Lecture 4: Introduction to Hindu Philosophy

Question 1

What type of world system was well established in the Upanisads?

Answer 1

• In the Upaniṣads the notion of a triple world system (Tri-loka) was well established.
  1) World of the gods, heaven (svar), or the deva-loka
  2) World of the ancestors, atmosphere (bhuvaḥ) or the pitṛ-loka
  3) The human world, earth (bhūr) or manuṣya-loka.

Question 2

What type of world system was believed during the Puranas?

Answer 2

• By Puranic period (4th century CE), this system was greatly elaborated with many variations.
• Purāṇas (“tales of old”) texts that contain the bulk of Hinduism’s rich mythology.
• The Viṣṇu Purāṇa describes the universe as made up of seven lokas (worlds), and seven netherworlds (tala).
• Common for Tri-loka to refer to the upper worlds, the earthly world, and the underworlds.

Question 3

What general belief is shared by most Hindus about the cosmos?

Answer 3

• No particular model of cosmos that is universally shared by most Hindus.
• General belief in: multiple worlds (including heavens and hells), populated by a range of beings.
• Universe is finely structured, well ordered, integrated system.

Question 4

What is a recap/summary of the vedic period including the primary texts, what the vedic religion centered and the main deities (1500- 800 BCE)?

Answer 4

• Primary text: Vedas consisting of 4 collections.
• Vedas regarded as śruti - divinely perceived by/revealed to the ṛṣis. Texts composed orally and transmitted through memorization.
• Vedic religion centered on hymns (praising and petitioning the gods) and sacrifice.
• Not preoccupied with an afterlife – goal is a good life in the here and now.
• Gods: Agni, Indra, Soma, Varuna, etc.
• Rituals/sacrifices performed for those good things but also to maintain cosmic order.

Question 5

What is a recap/summary of the Upanisadic period (800-400 BCE)?

Answer 5

• Upaniṣads - philosopical texts.
• Reformulation of notions of sacrifice – internalization.
• Emergence of karma, saṃsāra and mokṣa.
• Liberation required transforming experiential wisdom of the nature of Brahman and ātman.
• Attained only through renunciation.

Question 6

Who were the wandering philosophers?

Answer 6

• By 6th century BCE – rise of philosophical movements
• Challenged values upheld by Brahmin orthodoxy. Values – maintaining cosmic order through regular performance of sacrificial rites; held Vedas to be divinely revealed teachings that could not be questioned.
• Wandering philosophers (śramaṇas) – led nomadic lifestyles.
• • Intent on discovering the meaning of existence.
• • Rejected social norms; questioned the social structure; critical of sacrifice (particular ones that required animal offerings) and the expense of large rituals.
• Ascetics were in existence from early Vedic period.
• Associated with mortification of the body, consumption of consciousness-altering substances, viewed as powerful.

Question 7

What were the heterodox schools labelled as?

Answer 7

Gained membership from the kṣatriya and vaiśya varṇas – these groups were labelled nāstika (heterodox).

Question 8

What were the orthodox schools labelled as?

Answer 8

labelled as āstika (orthodox) – did not dispute the status of the Vedas or the configuration of the varṇas system.

Question 9

What does Darsana mean?

Answer 9

Darśana (viewpoint/perspective) used to designate these religio-philosophical systems

Question 10

What is Jainism?

Answer 10

• Founded by Mahāvīra (599 BCE – 476 BCE) (the 24th in a lineage of teachers).
• Was a renouncer who reached the highest state of realization.
• Became known as the Jina (Conqueror).
• Characterized by a strong emphasis on non-violence.
• • Special care to avoid killing small creatures.
• • Each being possesses an eternal, omniscient soul.

Question 11

Why is Jainism considered heterodox?

Answer 11

• Refutes the status of the Vedas.
• Rejects the authority of Brahmins.
• Rejects caste.
• Highly against all forms of fire sacrifice.

Question 12

What is Buddhism?

