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Madhurima's Page
V.Madhurima
I Introduction
Man’s glory is not in what he is but in what he makes possible by the study of himself and nature [1]. Philosophy is defined as the study of elements, powers, or causes and laws that explain the facts and existences [2]. Philosophy is subjected to the influence of the race and culture [5] and the practice of religion is nothing but a quest for the facts of inner life [6]. In India philosophy and life are inter-linked and helped to withstand numerous external invasions and internal disturbances [3]. Except for Charvakas who believed that materialistic gains lead to salvation, there was no place for materialistic gains in the Indian thought. Philosophy in India deals with both the cleansing of body and mind a concept well known to Indians. Indeed philosophy in India is Aatma vidya, knowledge of the self and "Aatmaanam Viddhi", know the self, sums up the Indian thought [3].
Although Indian philosophy (Darshana, to see) uses reasoning extensively yet it believes that intuition is the only way by which the ultimate truth can be known because in Indian philosophy truth is not known but realised.
Acceptance of Vedas as source of ultimate knowledge, intuition and inference unifies the various philosophical schools of India. Although all schools use words like avidya, maya, purusha and jiva, their interpretation is given differently [6]. Another common feature of the different schools is in their non-acceptance of the Buddhist philosophy. This is probably because the various schools never tried to overturn the existing social settings where as the Buddhist preachers always spoke against the existing class (varna) system. [3,5]
II Periods of Indian Philosophy
Indian philosophy has always been dynamic. In Rig-Veda the religious thought of the Aryan invaders takes note of the views of the native people. In Atharva Veda vague cosmic gods are added to Gods of nature. Upanishads are realisations of things already said in the Vedas. The Epics are the meeting points of highly philosophical thinking with the early nature worship. Since Indian philosophy has been a dynamic phenomenon, it has periods of similarities based on ideologies followed during that period. Indian philosophy can be broadly classified into
The Vedic Period (1500 BC to 600 BC): Period of Aryan invasion, Vedas and Upanishads. During this period philosophy was in its infancy with a visible conflict between superstitions and thought.
The Epic Period (600 BC to 200 AD): Period of Upanishads, epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata, Buddhism, Jainism, Shaivism and Vaishnavism.
The Sutra Period (From 200 AD):As The philosophical material available during this period was large the Sutras (or rules) were devised as shorthand scheme, since the Sutras by themselves are not intelligible, commentaries were needed. It was in this period that the six systems of Indian philosophy came into existence. It is impossible to ascertain which among the six systems is the oldest since all of them have cross-references to each other. The six Indian systems (had western counterparts)
Nyaya -Aristotle’ peripatetic.
Vaiseshika-Ionian philosophyof Thales.
Samkhya - Italic philosophy of Pythogoras.
Yoga - Stoic philosophy of Zeno.
Purva Mimamsa- Psychagogia of Socrates.
Vedanta- Plato’s philosophy
The Scholastic Period (upto the 16C AD): overlaps with the previous period. Great thinkers like Shankara, Kumarila Bhattar, Ramanuja were seen in this period.
III (a) The Vedic Period
Vedas are the earliest known texts of human thought. The Vedic hymns have three aspects: polytheism (Indra, Varuna etc), monotheism (Brhaspati who represented the unification of the multitudes of gods) and monism (that there is only one supreme force of which all gods are manifestations). The notable feature of the Vedas is the conflict between primitive nature worship and an intellectual thought process trying to identify a supreme force to replace the plethora of gods. Dissatisfaction with dogmatic religion gave rise to the Upanishadic period of deep thought [2].
III (b) Philosophy of the Upanishads
Upanishad literally means secret teaching and form the end portion of the Vedas , called Vedanta. Since the teachings of the Upanishads are difficult to follow many schools of Vedanta arose at a later stage, each giving their own interpretation to the Upanishads. The period of the Upanishads was less scientific and more towards finding a tentative solution to satisfy the human curiosity [3]. There are 108 Upanishads of which 10 commented by Shankaracharya are important. It is not possible to fix the dates of composition of these Upanishads that belong to pre and post Buddhist periods.
The underlying principle of this period was monism. The entire world is a manifestation of the supreme power called Brahman. Brahman is identified as "sachcitananda" (sat+chit+ananda) and is taken to be the ultimate reality. It is thought of as spiritual in nature and everything else in the world exists in and through it. Sat means truth that distinguishes the real Brahman from the non-being, cit means consciousness and indicates a spiritual nature, ananda means peace and refers to an all-embracing character.
