Ancient Philosophy of India

Indian philosophy, modes of thinking, and meditation developed by the cultures of the Indian subcontinent. These comprise all mainstream (astika) traditions, including Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva-Mimamsa (or Mimamsa), and Vedanta branches of philosophy, and unorthodox (nastika) traditions, such as Buddhism, Jainism, and many more.

Indian theory struggled with numerous metaphysical questions, including the essence of the universe (cosmology), the existence of truth (metaphysics), science, the essence of intelligence (epistemology), ethics, and philosophy of faith.

Indian Philosophy, or Darshanas in Sanskrit, refers to some of the different forms of philosophical thinking that arose in the Indian subcontinent, including Hindu philosophy, Buddhist philosophy, and Jain philosophy.

The word Indian philosophy can apply to some of the different traditions of philosophy that developed in India. Indian philosophy has a long history of continuous growth in every other intellectual practice, and philosophy includes a broad variety of schools and structures.

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The major branches of Indian philosophy were primarily formalized between 1000 B.C. and the early centuries of the modern period. Competition and integration between the different schools have been extreme during their training years, particularly between 800 BCE and 200 CE.

Indian thought takes an introspective approach to truth, dealing itself with man's inner existence and self rather than with the essence and condition of the outer world. Philosophy pursues self-knowledge (atmavidya); the cornerstone in all branches in Indian philosophy is, "See the Self." 

Ethics and psychology are the primary subjects of metaphysical study. Indian researchers also made significant strides in mathematics and the study of natural science, but these works have been found beyond the area of philosophy.

Theme

Indian philosophy covers a broad spectrum of schools and structures, but they are all distinguished by certain similar themes. Indian thought has been profoundly metaphysical, to conceive of man as divine in nature, and to link him to a sacred or necessary world. This concerns man's divine destiny; even for the materialistic school of Carvaka, material welfare is not the aim of existence.

Most Indian philosophical literature is aimed at fostering spiritual existence or change. About any school of Indian philosophy is also a religious field.

Consistent Period

The stable era of Indian thinking started with the Kushan dynasty (1st–2nd century CE).

Gautama 's, Nyaya-sutras, possibly flourished at the beginning of the Christian period, and his 5th-century theorist, Vatsyayana, laid the foundations of Nyaya as a school almost exclusively concerned with philosophical and epistemological problems.

The Madhyamika "Middle Way" School of Buddhism also regarded as the Shunyavada "Form of Emptiness" Method arose, and Nagarjuna's theoretical work (c. 200), the true promoter of Shunyavada (dialectical thinking), achieved tremendous heights. 

While Buddhist theory had not yet come into existence in the strict meaning of the word, an increasingly analytical rational philosophy model evolved among the adherents of these schools of thinking.

There was a resurgence of Brahmanism in a gentler, more sophisticated type under the rule of the Guptas. Vaishnavism of the Vasudeva religion centered on the prince-god Krishna and encouraging renunciation by practice, and Shaivism, together with Buddhism and Jainism, prospered.

In the Mahayana and the Hinayana ("Lesser Vehicle") and the Theravada ("Way of the Elders"), the schools flourished. The most prominent aspect, though, was the emergence of the Buddhist Yogachara School, in which Asanga in the 4th century BC and his brother Vasubandhu were the true founders.

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Periods

The Vedic Period (1500 B.C.E. – 600 B.C.E.) 

During this time, the expansion and growth of the Aryan culture and society took place.

While not documented in writing until centuries later, the literature of this time consists of four Vedas (Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda), each of which has four parts: Mantras, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads.

The Mantras (hymns), particularly those of the Rig Veda, are the beginnings of Indian philosophy. The Aranyakas and Upanishads are concerned about metaphysical questions.

The Epic period (600 B.C.E. – 200 C.E.) 

This time is distinguished by the spontaneous introduction of philosophic theories by non-systematic literature, such as the Great Epics, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata. This time encompasses the emergence of Buddhism, Jainism, Saivism, and Vaisnavism, and the subsequent beginning of the Orthodox sects of Hinduism.

Throughout this time, several of the Dharmasastras, treaties on ethical and social theory, were collected.

The Sutra Period (after 200 C.E.) 

In this time, the formal treaties of each of the various schools were written, and the structures took their basic forms. The Sutra Era represents the definitive beginning of formal philosophic philosophy. 

A sutra-work consists of a series of short sentences, aphorisms, or questions, with responses, concerns, and potential solutions. The Brahma-sutra of Badaraya, for example, summarizes and systematizes the philosophical teachings of the numerous Vedic works, particularly the Upanishads, and also discusses and addresses both real and potential objections to those beliefs. It is the first comprehensive treatise on Vedanta literature. In the same manner, we have for Mimamsa the sutras of Jaimini, for Nyaya the sutras of Gotama, for Vaisheshika the sutras of India, and for Yoga the sutras of Patanjali.

