, the Tamil philosopher of the post-
Sangam era Indian philosophy refers to
ancient philosophical traditions (; 'world views', 'teachings') of the
Indian subcontinent.
Hinduism may have roots dating back to the times of the
Indus Valley civilization. The major orthodox schools arose sometime between the start of the
Common Era and the
Gupta Empire. These Hindu schools developed what has been called the "Hindu synthesis" merging orthodox
Brahmanical and unorthodox elements from Buddhism and
Jainism. Hindu thought also spread east to the Indonesian
Srivijaya empire and the Cambodian
Khmer Empire. These religio-philosophical traditions were later grouped under the label
Hinduism. Hinduism is the dominant religion, or way of life, in
South Asia. It includes
Shaivism,
Vaishnavism, and
Shaktism among numerous
other traditions, and a wide spectrum of
laws and prescriptions of "daily morality" based on
karma,
dharma, and societal norms. Hinduism is a categorization of distinct intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, common set of beliefs. Hinduism, with about one billion followers is the
world's third-largest religion, after
Christianity and
Islam. Hinduism has been called the "
oldest religion" in the world and is traditionally called
Sanātanī|, "the eternal
law" or the "eternal way"; beyond human origins. Western scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no single founder. Some of the earliest surviving philosophical texts are the
Upanishads of the
later Vedic period (1000–500 BCE). Important Indian philosophical concepts include
dharma,
karma,
samsara,
moksha, and
ahimsa. Indian philosophers developed a system of epistemological reasoning (
pramana) and logic and investigated topics such as
Ontology (
metaphysics,
Brahman-
Atman,
Sunyata-
Anatta), reliable means of knowledge (
epistemology,
Pramanas), value system (
axiology) and other topics. Indian philosophy also covered topics such as political philosophy as seen in the
Arthashastra c. 4th century BCE and the philosophy of love as seen in the
Kama Sutra. The
Kural literature of the post-
Sangam period between c. 1st century BCE and 5th century CE, written by the
Tamil poet-philosopher
Valluvar, is believed by many scholars to be based on
Jain or
Hindu philosophies. Later developments include the development of
Tantra and Iranian-Islamic influences. Buddhism mostly disappeared from India after the
Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent, surviving in the Himalayan regions and south India. The early modern period saw the flourishing of
Navya-Nyāya (the 'new reason') under philosophers such as
Raghunatha Siromani (c. 1460–1540) who founded the tradition,
Jayarama Pancanana,
Mahadeva Punatamakara and
Yashovijaya (who formulated a Jain response).
Orthodox schools The principal Indian philosophical schools are classified as either orthodox or heterodox –
āstika or nāstika – depending on one of three alternate criteria: whether it believes the
Vedas are a valid source of knowledge; whether the school believes in the premises of
Brahman and
Atman; and whether the school believes in afterlife and
Devas. There are six major schools of orthodox Indian
Hindu philosophy—
Nyaya,
Vaisheshika,
Samkhya,
Yoga,
Mīmāṃsā and
Vedanta, and five major heterodox schools—
Jain,
Buddhist,
Ajivika,
Ajñana, and
Cārvāka. However, there are other methods of classification;
Vidyaranya for instance identifies sixteen schools of Hindu Indian philosophy by including those that belong to the
Śaiva and
Raseśvara traditions. Each school of Hindu philosophy has extensive
epistemological literature called
Pramana-sastras. In
Hindu history, the distinction of the six orthodox schools was current in the
Gupta period "golden age" of Hinduism. With the disappearance of Vaisheshika and Mīmāṃsā, it became obsolete by the later Middle Ages, when the various sub-schools of Vedanta (
Dvaita "dualism", Advaita Vedanta "non-dualism" and others) began to rise to prominence as the main divisions of religious philosophy. Nyaya survived into the 17th century as
Navya Nyaya "Neo-Nyaya", while Samkhya gradually lost its status as an independent school, its tenets absorbed into Yoga and Vedanta.
Sāmkhya and Yoga Sāmkhya is a
dualist philosophical tradition based on the
Samkhyakarika (c. 320–540 CE), while the
Yoga school was a closely related tradition emphasizing
meditation and
liberation whose major text is the
Yoga sutras (c. 400 CE). Elements of proto-Samkhya ideas can, however, be traced back to the period of the early
Upanishads. One of the main differences between the two closely related schools was that Yoga allowed for the existence of a God, while most
Sāmkhya thinkers criticized this idea. Sāmkhya
epistemology accepts three of six
pramanas (proofs) as the only reliable means of gaining knowledge;
pratyakṣa (
perception),
anumāṇa (
inference) and
śabda (word/testimony of reliable sources). The school developed a complex theoretical exposition of the evolution of
consciousness and
matter. Sāmkhya sources argue that the universe consists of two realities,
puruṣa (
consciousness) and
prakṛti (
matter). As shown by the
Sāṁkhyapravacana Sūtra (c. 14th century CE), Sāmkhya continued to develop throughout the medieval period.