III(c) Philosophy of Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita is set as a conversation between Arjuna and Sri Krishna in Mahabharata war. Although Gita is mentioned in Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata, many believe that it is a later addition by the same author since the setting is not congenial to a long conversation but the language and style of the Mahabharata and the Gita are the same. The doctrine of Gita is essentially a theistic one [4].
After the Upanishadic period two schools of thought were prevalent. One was the ideal of renunciation and the other the positive approach of active work. In Gita Krishna advises Arjuna to follow the path of active work (Karma Yoga) with out anticipation of any result. He further elaborates that no work is high or low provided one does the work allotted to him based on his class (Varna). This is the concept of svadharma. Gita further elaborates that the concept of renunciation of the fruit of labour is to cleanse the heart and serve God and not to make living purposeless. Although man is not to expect the results of his deeds, he is responsible for his actions and these determine the kind of life man will live in his next life.
IV Six Systems of Indian Philosophy
The period of Gita set the tone for answers that were scientific. Strenuous attempts were made to justify by reason what faith implicitly accepts [5]. Of the many schools of thought or Darshanas, six became famous. They are Gautama’s Nyaya, Kaanada’s Vaiseshika, Kapila’s Samkhya, Patanjali’s Yoga, Jaimini’s Purva Mimasa and Badarayana’s Uttara Mimamsa (or Vedanta).
The six different systems of Indian philosophy have common ideas. All systems accept the existence of a real and immortal soul, distinct from the material body. They believe in the transmigration of soul from one body to the other ,concept of life-death cycles. All systems except Purva Mimamsa aim at the practical achievement of salvation. They believe in jivanmukti (liberation of life from the life-death cycle) achieved by knowledge and not death.
IV (A) Nyaya
The oldest existing book on Nyaya is the ‘Nyaya sutra" by Gautama, is based on the theme of knowledge and logical analysis. Perception, inference, comparison and testimony are accepted as the means of knowledge [5].
Nyaya accepts the plurality of souls. When this inherent, permanent and unconscious soul comes in contact with sense organs it acquires intellectual, discretionary or emotional qualities. Only by deep logical analysis based on philosophical knowledge and dissolution of doubt and ignorance, man can be liberated from the life-death cycle.
Nyaya is based on:
1.Pramana - Means to acquire knowledge.
2.Prameya - Object of knowledge.
3. Samshaya - Doubt.
4. Prayojana - Purpose.
5. Drstanta - Illustrative example.
6. Siddhanta - Conclusion
7. Avayava - Constituents of a syllogism.
8. Tarka - Hypothetical argument.
9. Nirnaya - Ascertaining the truth.
10. Vada - Discussion.
11. Jalpa - Disputation.
12. Vitanda - Refutation.
13. Hetvabhasa - Fallacy in the cause.
14. Chala - guile.
15.Jati - casuistry
16.Nigrasthana- Vulnerable point of opponent’s statement [7]
Nyaya believes in the existence of a supreme God who initiates the process of world creation. Gautama defines liberation as the absolute freedom from pain. In liberation there is no feeling of bliss because soul does not have the inherent characteristics of cognition. In this state of liberation there is activity but no selfish activity in which pleasure and happiness are present but pain is absent.
IV (B) Vaiseshika
Nyaya and Vaiseshika are considered sister philosophies. The earliest extant book of Vaiseshika (vishesha = particularity) is the "Vaiseshika Sutra" by Kanada. Vaiseshika proposes the atomic nature of the world i.e. the world consists of invisible eternal atoms (earth, water, light and air) which are incapable of further division.
The system categorises all objects of valid knowledge or padartha into six:
Dravya (Substance)
Guna (Quality) possess real objective experience
Karma (Action)
Samanya (Generality)
Visesa (Particularity) inferred
Samavaya (Inherence)
The commentators of the Sutras accept a seventh category called abhava (non-existence). According to Vaiseshika reality consists of substances which possess qualities and there are nine such substances namely earth, water, light, air, ether, time, space, soul and mind.