The Scholastic Period (from the Sutra Period to 17th century)

Because the type of Sutra is by definition short, its definitions have not always been simple. The Scholastic era produced a variety of comparatively useless, unphilosophical discussions, but it also produced plays by some of the greatest Indian thinkers, including Samkara, Kumarila, Sridhara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Vacaspati, Udayana, Bhaskara, Jayanta, Vijnabhiksu, and Raghunatha.

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Classical Indian philosophy can be loosely classified as "traditional" (astika) schools of Hinduism and "heterodox" (nastika) schools.

Orthodox (Hindu) Schools

Hindu Orthodox (Astika) schools of Indian philosophy are those encoded during an era of Brahmanic-Sanskritic scholasticism and take the ancient Vedas as their origins and scriptural authority:-

Samkhya

Samkhya is the oldest of orthodox philosophic frameworks and postulates that everything, in fact, comes from Purusha (self or soul or mind) and Prakriti (matter, creative power, energy).

It is a dualistic theory, but between self and matter rather than between mind and body as in the Western dualistic system, and emancipation comes with the understanding that the spirit and the nature of matter (steadiness, operation, and dullness) are separate.

Yoga

The Yoga School, as stated by Patanjali in his 2nd Century B.C. Yoga Sutras acknowledges Samkhya philosophy and metaphysics, but becomes more theistic, with the introduction of a spiritual being to Samkhya's twenty-five elements of truth. Yoga Sutras are divided into eight ashtangas (limbs).

Nyaya

The Nyaya School is based on the Nyaya Sutras, founded by Aksapada Gautama in the second century B.C.

The theory is based on a logic system that was later embraced by the majority of Indian colleges, in almost the same manner as Aristotelian reasoning shaped Western philosophy.

Vaisheshika

The Vaisheshika school was established by Canada in the 6th century B.C. and is atomistic and pluralistic in nature. The cornerstone of school theory is that all things in the real world are reducible to a finite number of atoms, and Brahman is believed to be the universal force that induces consciousness in these atoms.

Purva Mimamsa

Purva Mimamsa School's key objective is to understand and develop the authority of the Vedas.

This needs unquestionable confidence in the Vedas and the daily execution of the Vedic fire-sacrifices in order to survive all the development of the universe. While Mimamsa typically acknowledges the philosophical and philosophic teachings of the other institutions, they maintain that redemption can only be accomplished by behaving according to the recommendations of the Vedas.

Vedanta

The Vedanta or Uttara Mimamsa school focuses on the philosophic principles of the Upanishads. The Vedanta relies mainly on reflection, self-discipline, and divine integration than mainstream ritualism. 

Heterodox (Non-Hindu) Schools

Schools that do not recognize the authority of the Vedas are, by nature, unorthodox (nastika) structures.

Carvaka

Often identified as Lokayata, Carvaka is a materialistic, cynical, atheistic philosophy of thinking.

The founder was Carvaka, the creator of the Barhaspatya Sutras in the last centuries B.C., but the initial texts have been destroyed and our interpretation of them is mostly focused on a critique of the theories of other institutions. 

Buddhist Philosophy

Buddhist Philosophy is a religious theory founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, an Indian prince later regarded as the Buddha.

Buddhism is a non-theistic religion whose teachings are not especially associated with the presence or non-existence of a deity or deity. The problem of Deity is generally insignificant in Buddhism, while some businesses worship a variety of gods derived from local indigenous belief systems.

Jain philosophy

The Jain Philosophy was developed by Mahavir (599–527 B.C.E.). Anekantavada is a fundamental Jainism concept that truth is viewed differently from various points of view and that no one point of view is completely valid.

The Jain philosophy notes that only Kevalis, all who have achieved absolute wisdom, can learn the full truth and that all those will recognize only a portion of the reality. Anekantavada is linked to the Western theory of subjectivism.

Political Philosophy

Arthashastra, credited to Mauryan Minister Chanakya, is one of the early Indian texts on political theory. This goes back to the 4th century B.C.E. and addresses the concepts of statecraft and economic strategy.

The revolutionary ideology most commonly identified with India is that of ahimsa (non-violence) and Satyagraha, popularized by Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian movement for freedom. This was inspired by Hindu Dharmic Philosophy, The Bhagavata Gita, and Christianity, as well as philosophical works by writers such as Leo Tolstoy, Henry David Thoreau, and John Ruskin. This has inspired the campaigns for freedom and human rights headed by Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr.

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