conclusion)
Vaisheshika
Although the Vaisheshika school developed independently from the
Nyaya, the two eventually merged because of their closely related
metaphysical theories. In its classical form, however, the Vaisheshika
school differed from the
Nyaya in one crucial respect: where Nyaya accepted four sources of valid
knowledge, the Vaisheshika accepted only two—–perception and
inference.
The Visheshika school postulates an atomic pluralism. The universe are reducible
to certain types of atoms; and Brahman is regarded as the fundamental force that
causes consciousness in these atoms.
There are nine classes of realities: four classes of atoms (earth, water, light and
air), space (akasha), time (kāla), direction (dik), infinity of souls (Atman), mind
(manas).
Individual souls are eternal and pervade material body for a time.
There are seven categories (padārtha) of experience — substance, quality, activity,
generality, particularity, inherence and non-existence.
Objects should have six characteristics: Substance (dravya: earth, water,
fire, air, ether, time, space, self, mind), quality (guna: colour, taste, smell,
touch, number, size, knowledge, pleasure, pain, desire, aversion, effort),
activity (karma), generality (samanya), particularity (visesa) and inherence
(samavaya)
Mimamsa
Mīmāṃsā (मीमाांसा), a Sanskrit word meaning "investigation"
The main objective of the Purva 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. They
believe in the power of the mantras and yajñas to sustain 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 school of Mimamsa consists of both atheistic and theistic doctrines and is not deeply interested in
the existence of God, but rather in the character of dharma. Mīmāṃsā theorists decided that the evidence
allegedly proving the existence of God was insufficient. Mīmāṃsā argues that the Gods named in the Vedas have
no existence apart from themantras that speak their names. To that regard, the power of the mantras is what is
seen as the power of Gods.
The central aim of the school is explanation of the nature of dharma, understood as a set of ritual obligations and
prerogatives to be performed properly, in order to maintain the harmony of the universe and further the personal
well-being of the person who performs them.
Mimamsa made important contributions to Hindu thought in the fields of logic and epistemology, and its literature
is closely allied to the Hindu legal system. 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 law is influenced by
this school.
Jaimini defines "dharma" as a command or injunction which compels people to action. It is the supreme duty, the
“ought,” the categorical imperative. “Artha” (wealth, worldly status) and “Kama” (aesthetic enjoyment), which deal
with ordinary common morality, can be learned through worldly intercourse. Dharma and Moksa (liberation), which
deal with true spirituality, are revealed only by the Veda.
Mimamsa does not admit the existence of any God as the creator and destroyer of the universe. There is no
reason to suppose that the universe ever had any beginning in time, or that any God created it. God has no body
with which to fashion the world. The school has a mechanistic view of creation; everything comes into existence
through natural processes, as children are born from parents.
They believed that the other schools of thought that aimed for release (moksha) were not allowed for complete
freedom from desire and selfishness, because the very striving for liberation stemmed from a simple desire to be
free. According to Mimamsa thought, only by acting in accordance with the prescriptions of the Vedas may one
attain salvation.
Vedanta
The term Vedanta means in Sanskrit the “conclusion” (anta) of the Vedas, it
applies to the Upanishads, which were elaborations of the Vedas, and to the school
that arose out of the “study” (mimamsa) of the Upanishads. The Vedanta,
or later Mimamsa school, concentrates on the philosophical teachings of
the Upanishads rather than the ritualistic injunctions of the Brahmanas.
Etymologically, Vedanta means, the last segment of knowledge in the Vedas.
While the traditional Vedic rituals continued to be practiced as meditative and
propitiatory rites, a more knowledge-centered understanding began to emerge.
These were mystical aspects of Vedic religion that focused on meditation, selfdiscipline, and spiritual connectivity, more than traditional ritualism.
The three fundamental Vedanta texts are Upanishads, Brahma-sutra and
Bhagavadgita. The common beliefs; the self (samsara) and the desirability of
release the cycle of rebirths, the self is the agent of its own acts and receives of
action.
Charvaka, a quasi-philosophical Indian school of
materialists who rejected the notion of an
afterworld, karma, liberation (moksha), the authority
of the sacred scriptures, the Vedas, and the
immortality of the self.
Carvakas thought that body was formed out of four elements
(not five) and that consciousness was an outcome of the
mixture of these elements. Therefore, Carvakas did not
believe in an afterlife.
Cārvāka believed that there was nothing wrong
with sensual pleasure. Since it is impossible to have pleasure
without pain, Cārvāka thought that wisdom lay in enjoying
pleasure and avoiding pain as far as possible. Unlike many of
the Indian philosophies of the time, Cārvāka did not believe in
austerities or rejecting pleasure out of fear of pain and held
such reasoning to be foolish.