Existence of soul is inferred because consciousness cannot reside in the body or sense organs but the all-pervading soul resides where the body is. The plurality of souls is inferred from their differences in status and conditions and it experiences the consequences of its deeds. Kanada does not mention God but the later commentators felt that God produced the unchangeable atoms.
IV (C) Samkhya
Samkhya is considered to be the oldest among the philosophical systems dating back to about 7c BC. Kapila, the author of ‘Samkhya Sutra", is considered to be the originator of this system. The "Samkhya Karika" of Ishwarakrishna is the earliest available text on Samkhya dating to about 3c AD. Samkhya’s name is derived from root word Samkhya (enumeration) and is reflective than authoritative. Well-known commentaries are Gaudapada’s bhasya, Vacaspati Misra’s Tattwa-kaumudi, Vijnanabhiksu’s Samkhya-pravacanbhasya, and Mathara’s Matharavrtti.
The Samkhya system proposes the theory of evolution (prakriti-purusha) that is accepted by all other systems. The purusha (soul) of this system is unchanging and is a witness to the changes of prakriti. Hence the Samkhya system is based on dualism wherein nature (prakriti) and conscious spirit (purusha) are separate entities not derived from one another. There can be many purushas since one man can attain enlightenment while the rest do not, whereas prakriti is one. It is identified with pure objectivity, phenomenal reality, which is non-conscious.
Prakriti possess three fundamental natures; (1) The pure and fine Sattva (2) the active Rajas and (3) the coarse and heavy Tamas. Sattva accounts for thought and intelligibility, experienced psychologically as pleasure, thinking, clarity, understanding and detachment. Rajas accounts for motion, energy and activity and it is experienced psychologically as suffering, craving and attachment. Tamas accounts for restraint and inertia. It is experienced psychologically as delusion, depression and dullness.
The conscious Purusha excites the unconscious Prakriti and in this process upsets the equilibrium of the various gunas. According to Samkhya there are twenty-five tatvas which arise due to the union of purusha and prakriti. Their union is often described as the ride of a lame man with perfect sight (purusha) on the shoulders of a blind person of sure foot (prakriti). Their process of evolution is as given below and it accounts for the different tatvas. In Samkhya creation is the development of the different effects from mulaprakriti and destruction their dissolution into mulaprakriti.
Samkhya is essentially atheistic because it believes that the existence of god cannot be proved. Prakriti, the cause of evolution of world, does not evolve for itself but for Purusha-the ultimate consciousness. The self is immortal but due to ignorance (avidya) it confuses itself with the body, mind and senses. If avidya is replaced by vidya the self is free from suffering and this state of liberation is called kaivalya. Yoga is the practical side of Samkhya.
IV (D) Yoga
Philosophy requires a pure body and a pure mind. Yoga is the way to achieve this. Samkhya denies the presence of god whereas in Yoga the ultimate unchanging perfect Purusha is termed god and if meditated upon he takes other purushas towards salvation. Yoga is an ancient system; in fact the excavations from Indus Valley civilisation show some yogic postures. Patanjali’s Yogasutra is regarded as the main source of codification of yoga.
The word Yoga has a variety of meanings; it means method (BG), Yoking (RV), conjunction of the individual and the supreme soul (Yajnavalkya). Yoga is the methodical effort to attain perfection through the practical control of different physical and psychical elements of human nature. It gives the methods by which the body and the mind can be made to achieve vidya and hence jivanmukthi. Buddhi of Samkhya replaced by Chitt in Yoga, which undergoes modifications when in contact with the senses.
Yoga’s physiology is based on a network of about 7000 Nadis (small nerves). According to Yoga the human body consists of two parts, the upper body (torso, arms and head) and the lower body (legs and feet). The centre of the human body lies at the base of the cerebro-spinal (Brahmadanda or Merudanda) column. This Merudanda has six plexus (chakras) which are the invisible to the human eye but are visible through yoga. The body is considered to be the instrument for the expression of spiritual life. In this system the physical world is not treated as unreal, instead methods to overcome the hindrances caused by the manifest world are given. There are eight such methods namely
Yama abstention External aids
Niyama observance
Aasana posture
Pranayama breath control
Pratyahara withdrawal of senses
Dhaarana contemplation Internal aids
Dhyana fixed attention
Samadhi concentration
Yama and Niyama are the ethical preparations necessary for the practice of Yoga. To be seated comfortably is described in Aasana. (Sthiram Sukham Aasanam). The perfect aasana is such that the body has beauty, grace, strength and hardness. The next is breath control (pranayama) which Patanjali mentions as an optional measure since serenity of mind may be attained by cultivation of virtues or by regulation of breath.
