Darshanas of Dharma
Part Two: The “Heterodox” Darshanas
The first idea which must be understood is the difference between the six Orthodox or Astika darshanas and the four heterodox or nastika darshana. However, it seems that this difference is not crystal clear. The most common explanation for the differentiation is that Astika darshanas accept the authority of the Vedas, and the Varna systems, while Nastika do not (Swati). However, there seems to be some issue with this definition. An example observation which breaks this definition is certain schools of Bouddhya which use the Vedas in their practice, along with Bouddhya texts (i.e. Esoteric Buddhism.) Furthermore, many modern Dharmika do not really accept the Varna system, would they be considered Nastika for this? No they would not. Additionally, as nine out of ten darshanas are mostly non-theist or atheist, classifying the darshanas based on theism is also invalid. Dharma is fundamentally a promoter of innovation, and accepts and accommodates differences. Thus, it does not make sense to classify the darshanas in the categories of Astika or Orthodox and Nastika or Heterodox, since the ideas of the different darshanas intermingle, and evolve all the time.
Buddhadhātu
Founded around 6th Century BCE by Siddhartha Gautuma, Bouddhya builds upon the ideas of Sankhya, with some schools even expanding on the Vedas as well. The two major principles of Bouddhya are the Four Aryan Truths, and the Eightfold path (Velez.) The Four Aryan or Noble Truths are — All existence is dukkha, the cause of dukkha is craving, dukkha ceases if cravings cease, and there is a path which leads to cessation of dukkha (The Buddhist Center.) The eightfold path comprises right understanding, right intent, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration (Buddha101.) The goal of a Bouddhya is Nirvana, which means to extinguish. Buddhadhātu, along with Vedanta, is one of the two most prominent darshanas, and has been key to the expansion of Dharmagan beyond South Asia and especially into East Asia. It is a darshana which has many complex ideas, important philosophers, numerous schools, a fascinating history, and it will be covered in greater detail in a future essay.
A very important idea to keep in mind when looking at Bouddhya is that it is indeed a Darshana of Dharma, arbitrarily categorizing it as somehow separate from it is wrong. It is not a separate religion, instead it is a set of ultimatums which some Dharmika accept, like any other Darshana of Dharma. The categorization of Buddhadhātu as somehow separate from Dharma probably comes from an Abrahamic lens, where innovation is suppressed on a fundamental level and when it does occur it is regarded as a point of distinction where the innovator is considered as separate from the original community. Abrahamics fear innovation as it creates differences and division within a community. However, this lens cannot be applied to Dharma where innovation is encouraged on a fundamental level, and differences are accepted and accommodated. Thus, all darshanas remain part of Dharma, and can never be distinct entities within themselves.
Jain
As with Buddha-Dhatu, Jain is also seen as somehow separate from Dharma. But once again it is part of Dharma, and is a darshana within it, for the same reasons as mentioned for Buddha-Dhatu. According to Jain tradition the philosophy is eternal; thus, it has no founder (Webb.) However, the Jain of this age can be traced back to Mahavira, in the sixth century BCE (Webb.) Jain is considered to be atheist darshana; however, in reality Jains just deny a creator God, and a supreme God which controls the Universe (Webb.) Jains believe that Akasa [space] is infinite in all directions, and is eternal, meaning it has always existed. Only a small part of Akasa is habitable, and within this space exists Dharma [motion] (Webb.) The physical world rests in a narrow middle part of habitable space, and the rest of habitable space contains gods and spirits (Webb.) Jains are dualists; thus, they believe that Jiva (soul) is separate from Pudgala (matter.) Jainss believe that the soul reincarnates for all beings including gods, based on accumulated Karma, which is seen as a type of matter (Webb.) All souls have undergone infinite lives, and only the ones who are free from the bondage of Karma can be released from this cycle (Webb.) Release is achieved when both positive and negative Karma is completely purged (Webb.) A future essay on Jain will cover the Darshana in greater detail, and highlight some interesting observations made about the darshana’s epistemology, ethics, different schools, history, and similarities to other darshanas and philosophies like Anarchism.
