THE "SIX SCHOOLS" OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY

S.ad.darshana, the "Six Schools" or "Six Doctrines" of "orthodox" Indian philosophy are the schools that accept the authority of the Vedas and thus religiously are considered part of Hinduism. Accepting the authority of the Vedas, however, does not mean actually using them. Mîmâm.sâ and Vedânta are specially the schools of interpretation of the Vedas; the other four are based on independent reasoning. "Heterodox" schools, which reject the authority of the Vedas, are found in separate religions, like Buddhism and Jainism, or with the rare, reviled "materialists," whose own texts have all been lost. The treatment follows P. T. Raju's The Philosophical Traditions of India [University of Pittsburgh Press, 1971, p. 35].

1.Mîmâm.sâ, "Interpretation," or Pûrva Mîmâm.sâ, "Prior Interpretation," the School of Interpretation of the Karmakân.d.a, the "action part," or first half, of the Vedas. Mîmâm.sâ originates fairly early, perhaps the 2nd century BC, since it is no more than a extension of the task of explaining the Vedas, a project that started in the Vedas themselves with the Brâhman.as. The doctrine of the eternity of the Vedas was argued by this school, and the theory of karma may have originated here; but it mostly confined itself to promoting the sanctity and power of the Vedas. The school later was practically absorbed into Vedânta.

2.Vedânta, "End of the Vedas," or the Uttara Mîmâm.sâ, "Posterior Interpretation," the School of Interpretation of the Jñanakân.d.a, the "knowledge part," or second half, of the Vedas, i.e. the Forest Treatises and especially the Upanis.ads. Vedânta starts relatively late, since it picks up where the Upanis.ads leave off, and there may be Upanis.ads as late as 200 AD. Vedânta then sets down to interpret its fundamental texts, which include the Upanis.ads, the Bhagavad Gîta, and the Brahma Sûtras of Bâdarâyan.a. The Brahma Sûtras were themselves written in the 1st or 2nd century AD and might be regarded as the first document of Vedânta itself. The variety of schools in Vedânta is indicated elsewhere, but it is worth noting that the influence of Buddhism still seems very strong in the classic expression of Advaita Vedânta in Shan.kara (c.788-820). Later forms of Vedânta became steadily more theistic and dualistic and thus approximated to Islâm rather than to Buddhism.

3.Sânkhya, "Counting, Reckoning, Reasoning, Knowledge," the School of Theoretical Knowledge. Sânkhya may well be the oldest school independent of the Vedas, growing up contemporaneously with the Upanis.ads themselves. It is argued by some that the Bhagavad Gîta was originally a popular exposition of the doctrine of the Sânkhya School, although the text is later dominated by theistic and devotionalistic additions. For our purposes, the salient features of Sânkhya doctrine are the theory of the gun.as, which was later accepted by all orthodox philosophy, and the principle that the self (or soul, the âtman or, in Sânkhya terminology, the purus.a) neither affects nor is affected by the world of nature (called prakr.ti in Sânkhya terminology). Sânkhya was originally atheistic, with an infinite number of souls, like Jainism. In the Gîta we see the role of Sânkhya changing from the theoretical counterpart to Yoga (in Chapter 2) to an independent yoga in its own right, jñanayoga (in Chapter 3). Jñanayoga in effect becomes simply Yoga, as follows; and historically the role of Sânkhya as the theoretical counterpart to Yoga is effectively taken over by Vedânta.

4.Yoga, "Yoking, Vehicle, Equipment, Discipline," the School of the Discipline of Achieving Liberation. The Yoga School is to be carefully distinguished from disciplines that are yogas in the general sense of the word yoga, which is any means of achieving salvation, or a major elements of such means. Thus, there are the three yogas of the Bhagavad Gîta (jñânayoga, karmayoga, bhaktiyoga), which are meant as classifications of all yogas, and also various yogas that are usually part of some higher order yoga: dhyânayoga, meditation (mentioned in the Gîta); hat.hayoga, yogic exercises; prân.ayoga, yogic breathing; aus.adhayoga, taking drugs (not a common or esteemed method); mantrayoga, chanting sacred words or phrases; layayoga, the yoga of "dissolution"; etc. Tantrism employs sexual practices for yogic purposes. The method of the Yoga School in particular is sometimes called Râjayoga, the "royal yoga." The Yoga School based its practice on the doctrine of the Sânkhya School, and the aim of its methods (hat.hayoga, etc.) was to quiet prakr.ti, nature as it exists in the body, so that, like a calm body of water, the body can reflect the true remote and detached nature of the purus.a, effecting liberation. The definitive and most famous statement of Yoga doctrine was in the Yoga Sûtras of Patañjali, perhaps in the 2nd century BC. Patañjali added a personal God to Sânkhya doctrine; but the system is not devotionalistic, and the God exists only as an exemplar of detachment, not as an active or creative Deity after the manner of Vis.n.u or Shiva.

5.Nyâya, "Analysis," the School of Logic, and
6.Vaishes.ika, "Individual Characteristics," the School of Pluralistic Metaphysics, are closely related minor schools. The relation of the doctrine of these schools to salvation is obscure and secondary. They concerned themselves much more with abstract issues of logic, epistemology, and metaphysics. Vaishes.ika in particular held that reality was an infinite number of atom-like entities, although these were then distinct from souls. This pluralism is similar to the teaching of two early schools of Buddhist philosophy, the Sautrântikas and Vaibhâs.ikas, who held that reality consists of an infinite number of momentary entities, the dharmas.