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Art and Culture (Schools of Philosophy & Traditions in India) by Ashutosh Nath Jha

  • Category
    GS-I
  • Test Date
    31-05-2023 07:00 AM
  • Evaluated
    Yes

Instruction:

  • There will be 2 questions carrying 10 marks each. Write your answers in 150 words
  • Any page left blank in the answer-book must be crossed out clearly.
  • Evaluated Copy will be re-uploaded on the same thread after 2 days of uploading the copy.
  • Discussion of the question and one to one answer improvement session of evaluated copies will be conducted through Google Meet with concerned faculty. You will be informed via mail or SMS for the discussion.

Question #1. The essence of orthodox philosophical schools lies in the way human could acquire knowledge of reality and attain freedom from transitory life to ultimate bliss. Substantiate.

Question #2. Brining out the similarity and contrasts, Analyse the core philosophical ideas of Buddhism and Jainism.

(Examiner will pay special attention to the candidate's grasp of his/her material, its relevance to the subject chosen, and to his/ her ability to think constructively and to present his/her ideas concisely, logically and effectively).

Model Answer

Question #1. The essence of orthodox philosophical schools lies in the way human could acquire knowledge of reality and attain freedom from transitory life to ultimate bliss. Substantiate.

Approach

  • Introduce with schools of Indian philosophy in general and orthodox philosophy in particular. Write 20 words on its need. 
  • Further address the theme of the question- analyse that how essence of all orthodox philosophy is the attainment of real knowledge and gaining salvation. Here use references of various schools and their ideas to substantiate properly. 
  • Conclude your argument by highlighting their significance and ideas much advanced of their age. 

Hints

Upon the establishment of social order and states system (formative) in ancient India, the thinkers propounded on the goals of life which shall guide human in their life cycle. Dharma, Artha kama and Moksha became central points of discussion. The first three were concerned with materialistic pursuit and none of them dwell upon questions of salvation or moksha. 

The questions of salvation were dealt by ‘darshanas’ which denotes a way to look inside or inward looking thinking later came to be known as philosophy. These philosophy dealt with questions of life, death and approaches to attain salvation.  

Indian philosophy signifies several traditions of philosophical thought that originated in the Indian subcontinent. They are classified according as they accept the authority of the Vedas (astika & nastika) or not i.e. Orthodox and Heterodox Systems.

The orthodox schools 

  • Indian philosophy, looks for the way to salvation and the meaning of life. The concepts of Karma and moksha, or freedom from the cycle of birth and rebirth, were central to all Indian philosophy.  
  • Six Indian philosophical schools made up the Ashthika school of thought. They are Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva Mimamsa, Uttara Mimamsa, or Vedanta.
  • Nastika– Disregarded the authority of the Vedas as the fundamental source of knowledge. The three branches of the Nashthika School of philosophy are Charvaka, Jainism, and Buddhism (the school of materialism).

Samkhya

  • It is one of the oldest philosophical traditions given by Kapila Muni. Initially it said that Prakirti (nature or premordial energy) alone is responsible for creation of this universe and presence of divine energy is not responsible for creation. 
  • However during 4th AD it included prursha (spirit/soul) and creation was thereupon attributed to both. According to this new idea- nature and spiritual element together create the world. It was formed on logical and scientific principles. 
  • It further said Jiva (living being) is the state where purusha is bounded to prakirti. A person can attain salvation through the acquisition of real knowledge. This real knowledge can be acquired when a person is free from ignorance and getting knowledge based on perception, inference and hearing. Thus it was mostly based on scientific system of inquiry as existence of God or supreme power is not asserted directly. 

Yoga

  • It was established by the sage Patanjali. According to this theory, salvation/nirvana can be attained by mastering the body, mind, and sense organs. When a human being becomes master of his senses and gets control over pleasures, he acquires real knowledge as he is able to stave off his impulsions driven by senses. Yoga helps to calm mind and body which in turn helps to understand the reality. 
  • This can be done by following Ashtanga yoga, ( yama, Niyam, asana, pranayama,pratyahara, dharana, dhayana and Samadhi (iultimae bliss) which consists of various asanas and breathing exercises, can help one achieve this nirvana. In this instance, God is viewed as a mentor or teacher rather than a creator.

