Mankind has always contemplated on higher questions of reality, creation, beyond life from the beginning of its existense in a variety of ways. Stability and security paved the way to curiosity and inquiry into various higher dimensions of life. This tradition of inquiry led to the development of various theories of philosophy at different times in different parts of the world.
The word 'Philosophy' literally means 'love of knowledge' and it is regarded as 'Queen' of all knowledge systems by medieval scholars. It dwells on many questions beyond normal human perception and makes an to answer them in all possible ways.
The word 'Philosophy' in Indian context brings scriptures like Bhagvad Geeta, Upanishads, Vedas to one's mind. But is the Indian Philosophy confined only to these? Have the Indian Rishis contemplated on other aspects of Philosophy like the Western or Greek schools?
The Indic term for Philosophy is 'Darshan'.
Originating from the root ' Drsh', the word Darshan means ' to see/perceive' as the study of Darshans gives one a perspective to life. Indian Darshan systems have contemplated on practically all topics of human existence in some form or the other. Cognition, Linguistics, Psychology, Atomism, Health, Aesthetics and much more have been discussed over the long tradition existing for thousands of years.
The Indic tradition attributes Vedas to be at the root of all knowledge systems. But strikingly, we have schools of Darshan which don't hold Vedas as the authority and have conflicting views with Vedas ( Heterodox/ Nastik systems).Orthodox systems (Aastik systems) on the other hand consider Vedas as the supreme authority and are considered to originate from Vedas. There are 6 such schools of Indian Philosophy and their main subject matters are:
1. Nyaya : Cognition, Causation, Reality
2.Vaisheshika : Primordial discussion on Atomism, Matter
3. Sankhya: Creation, 3 gunas, Physical reality etc.
4: Yoga : Mind, Meditation, States of Consciousness
5.Purva-Mimansa: Linguistics, Analysis of Vedas.
6: Uttar-Mimamsa: Liberation, Soul, Metaphysics etc. Bhagvad Geeta and Upanishads are a part of this school.
Contrary to the popular belief, the word Aastik and Naastik in Indic context are meant to signify the ones who consider Vedas to be the supreme authority and the ones which do not. Certain Aastik Darshans don't believe in existense of God (the present day concept of God to be specific), and had full liberty to do so since their advent.
Indian Philosophy has always been a very rich tradition of discussion and contemplation. Considering Indian Darshan to be of a handful of selected scriptures is disregarding this rich tradition of scholars and Rishis. As inquisitive souls of this rich tradition, one needs to realize the benefits of studying these Darshans are way beyond just philosophy and make an attempt to understand their basics.
Dr. Karan Mittal
MBBS, MA (Sanskrit) MA (Clinical Psychology).
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment