Ferm - A history of philosophical systems

The Vedas

The Vedas (2500-2000 B. C.) which embody divine truths, are believed to have been revealed to the super-consciousness of the seers. They represent the fountainhead of Hindu philosophical thought. Each of the four Vedas, Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, S ma-Veda and Atharva-Veda, has three main divisions: 1) the Samhit s (sacred texts), 2) the Br hma as (commentaries) and 3) the ra yakas (forest-books). The Rigveda Samhit is the oldest record of Hindu philosophical thought.

To begin with, man looks outside. His first thoughts therefore relate to the sequence of natural phenomena in which he sees the causes of vicissitudes of his everyday life. The early mantras (hymns), thus, contain a religion of nature-worship, in which the various powers of nature like fire ( agni ) and wind ( v yu ), which influence human life, are personified as gods, whom it is a mans duty to propitiate. Varu a and Indra are the chief among them, the former being conceived as a symbol of omniscience and righteousness. The gods being righteous are believed to uphold Rta or the physical and moral order in the universe. The relation of man to gods who are conceived as originating and sustaining the world is one of utter dependence. Man, it is maintained, must lead a righteous life to please the gods who are good. In Vedic religious thought the unreality of the universe is never suggested. In fact, worldly prosperity and the joys of everyday life are constantly stressed. Transmigration is not directly referred to though the soul is conceived as immortal.

In later hymns and the Br hma as, the development of thought takes three distinct lines: monotheism, monism and ritualism. Identity in the conception of different gods suggests monotheism. A supreme God is, however, not yet conceived, though an attempt is made to discover a common power behind all the gods. God Praj pati is such a power. The monistic tendency traces the world not to a creator but to a single primal cause, diversifying itself into the universe, which anticipating the later Upanisadic Absolute is described as Tat Ekam or That One. Here, therefore, the focus of attention turns from the concrete and the external to the abstract and the internal, which is, later followed up in the Upani ads.

Ritualism, representing the effort to gain the favor of the gods through sacrificial gifts culminates in the Br hma a . It is just another way of looking at the concept of Rta according to which a correct sacrifice inexorably brings its own good result.

The Upani ads

The Upani ads (700-600 B.C.) literally mean secret teaching. Forming the concluding part of the Vedas, they are also called the Ved nta and ranyakas or the forest books. They mark a distinct step beyond the Br hma as. Of the major Upani ads, about ten are the most celebrated, the Brihad ra yaka and the Ch ndogya being the most important among them. Their exalted idealism and lofty teachings have had a lasting influence upon the Indian mind. Much of the subsequent Indian philosophy in one way or another draws its inspiration from the Upani ads.

In the Upani ads the stress is, not on the traditional performance of action ( Karma-m rga ), but on the knowledge of the ultimate truth as a means to the final liberation of man. (J na-m rga) Apart from this shift in emphasis, the Upani ads inaugurate a new era of looking within for the reality of the Universe as against the Vedic perception of the Puru a as a macrocosmic reality.

Thought is here devoted chiefly to the concept of the tman and the Br hma . The quest after Br hma as the all-pervasive spirit springs from the desire to discover a supreme Controller of Man and Nature. By a process of progressive elimination, this ultimate reality is found by the Upani