Philosophy

The dictionary definition of Philosophy is the “Study or Science of the Truths and principles underlying all knowledge and being.” For the ancient Greeks (Considered the famous of western philosophy), the world denoted “Philos (Love) and “Sophia” (Wisdom) literally meaning, “Love for Wisdom”.

Hindu Philosophy

In India Philosophy is called “Darshanam” which roughly means the special insight into the truths of life. Note the word Truths. Nothing to do with fantasy or more utopianism. That is also the sublime basis of all sciences.

In the west, the bifurcation of science and philosophy took place during the Renaissance, the “Great awakening.” People rooting for free thinking wanted all knowledge to be redeemed from the authority of the church on the one hand and from Aristotelian logic on the other. They wanted to observe and learn, and thus brought their search into the shape of sciences like Physics, Chemistry, Alchemy, Astronomy, Mathematics, Mechanics, and Medicine. 

Rene Descartes of France (The father of Modern Philosophy) introduced the mathematical method into philosophy for the first time, stripped its Godly pretensions, and limited God to just bridging the gap between two primary substances which he called matter and mind. These two were autonomous entities, according to him, and functioned mechanically with their own inherent laws.

Francis Bacon Philosopher of England threw out age-old concepts of deductive reasoning in Aristotelian methods. He substitutes them with his own brand of logic, called the “Inductive” or Scientific method. He established a strong foundation for empirical philosophy also.

Later, empirical philosophers like Locke, Berkley and Hume denounced metaphysics and brought in newer trends of phenomenalism, Skepticism and critical Realism.

The age-old division of philosophy into metaphysics, epistemology, and Axiology met its own end when empirical philosophers reduced it to a mere analysis of language. Metaphysics and its divisions Cosmology and ontology were declared impossible, if it were a search for reality beyond the empirical world. Epistemology in now redundant and Axiology is considered subjective.

Question bothers natural scientists and bugs philosophers. Those in the physical sciences almost look down upon philosophy, dismissing it as an abstract, utopian and idealistic, with no basis in the claptrap of reality.

But, what is in reality? Is philosophy Fantasy? Is it more of an art, like poetry, or can it ever come to be hard science, like Geometry, or is it halfway between the two?

In effect, philosophy has gone through all these stages. The Riguvedic poet is a philosopher expressing his emotions, towards the various forces of nature, which controls his life, while early Greek philosophers eulogized the world in a poetic and scientific spirit. According to philosophers though, it is the “Queen of Sciences” in the sense that before any of the empirical sciences were borne, philosophy was rich and alive and led in fact to the birth of psychology, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry etc.

Although less authoritative traditional texts, the great Sanskrit epic poems are probably the most influential pieces of literature in the whole Indian tradition. The Mahabharata tells of the Great War between two royal families, the Pandavas and the Kauravas ending in their mutual destruction. The enormously influential Bhagavad-Gita is a section of this epic. The Ramayana relates the legend of Prince Rama, usurped from his throne and exiled, his beautiful wife Sita kidnapped by the demon Ravana, his calm self-control and noble generosity provides an example of admirable conduct. They both probably originate in oral traditions of the middle of the first millennium B.C.E. and were written down between that time and the 4th century C.E.

The Vedas

The term Veda comes from the root word "Vid "- to know. The word Veda means knowledge. When it is applied to scripture, it signifies a book of knowledge. The Vedas are the foundational scriptures of the Hindus.

The Veda is divided into four great books:

The Rig-Veda             

The Yajur-Veda

The Sama-Veda        

The Atharva-Veda     

Each Veda consists of four parts:

The Mantra-Samhitas or hymns.

The Brahmanas or explanations of Mantras or rituals.

The Aranyakas (philosophical interpretations of the rituals).

The Upanishads  (The essence or the knowledge portion of the Vedas.

The division of the Vedas into four parts is to suit the four stages in a man's life:

The Mantra-Samhitas are hymns in praise of the Vedic God for attaining material prosperity here and happiness hereafter. They are metrical poems comprising prayers, hymns and incantations addressed to various deities, both subjective and objective. The Mantra portion of the Vedas is useful for the Brahmacharis (celibate; one who belongs to the first of the four Asramas or orders of life; one who lives in purity and studies the Veda; the first 25 years of life).

