Philosophy is the rational aspect of religion. It is an integral part of religion in India. It is a rational enquiry into the nature of Truth or Reality. It gives clear solutions for the profound, subtle problems of life. It shows the way to get rid of pain and death and attain immortality and eternal bliss.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Ancient philosophy, Ancient philosophy - Classical, Ancient philosophy - Greek, Ancient philosophy - Roman, Ancient philosophy - Schools of thought in the Hellenistic period, Ancient philosophy - Vedic philosophy, Ancient philosophy - Classical Indian philosophy, Ancient philosophy - Old Iranian philosophy, Ancient philosophy - Chinese philosophy

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The six Āstika or orthodox (accepting the authority of the Vedas) schools of Hindu philosophy are Nyāya, Vaisheshika, Sāmkhya, Yoga, Pūrva Mīmāmsā (also called just 'Mīmāmsā'), and Uttara Mīmāmsā (also called 'Vedanta'). The non-Vedic schools are called Nāstika, or heterodox, and refer to Buddhism, Jainism and Lokayata. The schools that continue to enrich Hinduism today are Pūrva Mīmāmsā, Yoga, and Uttara Mīmāmsā. See Hindu philosophy for a discussion of the historical significance of Sāmkhya, N ...

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Hinduism, Hinduism - Core Concepts, Hinduism - The Eternal Way, Hinduism - Basic beliefs, Hinduism - Practice Yoga Dharma, Hinduism - The four objectives Of Life, Hinduism - The four stages of Life, Hinduism - The four classes of the society, Hinduism - Nature of God, Hinduism - Denominations, Hinduism - Hindu sacred texts, Hinduism - Shruti, Hinduism - Bhagavad Gītā, Hinduism - Smriti, Hinduism - Origins and society, Hinduism - Origins of Hinduism, Hinduism - Etymology, Hinduism - Vedic religion, Hinduism - Hindu nationalism, Hinduism - Temples, Hinduism - Current geographic distribution, Hinduism - Hindu philosophy: the six Vedic schools of thought, Hinduism - Pūrva Mīmāmsā, Hinduism - Yoga, Hinduism - Uttara Mimāmsā: Vedānta and its three main schools, Hinduism - Alternative cultures of worship, Hinduism - The Bhakti schools, Hinduism - Tantra, Hinduism - Important symbolism and themes in Hinduism, Hinduism - Tilaka symbol on forehead or between eyebrows, Hinduism - Ahimsa non-violence vegetarian diet and the cow, Hinduism - Hindu symbolism, Hinduism - Murtis icons, Hinduism - Sanskrit, Hinduism - Mantra, Hinduism - Criticism, Hinduism - Hinduism, Hinduism - Related systems and religions

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Knowledge: All knowledge implies four conditions: (i) the subject or the Pramata, the cogniser, (ii) the object or the Prameya, (iii) the resulting state of cognition or the Pramiti and (iv) the means of knowledge or the Pramana.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Short definition of God, Soul And Universe according to Vedic Philosophy.

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The Jiva or the individual soul is enclosed within five sheaths (Kosas), which are like the sheaths of an onion. The five sheaths are food-sheath (Annamaya Kosa), vital sheath (Pranamaya Kosa), mental sheath (Manomaya Kosa), intellectual sheath (Vijnanamaya Kosa) and the bliss-sheath (Anandamaya Kosa).