Withdrawal of the senses and shutting of the mind to external influences (pratyahara) helps man in introspection. These five are considered to be accessories to Yoga and not themselves elements in it [5]. Dhaarana is fixing the mind (chitt) on a particular spot. Dhyana is the resultant state of undisturbed mind. Samadhi is the condition to be passed through before attaining jivanmukthi.
IV (E) Purva Mimamsa
Purva Mimamsa is earlier (purva) to Uttara (later) Mimamsa in a logical sense. By the Sutra period the Vedas were beginning to lose their glory in public opinion hence some scholars began to reanalyse the Vedas in order to defend them and justify Vedic ritualism. Mimamsa is to investigate Dharma (duty) as given in the Vedas. The Purva Mimamsa is practical than speculative. Jaimini’s Mimamsa Sutra ‘s date is probably 4c BC. Sabara’s commentary on Mimamsa Sutra is the earliest extant commentary. Kumarila, a vigorous exponent of Brahminical orthodoxy commented on Mimamsa Sutra and its Bhashya.
Jaimini accepts perception, inference and testimony but rejects intuition. He also believes that there is a connection between an act and its result since an act performed today cannot give rise to a result later, it does not give rise to some unseen result before passing away. He calls this unseen force as Apurva. Apurva is the metaphysical link between work and its result. He is unwilling to trace the origin of result to God’s will since one cause cannot give multiple results.
Moksha (liberation) in Purva Mimamsa is in heaven. Purva Mimamsa gives a way to heaven but not freedom from Samsara (daily life). Since the way to liberation is defined and it is set as a goal, Purva Mimamsa goes beyond being a commentary on the Vedas to being a Darshana. It was the later philosophers of this system who brought about the change. The Purva Mimamsa was an unsatisfactory system of philosophy [5], which could neither explain the working of the universe nor god. Utmost importance was given to sacrifices and rituals.
IV (F) Uttara Mimamsa (Vedanta Sutra)
The Vedanta philosophy is important both for its philosophical views and its close connections with the existing Hinduism. Uttara Mimamsa (also called Vedanta Sutra or Brahma Sutra) of Badarayana deals with the Brahman doctrine. It consists of 555 sutras, each with two or three words. The sutras them selves are unintelligible and leave the interpretation to the reader and hence there are varied commentaries on the Vedanta Sutra. The chief commentators are Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhava, Nimbraka and Vallabha.
The Vedanta Sutra has four chapters. The first deals with the theory of Brahman and its relation to the world. The second chapter discusses the objections raised by other systems against this view. The third chapter discusses the methods by which Brahma Vidya can be attained. The fourth chapter deals with the results of Brahma Vidya. Badarayana’s view on God is that of monism. The two main commentaries of Shankara and Ramanuja are discussed below.
IV (Fa) Advaita Vedanta of Shankara
The main exponent of advaita philosophy was Shankaracharya (8c AD). He could understand the philosophy of the Vedas by the age of eight [5] and lived to an age of 32 by when he established four main monasteries in India, commented upon the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita and composed many philosophical works.
Advaita literally means non-dualism and is based on the Upanishads, Brahma Sutra and Bhagavad Gita. Advaita asserts that the real self (jiva) is Brahman who is nirguna (attribute-less), nishkriya (activity-less), nir-avayava (without parts) nirupadhika (unconditional absolute) and nirvisesha (simple, homogeneos entity). The world is a manifestation of this Brahman and hence much importance is given to the Upanishadic statements like tat tvam asi (thou art that) and aham brahmasmi (I am Brahman).
Brahman is the reality behind the world and is also the Antaryami (the inner dwelling one). Liberation (moksha) is to understand that the inner self is the real Brahman. This is not a mere intellectual exercise but depends on the experiences of the person. Although the world according to Advaita is monistic the real world perceived by man is dual. This discrepancy is attributed to the presence of Maya (illusion) or Adhyasa (superimposition) and absence of knowledge. Just as a man looking at rope mistakes it to be a snake (rajju-sarpa bhranthi), similarly there is no real world; it is the absence of knowledge that makes man to assume the existence of one.
