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| Home > Sacred Scriptures > Hindu Scriptures > The Darshanas
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| | The Darshanas
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The Darshanas which are six in number, namely, the Uttara mimansa, the Purva mimansa, Samkhya, Yoga, Vaisheshika and Nyaya Darshanas. together they constitute the six schools of ancient Hindu philosophical thought.
A study of them provide immense insight into ancient Indian thinking and its evolution into a complex body of schools and philosophies. Of these the first two are based on the Shrutis or the Vedic texts. The next two are based on Smrits such as the Puranas and the epics. The last two are based on Shastras or scholarly works.
The Jaimini Sutras form the basis for the Purva mimansa. The Sankhya karika of Iswara Krishna formed the basis for the teachings of sage Kapila. The Yoga darshana is based upon Patanjalis Yoga Sutras. The Vaisheshika school was based upon the work of Kanada, while Nyaya school of thought was based on the works of Gautama.
It is interesting to note that some of these darshanas do not place belief in the existence God as the central ruler or controller or creator of the world. Hence tradition divided these six darshanas into three categories: the asthika (those who believe in god), the nasthika (those who do not believe in god) and dwaishtika (or those who believe in fate or destiny).
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