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Prakriti: Prakriti means that which is primary, that which precedes what is made. It comes from Pra (before) and Kri (to make). It resembles the Vedantic Maya. It is the one root of the universe. It is called Pradhana or the chief, because all effects are founded on it and it is the root of the universe and of all objects.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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The Gunas: Guna means a cord. The Gunas bind the soul with a triple bond. These Gunas are not the Nyaya-Vaiseshika Gunas. They are the actual substances or ingredients, of which Prakriti is constituted. They make up the whole world evolved out of Prakriti. They are not conjoined in equal quantities, but in varying proportions, one or the other being in excess. Just as Sat-Chit-Ananda is the Vedantic trinity, so also the Gunas are the Sankhyan trinity.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Ten celebrated formulae of Vedanta.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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The Universe: The world is evolved with its different elements when the equilibrium in Prakriti is disturbed. The countless Purushas exert on Prakriti a mechanical force which distracts the equipoise of Prakriti and produces a movement. Then the evolution of the universe starts.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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The Purusha or the Self is beyond Prakriti. It is eternally separate from the latter. Purusha is without beginning or end. It is without attributes and without qualities. It is subtle and omnipresent. It is beyond mind, intellect and the senses. It is beyond time, space and causality. It is the eternal seer. It is perfect and immutable. It is pure consciousness (Chidrupa).

The Purusha is not the doer. It is the witness.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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The Jiva is the soul in union with the senses. It is limited by the body. It is endowed with egoism. The reflection of Purusha in the Buddhi or intellect appears as the ego or the empirical soul. It is associated with ignorance and Karma. It is subject to pleasure and pain, action and its fruits, and rotates in the cycle of births and deaths.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Misapprehension (Mithya-Jnana), faults (Dosha), activity (Pravritti), birth (Janma) and pain (Duhkha) constitute the world. False notion or false knowledge is at the root of all misery and pain. From Mithya-Jnana or false notion comes the fault of like and dislike (Raga-Dvesha); from Raga-Dvesha proceeds Karma or action - virtuous or vicious - which forces a man to pass through repeated births for the sake of its reward or punishment. From these births proceed misery and pain.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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The Sixteen Categories: One can remove misapprehension or false knowledge and attain supreme felicity by the true knowledge of the sixteen categories. The sixteen categories are: means of right knowledge (Pramana), object of right knowledge (Prameya), doubt (Samsaya), purpose (Prayojana), familiar instance (Drishtanta), established tenet (Siddhanta), members (Avayava), argumentation (Tarka), ascertainment (Nirnaya), discussion (Vada), wrangling (Jalpa), cavil (Vitanda), fallacy (Hetvabhasa), quibble (Chala), futility (Jati), and occasion for rebuke (Nigraha-sthana).

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Non-acceptance of Isvara or God: The Sankhya system is called Nir-Isvara (Godless) Sankhya. It is atheistical. The Sankhyas do not believe in Isvara. They do not accept Isvara (God). The creation produced by Prakriti has an existence of its own, independent of all connection with the particular Purusha to which it is united. So the Sankhyas say that there is no need for an intelligent Creator of the world, or even of any superintending power.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Theory of Evolution and Involution: The Sankhya adopts the theory of evolution and involution. The cause and effect are the undeveloped and developed states of one and the same substance. There is no such thing as total destruction. In destruction, the effect is involved into its cause. That is all.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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The Process Of Knowledge: An object excites the senses. The mind arranges the sense-impressions into a percept. Egoism refers it to the Self. Intellect forms the concept. It converts the percept into a concept and presents it to the Purusha. Then there is knowledge of the object.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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The Intellect And Its Functions: The intellect or the Buddhi is the most important of all the products of Prakriti. The senses present their objects to the intellect. The intellect exhibits them to the Purusha. The intellect discriminates the difference between Purusha and Prakriti.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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The State of Apavarga or Release: Apavarga, or release, is absolute deliverance from pain. It is freedom from pain. It is cessation of pain. It is not the enjoyment of positive pleasure. It is not annihilation of the self. It is destruction of bondage. Release from the twenty-one kinds of pain or Duhkha is liberation (Moksha

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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The Nyaya and the Vaiseshika: The Vaiseshika and the Nyaya agree in their essential principles, such as the nature and qualities of the Self and the atomic theory of the universe. The Vaiseshika is a supplement to the Nyaya. The Vaiseshika has, for its chief objective, the analysis of experience. It begins by arranging its enquiries under categories (Padarthas), i.e., enumeration of certain general properties or attributes that may be predicated of existing things. It formulates general conceptions, which apply to things known, whether by the senses or by inference, or by authority.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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