Nyāya The Nyāya school of
epistemology explores
sources of knowledge (
Pramāṇa) and is based on the
Nyāya Sūtras (circa 6th century BCE and 2nd century CE).
Nyāya holds that human suffering arises out of ignorance and liberation arises through correct knowledge. Therefore, they sought to investigate the sources of correct knowledge or epistemology.
Nyāya traditionally accepts four
Pramanas as reliable means of gaining knowledge –
Pratyakṣa (perception),
Anumāṇa (inference),
Upamāṇa (comparison and analogy) and
Śabda (word, testimony of past or present reliable experts). The
Nyāya Sūtras was a very influential text in Indian philosophy, laying the foundations for classical Indian epistemological debates between the different philosophical schools. It includes, for example, the classic Hindu rejoinders against Buddhist not-self (
anatta) arguments. The work also famously argues against a creator God (
Ishvara), a debate which became central to Hinduism in the medieval period.
Vaiśeṣika Vaiśeṣika is a naturalist school of
atomism, which accepts only two sources of knowledge, perception, and inference. This philosophy held that the universe was reducible to
paramāṇu (
atoms), which are indestructible (
anitya), indivisible, and have a special kind of dimension, called "small" (
aṇu). Whatever we experience is a composite of these atoms. Vaiśeṣika organized all objects of experience into what they called
padārthas (literally: 'the meaning of a word') which included six categories;
dravya (substance),
guṇa (quality),
karma (activity),
sāmānya (generality),
viśeṣa (particularity) and
samavāya (inherence). Later
Vaiśeṣikas (
Śrīdhara and Udayana and
Śivāditya) added one more category
abhava (non-existence). The first three categories are defined as
artha (which can be perceived) and they have real objective existence. The last three categories are defined as
budhyapekṣam (product of intellectual discrimination) and they are logical categories.
Mīmāṃsā Mīmāṃsā is a school of ritual
orthopraxy and is known for its
hermeneutical study and interpretation of the
Vedas. For this tradition, the study of
dharma as ritual and social duty was paramount. They also held that the Vedas were "eternal, authorless, [and] infallible" and that Vedic injunctions and
mantras in rituals are prescriptive actions of primary importance. They primarily held that the purpose of language was to correctly
prescribe proper actions, rituals, and correct
dharma (duty or virtue). Mīmāṃsā is also mainly atheistic, holding that the evidence for the existence of God is insufficient and that the Gods named in the Vedas have no existence apart from the names, mantras and their power. A key text of the Mīmāṃsā school is the
Mīmāṃsā Sūtra of
Jaimini and major Mīmāṃsā scholars include
Prabhākara (c. 7th century) and
Kumārila Bhaṭṭa (
fl. roughly 700). The Mīmāṃsā school strongly influenced
Vedānta, which was also known as
Uttara-Mīmāṃsā; however, while Mīmāṃsā emphasized
karmakāṇḍa, or the study of ritual actions, using the four early
Vedas, the Vedānta schools emphasized
jñanakāṇḍa, the study of knowledge, using the later parts of Vedas like the
Upaniṣads.
Vedānta sees the Vedas, particularly the
Upanishads, as a reliable source of knowledge. The central concern for these schools is the nature of and the relationship between
Brahman (ultimate reality, universal consciousness),
Ātman (individual soul) and
Prakriti (empirical world). The sub-traditions of
Vedānta include
Advaita (non-dualism),
Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism),
Dvaita (dualism), and
Bhedabheda (difference and non-difference). Due to the popularity of the
bhakti movement,
Vedānta came to be the dominant current of
Hinduism in the post-medieval period.
Other While the classical enumeration of Indian philosophies lists six orthodox schools, there are other schools that are sometimes seen as orthodox. These include: The
Śramaṇa movement gave rise to a diverse range of non-Vedic ideas, ranging from accepting or denying the concepts of
atman, atomism, materialism, atheism, agnosticism, fatalism to free will, extreme asceticism, strict
ahimsa (non-violence) and
vegetarianism. Notable philosophies that arose from
Śramaṇic movement were
Jainism,
early Buddhism,
Cārvāka,
Ajñana, and
Ājīvika.
Jain philosophy Jain philosophy deals extensively with the problems of
metaphysics,
reality,
cosmology,
ontology,
epistemology, and
divinity.
