Sunday, August 07, 2016

The six glimpses of the truth

As a high level summary, there are six darshanas of Hinduism, called Shad-Darshanas (glimpse of truth) or Shan-Margams (paths), which accept different Pramaanams (ways of acquiring knowledge).
  1. The Nyaya न्याय Darshana of Gautama Medatithi, Father of logic: Logic, justice, rule or method of reasoning.
  2. The Vaiseshika वैशेषिक Darshana of Kanada कणाद Kasyapa, Father of Atomism: Everything in the material world is comprised of a small indivisible particle (paramaanu: atoms).
  3. The Sankhya सांख्य Darshana of Kapila Kardama: Father of empirism: Everything is Purusha {spirit} & Prakriti {the material world}.
  4. The Yoga Darshana of Patanjali: The practice by which Samkya can be realized. Remove Prakriti through Yoga, realize Purusha. Patanjali's Ashtaanga Yoga {8-limbed Yoga} is a key text. Asanaas {postures} are one of the limbs of Yoga.
  5. The Mimamsa मीमांसा Darshana of Jaimini (also called Purva-Mimasa): The Jivatma are separate from the supreme {Paramatma} & should serve the divine. Many traditions of Bhakthi (devotion) Yoga fall under Purva Mimasa.
  6. The Vedanta वेदान्त Darshana of Badarayana (also called Uttara-Mimamsa): Everything will merge with the supreme. Advaita (non-duality: all is one) is a tradition that follows Uttara Mimamsa.

More philosophers/logicians:
  1. Charvaka-Atheism
  2. Tura Kavaseya-Early founder of Advaita
  3. Dignaga & Dharmakirti-Rigorous Baudhas
  4. Ganesa Upadhyay-Advanced Neo-Logic
  5. Akṣapāda Gautama-Father of both deduction & induction
  6. Pracetasa Manu-Earliest teacher of political philosophy
  7. Visnugupta Kautilya-Father of Economic thought
  8. Pāṇini Dākṣīputra-Father of linguistics
  9. Nāgārjuna-Creator of tetra valued logic
  10. Bhartṛhari-Sphoṭa theory of sound

References:

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