Six Vedic philosophical systems – Part 1 

Six Vedic philosophical systems – part 1

At the outset, I would like to recall that I have given the name ‘Sanatana Dharma in simple terms’ to this series with the idea of introducing profound concepts as simply as possible without altering their correct meaning. It is in this spirit of giving a clear correct big picture that I am presenting the following discussion on various philosophical schools of Sanatana Dharma. Readers who want to go deeper can consult the original texts (Sutras) whenever available or other authentic commentaries written by our great acharyas.

What is a philosophical system?

It is a school of thought that answers questions on the nature of Reality, its cause (if any?), the ultimate goal of existence, the nature of this goal, the means to its attainment and so on.

Indian philosophical systems (darshanaas) can be broadly divided into Vedic schools and non-Vedic schools. Vedic schools are those that accept the validity of the Vedas and non-Vedic schools are those that don’t.

• Non-Vedic: Charvaaka, Jainism, Buddhism.
• Vedic: one talks of 6 main systems (shad-darshanaas) – Saankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Poorva Mimamsa, Uttara Mimamsa (Vedanta).

Our presentation will only focus on schools that accept the Vedas, as the Vedas are a valid pramaana (source of knowledge) in Sanatana Dharma (see article 1 of this series). At the end, we will highlight the commonalities among these schools and show how all of them emphasise spirituality as an essential part of life. Just as quick information, Vedanta is the dominant school in current times. It has three major branches – Advaita, Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita. We will elaborate on them later.

Before we go to the Vedic schools, a word on the non-Vedic schools (of Indian origin). I am sure everyone has heard of Buddhism and Jainism and has at least some notions about them. However, the Chaarvaka system may sound new to many. This school represents a materialistic understanding of the world. In this school, Reality is only achit (prakriti or matter). It does not accept the existence of atma (neither jivaatma nor Paramaatma). Hence the purpose of life is enjoyment here and now. One can therefore consider it as an atheistic viewpoint. Thus we see that materialism and atheism have existed in ancient India along with spiritual systems, although spiritual traditions were predominantly prevalent.

Now, let us go through the Vedic schools one by one. We will be brief but at the same time we will need to go into sufficient depth to be able to see the differences between them. Before doing so, we add an important caveat. Many terms are common across different schools, but their nature and content can vary quite a bit. It will therefore be necessary to sometimes forget the previous meaning when we go to the next school. At other times, the same concept with the same meaning is carried over from one school to another. In this case we will have to remember what it meant in the previous school! The reason for all this is that systems of thought have evolved and still evolve over time. The texts may be the same but different acharyas explain the deeper meanings in them according to their own spiritual experiences of the Ultimate Truth which is One and the same. Therein lies the beauty of Sanatana Dharma!

Don’t worry. I will try my best to remind you whenever you are required to remember earlier concepts as well as indicate to you when you need to forget old meanings😊!  

We will go slowly and only examine the first two systems – Saankhya and Yoga – in this article.

Saankhya

This is chronologically the earliest among Vedic schools. Its founder is Kapila Maharishi. Its most important text is Saankhya Kaarikaa written by the philosopher Ishvarakrishna.

Saankhya means “count” or “discriminatory or right knowledge”.

According to this school, Reality consists of only two tattvas (entities) – Prakriti (achit – matter, devoid of consciousness), and Purusha (chit – consciousness). Both are eternal.

Prakriti: has two states – subtle (non-manifest) and manifest. It evolves by itself from one state to another. It contains of 3 substances (dravyaas): sattva, rajas and tamas. The unmanifest Prakriti starts to evolve to become the manifest universe, that is creation happens, when the three substances – sattva, rajas, tamas – are in disequilibrium. Then it evolves into 23 other tattvas. There are therefore 25 tattvas in total (Purusha, Prakriti and its 23 evolutes). We will see the details of these 23 evolutes later when we come to the Vedantaschool. The creation process explains how Prakriti (the primordial matter) becomes the different elements of the material universe. One of the reasons for the name Saankhya is that it provides a clear count of the constitutive elements of the universe (creation). There is no creation when the three substances are in equilibrium.

Purusha: Is vibhu (all pervading, sarvagata), is neither caused, nor causes. It is unchanging and eternal. It stands a witness to evolution. Its proximity to Prakriti, along with some other causal factors, cause the Prakritito evolve. An important causal factor is the disequilibrium among the three substances, as mentioned above.

Saankhya says that the effect (kaarya) of any causal operation such as creation already exists in a latent state in the cause (kaaranam). The effect is made evident (manifest) by the causal operation. This is satkaarya vaada i.e. everything is produced from something that exists (sat), not from nothing (i.e. not from asat, in which case it would be asatkaarya vaada). 