The Brahmana portions guide people to perform sacrificial rites. They are prose explanations of the method of using the Mantras in the Yajna or the sacrifice. The Brahmana portion is suitable for the householder (Grihastha; one who belongs to the second of the four Asramas or orders of life; from 25 to 50 years of age).

The Aranyakas are the forest books, the mystical sylvan texts which give philosophical interpretations of the Rituals. The Aranyakas are intended for the Vanaprasthas or hermits who prepare themselves for taking Sannyasa (Vanaprastha = one who leads the third stage of life; from 50 to 75 years of age).

1. RIGVEDA:  (Rk = hymn or verse) is the oldest and most important. Dating from at least 1,200 B.C.E. and completed about 900 B.C.E. This Veda is divided into ten books (mandalas or "cycles") containing a total of 1,028 hymns addressed to various deities. Most important of whom are:

Indra - (250 hymns) mighty warrior god and slayer of Vrtra --the demon-serpent who obstructed the fertile flow of the waters;

Agni - (200 hymns) god of fire; Soma, god of the intoxicating drink

Mitra and Varuna - whose main concern was the protection of rta, the sacred and divine order of the cosmos.

Rudra - a fearsome and destructive deity has links with the later Shiva.

2. SAMAVEDA: (saman = chant) a handbook of chants used by one of the Brahman priests who presided at the sacrificial rituals. Largely derived from books eight and nine of the rigveda.

3. YAJURVEDA:  (yajur = spoken ritual formula rather than a chant or verse) the increasing emphasis here is on the mechanics of the sacrifice. Although animal sacrifice was known, especially the hugely elaborate Ashvamedha or horse sacrifices. Sacrifice is usually of vegetable offerings and soma.

The Yajur-Veda is again divided into two parts:

The Sukla Yajur          or         Vajasaneya Veda         

The Krishna Yajur       or         Tattiriya Veda             

4. ATHARAVEDA: (named for a priestly family, the Atharvans) a later compilation of complete hymns and spells which are less directly attached to the domestic sacrificial rituals.

The Upanishads

The Upanishads are the most important portion of the Vedas. The Upanishads   contain the essence or the knowledge portion of the Vedas. The philosophy of the Upanishads is sublime, profound, lofty a soul-stirring. The Upanishads speak of the identity of the individual soul and the Supreme Soul. They reveal the most subtle and deep spiritual truths. The Upanishads are useful for the Sannyasis. (Sannyasi or Sannyasin = a monk; one who has embraced the life of complete renunciation ; one belonging to the fourth or the highest stage of life; from 75 to 100 years of age).

The subject matter of the whole Veda is divided into

Karma-Kanda                        

Upasana-Kanda         

Jnana-Kanda.                        

The Karma-Kanda or Ritualistic Section deals with various sacrifices and rituals. The Upasana-Kanda or Worship-Section deals with various kinds of worship or meditation.

The Jana-Kanda or Knowledge-Section deals with the highest knowledge of Nirguna Brahman. (Nirguna = without attributes or forms. Brahman = the Supreme Reality).

The Mantras and the Brahmanas constitute Karma-Kanda (rituals).

The Aranyakas           constitute Upasana-Kanda      (worship).

The Upanishads          constitute Jnana-Kanda           (knowledge).

The Upanishads are the concluding portions of the Vedas or the end of the Vedas. The teaching based on them is called Vedanta. The Upanishads are the gist and the goal of the Vedas. They form the very foundation of Hinduism.

The most important Upanishads are:

Isa Upanishad                                                  

Kena Upanishad,                                           

Katha Upanishad,                              

Prasna Upnishada,                              

Mundaka Upnishada,                           

Mandukya Upnishada,                                     

Aitareya Upnishada,                            

Taittiriya Upnishada,                            

Chhandogya Upnishada,                                 

Brihadaranyaka Upnishada,                

Kaushitaki Upnishada,                                   

Svetasvatara Upnishada                  and

Maitrayani Upnishada.