Ajvika
Founded by Ghoshala Maskariputra, a friend of Mahavira, around 6th century BCE, the darshana can be identified as determinism (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica.) Little is known about this darshana, its primarily pieced together from artifacts found in the texts of other darshanas (V.) The little evidence we have points that Ajvikas believe that everything is predetermined by Niyati or fate (Gupta, Garodia.) Here is a quote from the Indian Express which describes this idea well, “each soul’s course was like a ball of thread that is unravelling. It will go as it has to go, and similarly each cycle of life and death will have to be experienced, as will joy and sorrow. Once the ball of thread is fully unwound, its journey will end, and so the soul will be liberated through nirvana (Gupta, Garodia.)” Since this darshana allowed niyati to unfold itself, showing no signs of active involvement, others may have started calling it Ajvika which means lifeless being (V.) This might be a derogatory term, but since we do not know what they called themselves we use the term Ajivika (V.) There is still much investigation needed to be done on this darshana, as very little records from the Ajvika themselves remain.
Lokāyata/Cārvāka
Cārvāka and Ajita Kesakambalin are credited with the foundations of Lokāyata, literally meaning the philosophy of the people (Wernicki.) Some ideas of Lokāyata had existed the Vedic period, chiefly from Bṛhaspati, but they lacked in significant substance and were more skeptical in nature (Wernicki.) Around the 6th and 7th century C.E. these ideas would evolve into a robust darshana (Wernicki.) Lokāyata believes that the goal of a human is the pursuit of pleasure — its ethics can be described as egoist, and it rejects all supernaturalism along with any of its derivatives. Lokāyata is highly empirical, and recognizes pratkaysa or perception as the only pramana or valid source of knowledge; therefore, it forms the core value of the modern Scientific Method (Wernicki.) It is perhaps one of the most relevant darshanas in the modern era.
Finale
This concludes our 2 part series on the Darshanas of Dharma. Bharatiya civilization intellectual development is extensive, and pre-date similar ideas in other civilizations. Often, the advanced philosophical contributions of Dharma are ignored even by Dharmikas, or are simply unknown to most. This has led to an intellectual self-imposed handicap for Dharmagan, and at times a stagnation. This is not just detrimental to Dharma, or Bharat but also Humanity as a whole. These essays and the ones which follow aim to introduce, discuss, and eventually develop these ideas further; furthermore, they will hopefully inspire the next Prabhakara or Gautama.
Source:
Velez, A. (n.d.). Buddha . Internet encyclopedia of philosophy. https://iep.utm.edu/buddha/#SH3b.
Four noble Truths: The Buddhist Centre. Four Noble Truths | The Buddhist Centre. (n.d.). https://thebuddhistcentre.com/text/four-noble-truths.
The History, Philosophy and Practice of Buddhism. Buddhism — the eightfold path. (n.d.). https://www.buddha101.com/p_path.htm#The%20Eightfold%20Path.
Webb, M. O. (n.d.). Jain Philosophy. Internet encyclopedia of philosophy. https://iep.utm.edu/jain/.
Long, J. D. (2019, August 20). A comparative study of Jain philosophy and Vedanta. Medium. https://medium.com/@longjd/a-comparative-study-of-jain-philosophy-and-vedanta-d55bc519694c.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Ajivika. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ajivika.
Gupta , A. G., & Garodia, S. (2019, June 13). Ancient Indian philosophers: The agnostic Ajiviks. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/parenting/learning/ancient-indian-philosophers-agnostic-ajiviks-5778424/.
V, J. (n.d.). Ajivikas — Their History and Philosophy. Ajivikas — their history and philosophy. https://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/concepts/ajivaka.asp.
Wernicki, A. T.-L. (n.d.). Lokayata/Carvaka — Indian Materialism. Internet encyclopedia of philosophy. https://iep.utm.edu/indmat/#H1.
Gokhale, P. P. (2015). Lokāyata/Cārvāka . Oxford University Press.