Jainism is essentially a
transtheistic religion of ancient India. It continues the ancient Sramana| tradition, which co-existed with the
Vedic tradition since ancient times. The distinguishing features of Jain philosophy include a
mind-body dualism, denial of a
creative and
omnipotent God,
karma, an
eternal and uncreated universe,
non-violence, the theory of the
multiple facets of truth, and morality based on
liberation of the
soul. Jain philosophy attempts to explain the rationale of being and existence, the nature of the Universe and its constituents, the nature of the bondage and the means to achieve liberation. It has often been described as an
ascetic movement for its strong emphasis on self-control, austerities, and renunciation. It has also been called a model of philosophical
liberalism for its insistence that truth is relative and multifaceted and for its willingness to accommodate all possible view-points of the rival philosophies. Jainism strongly upholds the individualistic nature of the soul and personal responsibility for one's decisions, and that self-reliance and individual efforts alone are responsible for one's liberation. The contribution of the Jains in the development of Indian philosophy has been significant. Jain philosophical concepts like
Ahimsa,
Karma,
Moksa,
Samsara, and the like are common with other
Indian religions like
Hinduism and
Buddhism in various forms. While Jainism traces its philosophy from teachings of
Mahavira and other
Tirthankaras, various Jain philosophers from
Kundakunda and
Umasvati in ancient times to
Yasovijaya and
Shrimad Rajchandra in recent times have contributed to Indian philosophical discourse in uniquely Jain ways.
Cārvāka Cārvāka or Lokāyata was an
atheistic philosophy of
scepticism and
materialism, who rejected the
Vedas and all associated supernatural doctrines. Cārvāka philosophers like Brihaspati were extremely critical of other schools of philosophy of the time. Cārvāka deemed the Vedas to be tainted by the three faults of untruth, self-contradiction, and tautology. They declared the Vedas to be incoherent rhapsodies invented by humans whose only usefulness was to provide a livelihood to priests. Likewise, they faulted Buddhists and Jains, mocking the concept of
liberation,
reincarnation, and accumulation of
merit or demerit through karma. They believed the viewpoint of relinquishing pleasure to avoid pain was the "reasoning of fools". The primary texts of
Cārvāka, like the
Barhaspatya sutras (c. 600 BCE) have been lost.
Ājīvika Ājīvika was founded by
Makkhali Gosala, it was a
Śramaṇa movement and a major rival of
early Buddhism and
Jainism. Original scriptures of the Ājīvika school of philosophy may once have existed, but these are currently unavailable and probably lost. Their theories are extracted from mentions of Ajivikas in the secondary sources of ancient Hindu Indian literature, particularly those of Jainism and Buddhism which polemically criticized the Ajivikas. The Ājīvika school is known for its
Niyati doctrine of absolute determinism (fate), the premise that there is no free will, that everything that has happened, is happening and will happen is entirely preordained and a function of cosmic principles. Ājīvika considered the
karma doctrine as a fallacy. Ājīvikas were atheists and rejected the authority of the
Vedas, but they believed that in every living being is an
ātman – a central premise of Hinduism and Jainism.
Ajñana Ajñana was a Śramaṇa school of radical Indian skepticism and a rival of early Buddhism and Jainism. They held that it was impossible to obtain knowledge of metaphysical nature or ascertain the truth value of philosophical propositions; and even if knowledge was possible, it was useless and disadvantageous for final salvation. They were seen as sophists who specialized in refutation without propagating any positive doctrine of their own.
Jayarāśi Bhaṭṭa (fl. c. 800), the author of the skeptical work entitled
Tattvopaplavasiṃha ("The Lion that Devours All Categories"/"The Upsetting of All Principles"), has been seen as an important Ajñana philosopher.
Buddhist philosophies university and monastery was a major center of learning in India from the 5th century CE to c. 1200. , Tibet, 2013
Buddhist philosophy begins with the thought of
Gautama Buddha (fl. between sixth and fourth centuries BCE) and is preserved in the
early Buddhist texts. It generally refers to the philosophical investigations that developed among various
Buddhist schools in India and later spread throughout Asia through the
Silk Road. Buddhist thought is trans-regional and trans-cultural. It is the dominant philosophical tradition in
Tibet and Southeast Asian countries like
Sri Lanka and
Burma.
Buddhism's main concern is soteriological, defined as freedom from
dukkha (unease). Because
ignorance of the true nature of things is considered one of the roots of suffering, Buddhist thinkers concerned themselves with philosophical questions related to epistemology and the use of reason. Key Buddhist concepts include the
Four Noble Truths,
Anatta (not-self) a critique of a fixed
personal identity, the transience of all things (
Anicca), and a certain
skepticism about metaphysical questions. Buddhist thinkers in India and subsequently in
East Asia have covered topics as varied as
phenomenology,
ethics,
ontology,
epistemology,
logic, and
philosophy of time. Later Buddhist philosophical traditions developed complex phenomenological psychologies termed '
Abhidharma'.
