Six Branches of Hindu Philosophy

As many of us know, the great religion of Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism has so many different branches and schools of thoughts that sometimes the religion seems to be a collection of different religions, encompassing everthing from polytheism, monotheism, atheism, and materialism. While such variety points to the vibrant culture and freedom of thoughts and expression that existed and still exists in today’s society, it creates confusion in the mind of many Indians and westerners that eventually turns them away from understanding the philosophical aspects of the religion. The objective of this blog is to thus summarize the philosophical attributes of Hinduism in a simplistic way. This blog is merely a superficial analysis of Hindu philosophy; I am in no way claiming to be an expert in Hindu philosophy.

The inquiring and curious nature of ancient and modern philosophers, sages and saints have produced innumerable philosophical variants, but six branches stand out in terms of their antiquity and the extent of literature each has produced:

Samkhya – Samkhya is probably the oldest school of philosophical thought credited to Kapila-muni, also called “Father of Philosophy”. It is a dualist school of thought, the two entities being purusha (mind) and prakriti (matter). Purusha is the Pure consciousness, which is unchanging and universal. Prakriti is the unconscious state. We typically identify ourself with physical events and physical body which is a form or prakriti. The objective of self is to realize that it is not bound by prakriti, but is in-fact is limitless purusha. Put in another way, the objective of self is to evolve to point when it can realize this distintction between conscious purusha and unconscious prakriti. Note that Samkhya system had no concept of a Creationist God or a Creator.

Yoga – Yoga or “Raja” Yoga was propounded by Patanjali and involves the control of mind to know the reality and achieve liberation or “Samadhi”. Samadhi is sometimes thought of as dying, but actually means existing in a super-blissful stage. Raja Yoga is also called ashtanga yoga, because of eight limbs: yama (don’ts), niyama (do’s), asanas (postures), pranayamas (breathing), pratyahara (control of senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (blissful awareness). Philosophically Raja Yoga is very close to Samkhya; difference being that Raja Yoga lays down practical tools to realize liberation. Raja Yoga also includes the concept of God.

For the next four branches, wait for the next blog.