Darśana, Overview of Six Schools

Synonyms

Classical Indian philosophical schools; Philosophy

Definition

In the context of premodern Indian thought, darśana refers to the different philosophical schools. Within Hinduism, there are six such schools of philosophy that developed roughly between 200 BCE and 500 CE, mainly in the form of sūtra texts and their commentaries and sub-commentaries. The hallmark of the six schools of Hindu darśana is that they all accept the authority of the Veda. These six schools are Vaiśeṣika, Nyāya, Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedānta.

Introduction

The ṣaḍ-darśana or the six schools of Hindu philosophy refer to the six āstika (generally referred to as “orthodox”) schools of thought that emerged in India roughly between 200 BCE and 500 CE, accepting the Veda as their authority for knowledge. These six schools are Vaiśeṣika, Nyāya, Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedānta. What is important to understand is their relationship to the Veda, which is classified as śruti and characterized as apauruṣeya,...