Mahayana philosophers such as
Nagarjuna and
Vasubandhu developed the theories of
Shunyata (emptiness of all phenomena) and Vijnapti-matra (appearance only), a form of phenomenology or
transcendental idealism. The
Dignāga (c. 480–540) school of
Pramāṇa promoted a complex form of
epistemology and
Buddhist logic. This tradition contributed to what has been called an "epistemological turn" in Indian philosophy. Through the work of
Dharmakirti, this tradition of Buddhist logic has become the major epistemological system used in
Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and debate. After the disappearance of Buddhism from India, these philosophical traditions continued to develop in the
Tibetan Buddhist,
East Asian Buddhist, and
Theravada Buddhist traditions. In Tibet, the Indian tradition continued to be developed under the work of thinkers like
Sakya Pandita,
Tsongkhapa, and
Ju Mipham. In
East Asian Buddhism, new developments were led by
East Asian Yogacara thinkers such as
Paramartha,
Xuanzang, and
Wŏnhyo and East Asian Madhyamaka thinkers like
Jizang. New sinitic schools also arose, like
Tiantai, founded by
Zhiyi,
Huayan, defended by figures like
Fazang, and
Zen, which included philosophers like
Guifeng Zongmi.
Buddhist modernism and
DT Suzuki during his visit to China in 1934 The modern period saw the rise of
Buddhist modernism and
Humanistic Buddhism under Western influences and the development of
Western Buddhism with influences from modern psychology and Western philosophy. Important exponents of Buddhist modernism include
Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933) and the American convert
Henry Steel Olcott, the Chinese modernists
Taixu (1890–1947) and
Yin Shun (1906–2005), Zen scholar
D.T. Suzuki, and the Tibetan
Gendün Chöphel (1903–1951). Buddhist modernism refers to "forms of Buddhism that have emerged out of engagement with the dominant cultural and intellectual forces of modernity." Forces which influenced modernists like
Dhammapala and Yin Shun included Enlightenment values and Western science. A
Neo-Buddhist movement was founded by the influential Indian
Dalit leader
B. R. Ambedkar in the 1950s who emphasized social and political reform. Buddhist modernism includes various movements like
Humanistic Buddhism,
Secular Buddhism, the
Vipassana movement, and
Engaged Buddhism. Chinese
humanistic Buddhism or "Buddhism for Human Life" (Chinese: 人生佛教; pinyin: rénshēng fójiào) which was to be free of supernatural beliefs has also been an influential form of modern Buddhism in Asia.
Sikh philosophy Sikhism is an Indian religion developed by
Guru Nanak (1469–1539) in the
Punjab region during the
Mughal Era. Their main sacred text is the
Guru Granth Sahib. The fundamental beliefs include constant spiritual meditation of
God's name, being guided by the Guru instead of yielding to capriciousness, living a householder's life instead of monasticism, truthful action to
dharma (righteousness, moral duty), equality of all human beings, and believing in God's grace. Key concepts include
Simran,
Seva, the
Three Pillars of Sikhism, and the
Five Thieves.
Modern Indian philosophy ,
Anagarika Dharmapala,
Swami Vivekananda,
G. Bonet Maury.
Parliament of World Religions, 1893 In response to
colonialism and their contact with
Western philosophy, 19th-century Indians developed new ways of thinking now termed
Neo-Vedanta and Hindu modernism. Their ideas focused on the universality of Indian philosophy (particularly Vedanta) and the unity of different religions. It was during this period that Hindu modernists presented a single idealized and united "
Hinduism." exemplified by the philosophy of
Advaita Vedanta. They were also influenced by Western ideas. The first of these movements was that of the
Brahmo Samaj of
Ram Mohan Roy (1772–1833).
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) was very influential in developing the
Hindu reform movements and in bringing the worldview to the West. Through the work of Indians like Vivekananda as well as westerners such as the proponents of the
Theosophical society, modern Hindu thought also influenced western culture. The political thought of
Hindu nationalism is also another important current in modern Indian thought. The work of
Mahatma Gandhi,
Deendayal Upadhyaya,
Rabindranath Tagore,
Aurobindo,
Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya, and
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan has had a large impact on modern Indian philosophy.
Jainism also had its modern interpreters and defenders, such as
Virchand Gandhi,
Champat Rai Jain, and
Shrimad Rajchandra (well known as a spiritual guide of
Mahatma Gandhi). ==East Asian philosophies==