Different schools of thought in Hindu religion by Ram Pai

GITA SITE BLOG: August 15^th, 2018                               Ram Pai

Have happy India Independence Day 

“Excerpted from Bhagvad Gita by Swami Mukandananda, courtesy JKYog, USA, and Bhagvad Gita by Swami Chidbhavananda.

Indian philosophy has historically comprised of twelve schools of thought. Six of these accept the authority of the Vedas, and hence they are called Āstik Darśhans. These are Mīmānsā, Vedānt, Nyāya, Vaiśheṣhik, Sānkhya, and Yog. Within each of these are more branches—for example, the Vedānt school of thought is further divided into six schools—Adavita vāda, Dvaita vāda, Viśhiṣhṭādvaita vāda, Viśhuddhadvaita vāda, Dwaitādvaita vāda, and Achintya-bhedābheda vāda. Each of these has further branches, for example, Advaita vāda is subdivided into Dṛiṣhṭi-sṛiṣhṭi vāda, Avachchheda vāda, Bimba-pratibimba vāda, Vivarta vāda, Ajāta vāda, etc. We will not go into the details of these schools here. Let it suffice for now to know that all these schools of thought accept the vedas as the authority of reference. Accordingly, they all accept the eternal, unchangeable soul as the self. The remaining six schools of Indian philosophy do not accept the authority of the vedas. These are Chārvāk vāda, the four Buddhist schools (Yogāchār vāda, Mādhyamik vāda, Vaibhāśhik vāda, and Sautāntrik vāda), and Jainism. Each of these has its own explanation for the nature of the self. Chārvāka vāda states that the body itself comprises the self (soul), and consciousness is merely a product of the conglomeration of its constituents. Jainism states that the soul is the same size as the body, and hence, it is subject to change from birth to birth. The Buddhist schools of thought do not accept the existence of a permanent soul, and instead maintain that there is a stream of renewed animation from lifetime to lifetime, which ensures continuity of the individual.

Bhagavad Gita is directly from the mouth of Lord. The Mahabharat is divided into eighteen sections. The Bhagavad Gita is set in the sixth section, which is called the Bheeshma Parva. It comprises eighteen chapters of the section, beginning from chapter twenty-five, and continuing until the chapter forty-two of Bheeshma Parva. Since the Bhagavad Gita encapsulates most of the important aspects of the knowledge of the Vedas, it is also called Gitopanishad, or the Gitā Upaniṣhad. The Bhagavad Gita was originally compiled by Ved Vyas as a separate text. Later, when he wrote the Mahabharat, he embedded the Bhagavad Gita in it.

The Vedic scriptures are vast, but three of them have traditionally been called the Prasthān Trayī (three points of commencement for understanding Vedic thought). These are the Upaniṣhads, the Brahma Sūtras (Vedānt Darśhan) and the Bhagavad Gita. You cannot ignore or discard apara vidya or Karm-kāṇḍ of the vedas, this gives you jeevana hethu and takes you closer to para vidya. This, Karm-kāṇḍ, also talks about papa, punya, svarga, naraka. Also deals with purushartha: dharma, artha, kama and Jñāna-kāṇḍ (Vedānta) deals with dharma and moksha only.

Jagadguru Shankaracharya’s commentary on the Vedānt Darśhan (Brahma Sutra) is called Śhārīrak Bhāṣhya, which lays the foundation for the advait-vād tradition of philosophy. Many of his followers, such as Vachaspati and Padmapada have elaborated upon his commentary. Jagadguru Nimbarkarcharya wrote the Vedānt Pārijāta Saurabh, which explains the dwait-advait-vād school of thought. Jagadguru Ramanujacharya’s commentary is called Śhrī Bhāṣhya, which lays the basis for the viśhiṣhṭ-advait-vād system of philosophy. Jagadguru Madhvacharya’s commentary is called Brahma Sūtra Bhāṣhyam, which is the foundation for the dwait-vād school of thought. Mahaprabhu Vallabhacharya wrote Aṇu Bhāṣhya, in which he established the śhuddhadvait-vād system of philosophy.

Here briefly I am going to discuss Dvaita, Viśhiṣhṭādvaita and Advaita put forward by three Acharyas, Madhva, Ramanuja and Shankara.  In these three Vedānt schools of thought, put forward by three acharyas, three categories of Reality are presented to us by them. Jagat or the universe we live in is one category. Jivās or individual souls that live in the universe form the second category. The substratum behind the universe and the innumerable souls is the third category. The third one is repository of all knowledge and power. Not only does IT sustain, but also govern and control the destiny of the jagat and Jivās. Mukti is the goal of all Jivās. This fundamental position is common to all three systems of philosophy. (Paramarthika level). Now let us see the differences at Vyavaharika level.

According to Dvaita, the universe, the individual Jivās and God are three separate and everlasting entities. God rules over the universe and the souls. The souls in their ignorance are entangled in the universe. Through devotion to God and through HIS mercy obtained thereby, the souls are to free themselves from the bondage of the world and attain the realm of God. This state of living with God in Heaven is termed Mukti. There the Jivās are eternally in the presence of their Lord. Their individuality is not lost because of Mukti.

Viśhiṣhṭādvaita literally means ‘qualified non-dualism’. God alone exists, according to it. The cosmos is His body. The Jivās exist as innumerable life-cells in that cosmic body. As the rays of the sun are inseparable from it, the individual souls cannot be separated from God. With the dawn of the intuitive knowledge, Jivās realize that Paramatman (God) is the whole and he an infinitesimal part of it. The attainment of this knowledge leads to emancipation. Complete self-surrender is the means to attainment of this goal. In the state of Mukti the Jivā is ever aware that it is a limb of the Lord.

Advaita literally means non-dualism. What are termed jagat, Jivā and Brahman are not really separate entities. Reality is one without the second. It is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Infinite. It has intrinsic power to manifest itself as the Jagat and Jivā. This inherent power goes by the name of Māyā. Bramhan and Māyā are inseparable. This is the implication of the word Advaita. It is because of ignorance, Jivā fancies that it is separate from the universe and the substratum behind it. With dawn of knowledge this feeling of difference vanishes. The Reality alone exists. In the kinetic state it is Saguna Brahman (conditioned reality), in the static Nirguna (absolute Reality). As the wave subsides into the ocean the individual soul dissolves into the Absolute. This is the emancipation, Jivāna mukti, according to Advaita system of philosophy.

Evidences are available in the scriptures in support of all the three systems of philosophy. Respectfully, Ram Pai 08012018.