Answer 12

• Began with the teachings of Siddhārtha Gautama (c. 6th- 4th centuries BCE).
• Claimed he had reached the highest state of self-realization began teaching and amassing disciples.
• • Formed a monastic organization of renouncers.
• • Had support from local kings and wealthy merchants.
• • Thrived for a period.
• By 16th century CE Buddhism had almost disappeared from India.
• • Underwent a revival in the earth 20th century.
• • Grew through conversion of thousands of Dalits/ Untouchables

Question 13

Why was Buddhism considered heterodox?

Answer 13

• Encouraged renunciation at any stage of life.
• Accepted members from all varṇas and women.
• Taught that a true Brahmin was one whose lifestyle embraced a rigorous dispassion and who possessed a deep wisdom.
• Did not support unquestioning faith in any scripture.
• Doctrine of “no-self” - no eternal, unchanging Absolute Self or reality.

Question 14

What is Carvaka? and why is it heterodox?

Answer 14

• Means “sweet-voiced.”
• Also known as Lokāyata (“Way of the Masses.”)
• Materialism: insistence on joyful living; only matter exists.
• Rejects karma, reincarnation, deities, the idea of a permanent, enduring soul and the afterlife.
• Nature of the self is simply as one is currently experiencing it.
• Goal of existence = maximize happiness and minimize sorrow.
• Promotes a lifestyle grounded in engagement with the best this life has to offer.

Question 15

What are the 6 orthodox philosophies?

Answer 15

• sankhya
• yoga
• nyaya
• vaisesika
• Mimamsa
• Vedanata

Question 16

What does Sankhya mean, when did it develop and who is considered to be the founder?

Answer 16

• Sāṅkhya (“calculation” or “enumeration”)
• Main developments occurred 1st century – 11th century CE
• Origins attributed to Kapila – sage that may have lived in the 6th or 7th century BCE

Question 17

What did Sankhya attempt to do and what two components make up reality?

Answer 17

• Attempts to list the various components that make up reality.
• Dualistic philosophy – reality is composed to two types of entities
• • Puruṣa – pure, supreme consciousness, the true Self.
• • Prakṛti – nature or materiality.

Question 18

What is Prakrti?

Answer 18

• Cause of the material world.
• Composed of three guṇas (qualities)
• • Sattva guṇa – luminosity, clarity, or purity.
• • Rajas guṇa – passion and activity
• • Tamas guṇa – inertia, dullness, or opacity.
• The presence of Puruṣa causes Prakṛti to become immanent – it undergoes a series of transformations through which the world comes into being.

Question 19

What is Tattvas?

Answer 19

• components or elements

Question 20

How many elements is Prakti manifested in?

Answer 20

• Prakṛti is manifested in 23 different elements.
• First is buddhi (“intelligence”)/mahat (“the great”) – the capacity to discriminate between things.
• Next is ahaṅkara (the ego) – generates a sense of self. Ego has three aspects – the three gunas. From each aspect something evolves.
• Sattva – arises the manas (mind); the 5 organs of perception; the 5 organs of action.
• Tamas – subtle elements of nature – ether, air, fire, water, earth; sound, touch, color, taste, and smell.
• Rajas aspect – provides the energy for this process.

Question 21

What were the teachings of the Sankhya Orthodox school?

Answer 21

• Buddhi (intelligence) must fucntion at its highest capacity – this allows it to discern the workings of ego and its mistaken identifications.
• Eventually ego stops its flawed activities.
• Buddhi must recognize that it too is not the true observer and once it does it stops functioning.
• The elements of Prakṛti are integrated- it returns to its unmanifest state
• This is “only-ness” or isolation, kaivalya = mokṣa.
• Puruṣa and Prakṛti is all that is real.
• The true self, Puruṣa was never really in bondage, or enmeshed with Prakṛti.
• Only the conditional self, produced through the manifestations of Prakṛti that was fraught with suffering as a result of delusions and false identifications.

Question 22

What is the Yoga orthodox philosophical school?

Answer 22

• Yoga – the physical and mental discipline through which the practitioners “yoke” their spirit to the divine.
• Practitioners known as yogi/yogin or yoginī.
• Classic yoga text is the Yoga Sūtra (2nd century CE) attributed to Patañjali.
• Non-theistic – Īśvara (the Lord) does exist but is vastly different from god in theistic traditions.
• in Other Yogic formulations – Īśvara begins to take on a more theistic flavor

Question 23

How does Patanjali define yoga?