Purusha is inactive, that is devoid of all functions (knowing – jnaatrtva, acting – kartrtva, experiencing – bhogtrtva). It is simply a witness to evolution. The reflection of Purusha on Prakriti makes Prakriti ‘feel’ it is Purusha. This ‘feeling’ occurs in its inner sense organ called the antahkarana (one of the different entities that Prakriti evolves into; we can think of it as mind or intellect in short). Although Prakriti is insentient, it falsely ‘feels’ it can ‘think’ due to its ‘association’ with Purusha. Liberation (kaivalya) happens when Prakriti (that is antahkarana) “realises” that it is different from Purusha and that Purusha has always been independent standing by itself. This is the “discriminatory or right knowledge”, which is another meaning of the term saankhya. 

Yoga

This system was founded by Brahma (Hiranyagarbha). Its fundamental text is the Yoga sutras of Patanjali Maharishi.

There are three fundamental tattvas (Reality principles) in this system. In addition to Prakriti (achit, matter) and Purusha (chit) as in Saankhya, it accepts a third ontological principle called Ishvara – the Supreme Being. Therefore, it is sometimes called Seshvara Saankhya (Saankhya with Ishvara), as opposed to NirishvaraSaankhya which is the previous school. Yoga sutras explicitly mention Ishvara as the Supreme Being free from all afflictions and karma, and symbolised by OM (Shabda Brahman).

The Supreme Being (Ishvara) is the cause of the universe. By Its mere presence by the side of Prakriti (sannidhi maatra), It makes the Prakriti evolve into the different elements of the material universe (same number as in Saankhya). So Ishvara is only the ‘sentient’ cause (nimitta kaarana) and is devoid of kriya or the function of creation.

This school developed a comprehensive practical methodology – yogic saadhana – to be adopted for the realisation of the Self, which is the spiritual goal to be attained. Hence the name yoga is also used to refer to this methodology (as well as the system of thought). There are eight steps to this realisation called ashtanga yoga (eightfold path). The eight steps of ashtanga yoga are yama (ethical and moral conduct), niyama(personal discipline), aasana (postures), pranaayaama (breath control), pratyaahaara (withdrawal of senses), dhaarana (concentration), dhyaana (meditation), and samaadhi. The final step samaadhi consists in the realisation of the atma which is the pure inner soul of each being, free from prakriti or body in this case (that is our jivaatma of article 3). This state is called kaivalya in this system. Ishvara pranidhaana, which is the complete surrender of this atma to Paramaatma (Ishvara) is also part of this final step. Note that the methodology of yoga is significantly more than just the steps involving physical postures and breath control, which it is unfortunately reduced to in many instances. In fact, the steps of ethical conduct and personal discipline go hand in hand with all others and the steps involving concentration of mind and meditation are crucial to spiritual progress leading to the ultimate realisation. The combination of all the steps is what constitutes yoga.

Let us stop here for this article. Please feel free to ask questions.

For readers who are interested in more detailed presentations and comparative evaluations, I am giving below a couple of references in addition to the original texts mentioned above:

1. A descriptive presentation: Dasgupta, S.N., A History of Indian Philosophy, 5 vols., Cambridge University Press, 1922 and Motilal Banarsidass, 1975. Available at archive.org

(e.g. vol.1) https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.8897/page/n7/mode/2up

2. A comparison and a critical evaluation: Chari, S.M.S., Indian Philosophical Schools: A Critical Review based on Vedanta Desika’s Paramata bhanga, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 2011.

Please get in touch with me via “comments” giving your email id, for any further information on references.

Note: Readers can use the following link to quickly find my earlier articles: https://bhogya.online/author/jayalakshmi/

Answers to questions in my article 6 on the law of Karma:

Q: How do we know about the law of karma?

Let us return to the three sources of knowledge mentioned earlier in article 1 : pratyaksham (perception), anumaanam (inference), and shabdam (trustworthy testimony). One can certainly rely on shabdam to understand Karma, since enlightened rishis — the aaptas — have spoken about it at length. Here I would like to introduce a subtlety about the shabda pramaanam. As we said in article 1, it is indeed knowledge obtained through the words of an aaptan, but the knowledge itself is not ‘created’ by her/him. The aaptan just ‘captures’ the ever-existing true knowledge and transmits it to others as it is. That is why Vedas are called apaurusheya(not authored by any purusha – being).

Coming back to the law of karma, pratyaksham may also apply in certain rare cases. Occasionally, individuals claim to recall details of their past lives and share them with others. In some instances, these accounts have been checked and confirmed using reliable evidence. When such verification happens through direct observation, it can be considered knowledge gained through the senses—hence, pratyaksham.

Finally, anumaanam, or inference, can also be used. For example, one might reason that if the Supreme Being is truly impartial, then the unequal conditions into which people are born must have an underlying explanation—such as Karma of previous births.

Q: What is meant by spiritually inferior and spiritually superior births?

‘Spiritually inferior’ means a birth in which the being’s capacity to practice spirituality is limited e.g. an insect. ‘Spiritually superior’ means a birth in which one can freely practice spirituality e.g. a human being, even better, a yogi.