History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c96.s1.92

v7.c96.s1.92

The central point of much of our philosophy is contained in Chāndogyopaniṣad VI.1, where Uddālaka inquires of his conceited son Śvetaketu "Have you asked for that instruction by which one hears what cannot be heard, by which one perceives what cannot be perceived, by which one knows what cannot be known;' and when Śvetaketu asked for that instruction, Uddālaka expounds to him (in VI. 1-16) the subject at length and winds up with the words '*tat-tvam-asi*' (thou art that Self). An inquirer into philosophy will find in the various branches of Indian philosophy a vast mass of material, hardly surpassed by any other ancient country in the world. The word for philosophy is *darśana* and there is a famous work called '*Sarvadarśansangraha*' in which fifteen different points of view apart from *advaita* Vedānta are summarised. The principal orthodox darśanas are six—Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Pūrvamīmāṁsā and Uttaramīmāṁsā' (or Vedānta), which have been treated above and their relation to and influence on Dharmaśāstra has been dwelt upon. The chief marks of Indian philosophy are that it concentrates on the spiritual, that philosophy has to be lived and not merely discussed, that it seeks the Reality, that for real philosophy great moral preparation is necessary, that reason has to be extensively used in arriving at the truth, that tradition and authority have to be accepted and not neglected. Almost all darśanas (except that of Cārvāka) are concerned with Liberation (variously called Mokṣa, Kaivalya, Nirvāṇa, Amṛtatva, Niḥśreyasa, Apavarga) and all (except Cārvāka) are agreed on the doctrine of Karma and Punarjanma. It is not necessary to say more on Indian Philosophy in this Chapter.