Answer 23

• Patañjali defines Yoga as the ending of the whirling of thought (citta) – the activites of the mind, ego and intelligence need to stop to achieve Yoga (both the practice and the goal).
• • mokṣa, or kaivalya (aloneness) is achieved.

Question 24

What are the 8 limbs of classical yoga, in general?

Answer 24

System of moral, mental and physical discipline and meditation with a particular object (physical or mental) as the single point of focus.

Question 25

What are the 8 limbs of classical yoga (list them)

Answer 25

1) Yama (restraints) – not-harming (ahiṃsā), not lying, not stealing, chastity, and non-possession. Ethical principles – bring calmness to the mind, making it fit for meditation.
Observed at 3 levels: thought, word, and deed.
2) Niyama (observances) – cleanliness (internal and external purity), contentment, austerity, self-study, and an effort to make Īśvara the focus of one’s activities.
3) Āsana – posture – steady and relaxed
4) Prāṇāyāma – regulation of vital energy – regulated breathing/control over movement of air within the body is necessary for vitality and concentration.
5) Pratyahara - sense withdrawal - detach mind from external stimuli.
6) Dhāraṇa – concentration; ability to focus on singular mental phenomenon.
7) Dhyāna – meditation.
8) Samādhi – absorption into and union with the divine.
Various stages but ultimate stage is complete emancipation from saṃsāra.

Question 26

Describe the orthodox philosophical school Nyaya

Answer 26

Nyaya- the school of logic

• Founder: Gautama
• Date: Slightly prior to 2nd century CE
• Core text: Nyāya-sūtra.
• Belief in Īśvara/Paramātman: Yes
• On the self (ātman): Two types – the self and Īśvara / Paramātman.
• Valid means of knowing: perception, inference, testimony, comparison.
• Nyāya places importance on experience, sensory or supersensory, in validating a truth claim.
• • empirical observations (made with the senses) and intuitive liberative insights gained through meditative practices.

Question 27

Describe the orthodox philosophical school Vaiśeṣika

Answer 27

• A proto-science concerning itself with the study of seven categories of reality.
• Founder: Kanada
• Date: 200 BCE and beginning of the CE.
• Core text: Vaiśeṣika-sūtra
• Belief in Īśvara/Paramātman: Yes
• On the self (ātman): Two types – the self and Īśvara / Paramātman.
• Valid means of knowing: perception, inference.
• Liberation: obtained through right knowledge of reality. 2 valid sources of knowledge

Question 28

Describe the orthodox philosophical school: Mīmāṃsā –

Answer 28

• The School of Vedic Rituals
• Founder: Jaimini
• Date: approx. 2nd century BCE.
• Core text: Pūrvā Mīmāṃsā Sūtra
• Focused on investigating and reflecting upon the meaning within Vedic scripture.
• Vedas are believed to constitute unquestionable truth so it seeks to explain the value of ritual and dharma explained within them.
• Sacrifice is to be done because the Vedas say it should be done - dharma is obedience to these injunctions.

Question 29

What was the most influential system of Indian Philosophy?

Answer 29

Vedanta (“end of the Vedas”)

Question 30

What does the vedanta school focus on?

Answer 30

• Focuses on the study and understanding of the Upaniṣads.
• Vedānta is a school of speculative philosophy.
• Divergent interpretations within the Vedānta school – primary points of departure are interpretations of the nature of Brahman, relation between Brahman and the world, the self, and moksa.

Question 31

What are the two well known vedanta schools?

Answer 31

• Advaita Vedānta (nondualism) of Śaṅkara

- Rāmānuja’s Viśiṣṭādvaita (qualified non-dualism).

Question 32

What is the Adavita Vedanta school of Sankara?

