PowerPoint Presentation
Prsented by
Dipu Paul
Dept of philosophy
Nakshalbari College
Topic :
The Schools of Indian Philosophy
According to a traditional
principle of classification, most
likely adopted by orthodox
Hindu thinkers, the schools or
systems of Indian philosophy
are divided into two broad
classes, namely, orthodox
(astika) and heterodox (
nastika) .
Tothe first group belong the six chief philosophical
systems, namely, Mimamsa, Vedanta, Sankhya, Yoga,
Nyaya and Vaisesika. Thses are regarded as orthodox (
astika) , not because they believe in God, but because
they accept the authority of the Vedas .
Heterodox School
Under the other class of hereodox
systems, the chief three are the schools
of the Materialists like the Carvakas, the
Buddhas and the Jainas.
The Vedas
To understand this more clearly, we should know
something regarding the place of the Vedas in the
evolution of Indian thought. The Vedas are the
earliest available records of Indian literature, and
subsequent Indian thought, specially philosophical
speculation, is greatly influenced by the Vedas, either
positively or negatively. Some of the philosophical
systems accepted Vedic authority, while others
opposed it.
Six Orthodox Schools of Indian
Philosophy
The six classical schools are sankhay , Yoga,
Nyaya, Vaishesik, Purva Mimansa and Uttar
Mimansa ( Vedanta).Almost all the Indian
schools of thought accepted the theory of
karma and rebirth, and the ideal of moksha is
conceived as liberation from the cycle of births
and deaths. Moksha / liberation is considered
the highest goal of human struggle.
Sankhya Philosophy
• The Sankhya is a philosophy of dualistic realism,
attributed to the sage Kapila. Sankhya is the oldest
philosophy.
• It admits two ultimate realities, viz, purusa and prakriti,
which are independent of each other in respect of their
existence.
• The purusa is an intelligent principle, of which
consciousness (caitanya)is not an attribute, but the very
essence.
• Prakriti is the ultimate cause of the world.It is an eternal
unconscious principle which is always changing and has
no other end than the satisfaction of the selves.
Sattva,rajas and tamas are the three Constituents of
prakriti.
Yoga Philosophy
• Yoga presents a method of physical and mental
discipline. The sage Patanjali is the founder of the Yoga
philosophy.The Yoga is closely allied to the Sankhaya.It
mostly accepts the epistemology and the metaphysics
of the Sankhaya with its twenty-five principles, but
admits also to the existence of God.
• Yoga presents a practical path for the realization of the
self whereas the Sankhaya emphasizes the attainment
of knowledge of the self by the means of concentration
and the meditation
• Releasing purush from prakriti by the means of physical
and mental discipline is the concept of Yoga.
Nyaya Philosophy
• The Nyaya system is the work of the great
sage Gautama.Nyaya Philosophy states that
nothing is acceptable unless it is in
accordance with reason and experience (
scientific approach).
• It is a realistic philosophy based mainly on
logical grounds.It admits four separate
sources of true knowledge, viz. Perception
(pratyaksa), inference (anumana),
comparison (upamana) and testimony
(sabda).
Vaisesika Philosophy
• The Vaisesika system was founded by the the sage
Kanada also named Uluka.
• It is allied to the Nyaya system and has tge same
end in view, namely, the liberation of the individual
self.
• It brings all objects of knowledge. i.e. the whole
world, under seven categories of susubstan
(dravya)., quality (guna), action (karma), generality
(samanya), particulates (visesa),the relation of rhe
inherence (samavaya),and non-exitence (abhava).
Mimamsa Philosophy
• The Mimamsa ( or Purva-Mimamsa) school was founded by the
Jaimini.
• Its primary objects is to defend and justify Vedic ritualism. In course
of this attempt, it had to find a philosophy supporting the world-view
on which ritualism depends.
• The authority of the Vedas is the basis of ritualism, and the
Mimamsa formulates the theory that the Vedas are not the
works of any person and are, therefore, free from errors
that human authors commit.
• The Mimamsa believes in the reality of the physical world
on the strength of perception. It is, therefore, realistic.
Vedanta Philosophy
•Vedanta ( Uttara Mimamsa) says that the world is unreal, Maya.
•Vedanta is monistic, in other words, it says that there is only one
reality, Brahman.Vedanta lays emphasis on brahmagyan, hence
relies on the upanishad part of the Vedas.
•Vedanta has its roots in Sankhaya Philosophy.
There are three sub-branches for Vedanta :
1 Absolute Monism of Shankara
2 Vishishtha Advaita or qualified monism of Ramanuja
3 Dvaita of Madhva
Three Heterodox Schools of
Indian Philosophy
Schools that do not accept the authority of Vedas
are by definition unorthodox (nastika) systems.
The following schools belong to the heterodox
schools of Indian Philosophy
Carvaka Philosophy
• In Indian philosophy, the word 'Carvaka'
means a materialist.
• The Carvaka holds that perception is the
only valid source of knowledge.
• They point out that all non-perceptual or
indirect sources of knowledge like
inference, the testimony of other
persons, etc.,are unreliable and often
prove misleading.
• The Buddha system of
philosophy arose out of the
teachings of Gautama
Buddha, the well-known
founder of Buddhism.
• Buddhism is a non-theistic
philosophy whose tenets are
non especially concerned
with the existence or non-
existence of God.
Jain Philosophy
• Already in existence by the 6th century B.C, it
was revived by the Mahavira, the 24 Jain
Tirthankara.
• According to Jainism, Nirvana or liberation is
obtained through three jewels : Right Faith,
Right Knowledge and Right Conduct ( Tri-
ratna).
• The Jaina Philosophy is a kind of realism,
because it asserts the reality of the external
world and it is pluralism, because it believes in
many ultimate realities.
• It is atheism as it rejects the existence of God.
Thank you
This Power Point Presentation is solely for
the purpose of classroom teaching and the
content has been taken from books and
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