Hinduism: A Primer (Part 2)

L-R Adi Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhava, and Basava

 Hinduism; A Primer (Part 2)

The Great Philosophies

This is part 2 of my Hinduism primer series. This series is meant for those who are new to Hinduism or want to understand Hinduism in a larger context. In these posts I attempt to boil down the most important aspects to understanding Hinduism in a religious and historical context so as to not overburden the reader. I will go into greater detail on all subjects in subsequent blog posts. If you have yet to read part 1 please click the link below.

Hinduism: A Primer (Part 1)

Over the millenia India has fostered many philosophies and beliefs. Of these great ideas only a few have survived into the modern age. Most Hindu's will follow one philosophy or another even without realizing they are doing so. Traditionally there are six astika (orthodox; belief in Veda and in god as therein defined) philosophies of the Hindu religion though today only a few are still actively practiced by any large number of people. There are also several philosophies called nastika, or unorthodox philosophies. These nastika philosophies consist of today's Buddhism, Jainism, etc etc. Any philosophy that denounces the Vedas and the idea of a supreme soul or god is considered nastika.

For the ease of understanding, in this post I will only cover the philosophies of Vedanta (Adwaita, Dwaitism and Vishishtadwaitism) as well as touch upon Achintya Bheda Abheda as these are the ones most who are new to Hinduism will come into contact with. Yoga is also considered an Astik philosophy but I will write a separate post to understand the traditional view of yoga.

Adwaitism or Adwaita Vedanta was heavily propagated by Sri Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th-9th centuries during a period when Buddhism and Jainism had supplanted the traditional Vedic religions of India. This caused a reforming and Shankara is still seen as a savior of classical Hinduism. Adwaitism itself deals with the idea of Brahman (A cosmic primordial spirit that can be associated with all of creation and the vital life force of the universe) and the soul (called Jeevatma) and the connectedness of them both as a single entity. In Adwaita philosophy, simply put, the differences between ourselves and god and each other is an illusion (maya) and our goal in life is to realize this illusion. Adwaita is true non-dualism.

Dwaitism, propagated by Sri Madhavacharya in the 12th and 13th centuries followed quite the opposite path. Dwaitism is absolute dualism. It view is that man and god are two separate entities existing independently and while brahman may make up creation we are separate from each other in this ocean of Samsara (rebirth) and the only way to escape is to have faith and believe that god (in whatever form) will pull us out of this ocean. Dwaitism is important for many because even if it seems limiting to some it teaches the importance of love and devotion on which things like the bhakti cults (to be explained in a later chapter) are founded on.

Vishishtadwaitism was heavily propagated by Sri Ramanujacharya in the 11th century. Vishishtadwaitism bridged the gap between Adwaitism and Dwaitism (Non-dualism and dualism) by forming a philosophy on conditional non-dualism. In Vishishtadwaitism, god (Lakshmi and Narayana) are seen as being both aspects of brahman and are interconnected as noted in Adwaitic philosophy but all things are real and are not illusion and following the path of devotion (as in Dwaitism) you can eventually reach moksha (liberation from bondage). The Sri Vaishnava sect are the direct descendants of Ramanuja's original teachings and will most commonly follow Vishishtadwaitan philosophy.

There are several smaller schools of philosophy that exist that have borrowed parts of the larger philosophies. Such as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's bhakthi (Devotional) movement who follows a philosophy called Achintya bheda abheda which is a varied version of Vishishtadwaita.  

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Once again I would like to point out that this is just a quick introduction to the general philosophies. In no way have I come close to fully explaining any of the philosophies named above to their deserving exactness. Whole books have been written on each one; indeed many books. I have written this to be a simple and quick introduction so that those wanting to delve deeper may understand better where to look.

I would also like to point out that faith and philosophy are not interdependent. While it is true that most Vaishnava's will follow either Dwaitism or Vishishtadwaitism this not always true just as how not all Shiva or Devi worshipers follow pure Adwaitic Vedanta. Indeed, many people of faith may follow varieties of each of these or synthesis of them in their own personal faiths and philosophies. The wonderful plurality of Hinduism allows these variations freely.