Answer 32

• philosophy of sankara (8th or 9th century)
• • founded the monastic system for Hindu renouncers
• • wrote commentaries on Upanisads, the Bhagavad Gita, and other texts
• Adavita Vendata- radical nondualism- proposes that there is only one thing that is absolutely real = Brahman
• Brahman is indivisible
• Brahman is nirguna
• the essential nature of Brahman is sat (being or existence), cit (consciousness), and ananda (bliss)
• one’s true self (atman) is identical to Brahman
• why do we experience a personal self and perceive the world full of separate things?
• Maya = ignorance
• so is this an attribute or quality of Brahman? how can this be? (rope and snake)

Question 33

What is the story of the rope and the snake?

Answer 33

• “A man walks at night along a path. He sees a poisonous snake barring his way and turns and runs in the opposite direction. As he returns along the same path in the morning, he finds a coiled rope on the ground. He realizes that in the darkness, he mistook the coiled rope as a snake and it dawns on him, in the dark it is hard to see reality as it truly is. In the light of day, we see more clearly.”
  As long as the illusion persists it creates effects, in this case fear.
• Once, in the light of day, the illusion is penetrated, the snake vanishes revealing the substrate upon which it was superimposed.
• Māyā’s illusions are superimposed on Brahman – this vanishes when one attains liberating knowledge.
• Māyā is not fully real – its illusions are grounded in ignorance of Brahman.
• Also not fully unreal since they have the power to cause us to feel and act.

Question 34

What is Ramanuja’s Qualified non Dualism?

Answer 34

• 11th or 12th century South Indian philosopher.
• Trained in Śaṅkara’s Advaita philosophy – gravitated towards a theistic and devotionally based approach to religion.
• Non-dualistic – upholds one Absolute Reality = Brahman.
• Qualified – meaningless to comprehend, relate to, or speak about a Nirguṇa Brahman.
• • Māyā is real, Brahman is Saguṇa.
• • Brahman is Īśvara (the Lord, or “God”) and may be called Nārāyaṇa (i.e., Viṣṇu) with his consort, Śrī (i.e., Lakṣṃī).
• • Theistic non-dualism.
• Ātman not identical with Brahman – shares some qualities.
• Liberation – individual self does not merge with Brahman, retains its distinctness– is with the Lord.
• Bhakti is highest path – complete surrender to the divine required – liberation achieved through the Lord’s grace.

Question 35

What are the two branches of Ramanuja’s Qualified non Dualism?

Answer 35

Two branches:
- Vadagalai or Northern School – “monkey school” – active surrender on the part of the devotee.
Devotees should engage in various religious activities to be freed from karma and obtain grace.
- Teṅgalai or Southern School – “kitten school” – human action has no effect on God’s grace.
To “do” something to surrender is audacious since the Lord has supreme agency.
- This philosophy, grounded in bhakti-based theism, is close to the actual beliefs and worship practices of the majority of Hindus.

Question 36

What is Madhva’s Dualism?

Answer 36

• Madhva (1238-1317) South Indian philosopher.
• Propounded Dvaita (dualism).
• Three types of entities exist: Brahman (Īśvara), soul (jīvātman), and matter (prakṛti).
• Brahman is saguṇa.
• Soul and matter is dependent on Brahman for existence.
• Liberation is attained when one understands the differences between 1) Brahman and soul, 2) the various souls, 3) soul and matter, 4) Brahman and matter, and 5) the different forms of matter.
• Liberation is the result of God’s grace.
• Bhakti, renunciation, and scriptural study – all worthwhile practices.
• Each soul is unique thus when it achieves liberation the nature of its realization will also be unique.

Question 37

What is yoga through the sankyha lense?

Answer 37

• Through the sankhya lens – one uses yoga to integrate the compoents of Prakṛti until Puruṣa is revealed.
• Others describe Yoga as uniting the separate and incorrectly conceived self with its true nature.

Question 38

What are the broad or common ways in which yoga is used/defined?

Answer 38

• “Yoga” often used to designate any form of meditation or practice with ascetic tendencies.
• Used in an even broader way to refer to any path that leads to liberation (ie. The paths taught by Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad Gītā are called yogas).

Question 39

What do the Yoga Sutras discuss?

Answer 39

• Yoga Sūtra also discusses powers, called vibhūtis or siddhis, which can be obtained through Yoga.