The root meaning of the word Maya is "extraordinary and inexplicable power"; and in Shankara’s Vedanta the term refers to the creative power of Brahman to issue forth in self-manifestation as the phenomenal world. Hence Maya and the world according to Shankara are neither real nor unreal.
Vivartavada, the philosophy that this world of variegated forms is an illusion and that the individual atma (soul) is one with God, was taught by Shankara. Here a higher reality is visible as a lower one and the cause produces the effect without undergoing any change itself. For example the same clay (Brahman) takes form of pots and toys (the variety of beings in the world) without changing its true nature.
On the practical side Advaita prescribes Yoga and Karma-sanyasa as the methods to achieve moksha. It is with the help of reasoning that avidya can be removed and liberation when alive (jivanmukthi) can be attained. Man then realises that the entire world is the manifestation of Brahman
Brahma Satya Jagan Mithya Jivo Brahmaiva Naparajh.
IV (Fb) Vishista Advaita of Ramanuja
Ramanuja is the 11c AD founder of Vishista-advaita Vedanta (qualified monistic Vedanta) who maintained that God himself is composed of parts; individual souls and physical world comprise the body of God. Ramanuja unified a personal theist god with the single universal god of monism. This unification made the system popular among the common folk.
The sources for Ramanuja’s philosophy are twofold
The Sanskrit Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas
The Tamil spiritual literature which have Vedic and non-Vedic Ideas.
Ramanuja recognises three factors
Achit: matter which has no conscious
Chit: Soul or those which have life and can experience
Ishvara: God
Chit and Achit are dependent on Ishvara. Chit, Achit and Ishvara are distinct but their organic unity is accepted.
Ramanuja’s Vishista Advaita consists of a seven-fold path
Viveka abstention
Vimoka freeness of mind
Adhyasa repetition
Kriya works
Kalyana virtuous conduct
Anavasada freedom from dejection
Anuddharasha absence of exhalation
Ramanuja’s philosophy does not accept jivanmukthi. According to Ramanuja Moksha is liberation from the fetters of Samsara by seeking the rescuing love of God and the first step towards this is Nish-Kama-Karma i.e. practice of duty for duty’s sake with out seeking for any pleasure from it and by this man has no bondage to the body. This paves the way for realisation of the soul. Karma Yoga hence becomes Jnana Yoga by following Bhakthi Yoga. Ethical religion hence gets transformed to religious philosophy.
V Influence of some branches of Indian philosophy on Arts
Samkhya: We have previously seen how Samkhya classifies various qualities into Satvik, Rajasik and Tamasik. This form of classification is found in Kathakali dance form. Since this dance form depicts countless characters, each with their own qualities, classification into the three gunas becomes important. Some characters have intermediate qualities. The Satvik characters are painted green to symbolise the inner refinement and moral excellence. The gait is graceful. The Tamasik characters (like demons) are painted black and have harsh movements and make loud noises.
Yoga: Just as in yoga all Indian art forms are methods of self-realisation and not of entertainment. To achieve this controlled internalisation of senses (pratyahara) is of immense consequence. On achieving this internalisation the artist experiences the full content of life and this is the model form which he expresses through his art.
Vishistadvaita: In Indian dances the Nayika (mortal soul) yearns to be united with her Nayaka (God) and this follows the concept of Bhakti marga prescribed by Vishistadvaita.
VI Conclusion
Although Indian Philosophy is ancient it has always been dynamic. There has been place for theism and atheism, for the intelligentsia and the common man, for physical and mental development. The numerous schools of philosophy follow similar principles and ideas and have been responsible for the stability of the nation over millennia. As Kautilya’s saying goes " Philosophy is the lamp of all sciences".
VII References
The world religious reader. Sri Aurobindo, Routledge, London and NY.
The new international Webster’s Pocket Dictionary of the English Language.
Indian Philosophy, Vol.1. S.Radhakrishnan, Oxford university Press, Delhi. (General Reference).
Swami Ranganathananda, Ramakrishna Math.
Indian Philosophy, S.Radhakrishnan.
Diploma in Indian art: II year Paper1 "the spiritual basis of Indian arts and aesthetics" Nalanda Dance Research Center.
http://www.jiva.org/Culture/Metaphysics%20Center/nyaya.htm
Abbreviations used
BG Bhagavad Gita
RV Rig Veda
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