The Orthodox Schools of Hindu Philosophy
Introduction The concept of salvation is ubiquitous across most religions. The primary goal of all religions is to guide their followers to salvation using specific laws and techniques. In the Indian subcontinent, Hindu philosophy proposes that the Ultimate Truth can be realized by following the six schools of salvation (or, Darshanas ). These schools belong to the orthodox ( astika ) classification because they accept the Vedas as a supreme source of knowledge. Conversely, the heterodox ( nastika ) schools of philosophy reject the Vedas. These include Buddhism, Jainism, Charvaka, and others. In this essay, I have only focussed on the orthodox classification. The Orthodox Schools of Hindu Philosophy Overview of the Six Systems: 1. Nyāya This is the school of logic headed by Gautama. In India, this school flourished in the Nabadwip region of Bengal. Nyāya focuses on the logic to delve in to the root of the problem using sixteen categories namel...