Shatdarshana

May 5th, 2011

Hindu philosophy is traditionally divided into six stika (orthodox) schools

of thought, or daranam, which accept the Vedas as supreme revealed
scriptures. The stika schools are:
1. Samkhya, an atheistic and strongly dualist theoretical exposition
of consciousness and matter.
2. Yoga, a school emphasizing meditation, contemplation and
liberation.
3. Nyaya or logic, explores sources of knowledge (Nyya Stras).
4. Vaisheshika, an empiricist school of atomism.
5. Mims, an anti-ascetic and anti-mysticist school of
orthopraxy.
6. Vedanta, the last segment of knowledge in the Vedas, or the
'Jnan' (knowledge) 'Kanda' (section). Vedanta came to be the
dominant current of Hinduism in the post-medieval period.
Of the historical division into six darsanas, only two schools, Vedanta
and Yoga, survive.
The basic information about them is as follows:

School

Author

Beginning Main Book

Nyaya

Gautama

6th
Century
BC

Nyayasutra

Vaisheshika

Kanaad

6th
century
BC

Vaisheshik
Sutra

Sankya

Kapil

6th
century
BC

Sankya
Sutra

Yoga

Maharishi

2nd

Yog Sutra

Patanjali

century
BC

Poorva
Mimansa

Jaimini

4th
Century
BC

Poorva
Mimansa
Sutra

Uttar
Mimansa or
Vedanta

Badrayan or
Maharishi Vyas

4th
century
BC

Uttar
Mimansa
Sutra

Contents [hide]
Nyaya:
Vaisheshika
Samkya
Yoga
Mimansa
Vedanta:

Nyaya:
Literally means recursion. It is based on texts known as the Nyaya
Sutras, which were written by Aksapada Gautam a from around the 2nd
century AD. Nyaya Sutras say that there are four means of attaining
valid knowledge: perception, inference, comparison, and verbal
testimony. Click here to read more about Nyaya Philosophy.
Vaisheshika
It was proposed by Maharishi Kanaad. It postulates that all objects in
the physical universe are reducible to a finite number of atoms. The
school deals in detail with "Padarth" or Matter. Read More Here
Samkya
Samkya or Samkhya means Enumeration. The founder of the Sankya
school of Philosophy was Maharishi Kapil. The school denies the
"existence of God" and postulated that there are two realities Purusha
and Prakriti. Purusha is the consciousness and Prakriti is the phenomenal
realm of matter. Read More Here.

Yoga
Founder of this school of Philosophy was Patanjali. Yuj means "control"
and Yoga also mean to "add". Rja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga,
Bhakti Yoga, and Hatha Yoga are its main branches. The Yogasutras of
Patanjali which mainly postulate the Raj Yoga , date back to Mauryan
Period while Hathayoga was introduced by Yogi Swatmarama. The major
difference between Raj Yoga and Hathayoga is that Raja Yoga aims at
controlling all thought-waves or mental modifications, while a Hatha Yogi
starts his Sadhana, or spiritual practice, with Asanas (postures) and
Pranayama. So Raj Yoga starts from Mind and Hathyoga starts from
Body. Read more here
Mimansa
Mim ansa m eans investigation or enquiry. The primary enquiry is into the
nature of dharma based on close theology of the Vedas. it has two
divisions, Poorva Mimansa and Uttar Mimansa. Uttar Mimansa is treated
as another v edanga "V edanta". The poorva Mimansa was postulated by
Jamini. The ideology of Poorva Mimansa was to counteract the challenge
by Buddhism and vedanta which marginalized the Vedic sacrifices. This
school got momentum in Gupta period and reached its climax in 7-8th
century. Sabara and Kumaril Bhatta were two main interpretators. It was
one of the major forces to decline Buddhism in India , but later itself was
eclipsed by Vedanta. Read more here
Vedanta:
Vedanta means Veda end or the purpose or goal of the Vedas. It was
given by Badrayana or maharishi Vyasa who is one of the 7 chiranjivis
and wrote "Mahabharta". Read more here