Nyaya

    • The Nyaya, whose literal meaning is “justice,” was another logical, scientific school of philosophy. Justice here denotes the right knowledge which can be acquired by application of logic and getting knowledge through perception, inference, comparison and testimony. 
    • It said that suffering for human is the result of his mistakes defects produced by actions under the wrong knowledge or ignorance. Thus it emphasises on the right knowledge for getting free from suffering and attaining salvation. This idea was put forth by Gautam Muni. 
  • This philosophy is based on parmana or pratyaksha pramana, or proof. It emphasizes that anything should be accepted based on logic and personal experience. It believes that there is soul and self and salvation is attainedthrough removal of ignorance. 

 Vaisheshika

  • The Vaisheshika philosophy is founded by kanada. And its atomist and pluralist in nature. It said that everything is matter and it’s made up of 5 elements-fire, sky, water, earth and air. When these combine they give rise to new objects. 
  • On metaphysical theory, it emphasizes that everything in the universe may be broken down into atoms, or parmanu. World is made of parmanu and Brahman is regarded as the fundamental force that causes consciousness (chetna) in these atoms. 
  • It recognized just two paths to accurate knowledge: pratyak?a (perception) and anum??a (inference). It resembles a naturalistic and objective philosophy of the cosmos. Kanada taught that there are seven ontological (dealing with the nature of being) entities and understanding these leads to self-realisation. When a person understand that all are atoms and base elements constitute the building blocks and when he gets any knowledge based on inference and perception (system of inquiry) he will attain salvation. 

Purva Mimamsa

  • Jaimini who was said to be disciple of veda vyas founded this school of thought. The term mimamsa denotes the art of reasoning and interpretation but this was used to provide justification for various Vedic rituals and the attainment of salvation was made dependent on their performance. 
  • It discusses the significance of mantras and yajnas in maintaining the cosmos. In a sense, it acknowledged the Vedas’ supreme authority, where adherence to their teachings can lead to the route to nirvana. It says that vedas contain the eternal truth. It also says that studying the Vedas is a reliable way to learn and gain knowledge and acquire heaven and salvation. 

Uttara Mimamsa or Vedanta

  • This school focuses on the teachings of Upanishads (spiritual thoughts and contemplations) rather than Brahmanas (ritualistic part of vedas). The Brahmasutra of Badarayana form its base and a proficient commentary on it was later written on it by Shankaracharya and ramanuja. 
  • The Upanishadic section of the Vedas serves as the foundation for Vedanta philosophy, which places a strong emphasis on the Brahma Gyan. Advaita by Adi Shankara, Visishtadvaita by Ramanuja, Dvaita by Madhvacharya, Dvaitadvaita by Nimbarka, Shuddhadvaita by Vallabhacharya, and Achintya Bheda Abheda by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are the six divisions of the Vedanta philosophy.
  • It said that essential teaching of vedas is to realise supreme Brhama, the absolute truth and not the dharma by way of karma kanda. According to shankaracharya, brahma is without any attributes i.e advaita. He said that jnana (right knowledge and realisation) are the chief means of salvation and gining ultimate bliss but on the other hand Ramanuja said that path to salvation is in practicing devotion and loving faith. The Brahma for Ramanuja has attributes. 
  • Thus according to Vedanta philosophy, brahma is the reality and everything else is unreal or maya. When a person acquires the knowledge of the self (atma) he acquires the knowledge of brahma and the self or soul coincides with brahma, becoming one- That though Art (tat-tvam asi)-  unity of Atman (the individual self or soul) with Brahman. 
  • Thus this leads to ultimate realisation and attainment of bliss. Bliss i.e ‘sacchidanada’ always in state of happiness is the true nature of human and this realisation of tattvamasi helps to attain that bliss. 

The orthodox schools of philosophy forms the core of Indian philosophical ideas. The thoughts and contemplations on real nature of universe, reality, relationship of human with universe and questions on salvation were going parallel with materialistic development in ancient INDIA. Further we also see that based upon the Vedanta school, several other sub schools came into being like Advaita, suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita etc. They provided a variety of perspectives regarding the world or the universe.

Indian philosophy gave the people the ability to think rationally, seeking the logic or justification for everything rather than just accepting it blindly. These ideologies stressed the significance of self-realization and made society more logical and advanced the idea of liberation or moksha. 

 

Question #2. Brining out the similarity and contrasts, Analyse the core philosophical ideas of Buddhism and Jainism.

Hints

Buddhism and Jainism were not only the religion but a system of philosophical thought and traditions. They were having many similarities and difference among their notion of self, atama, spirit, universe, cycle of birth, karma and attitude towards veda etc. 

Both of them were the products of intellectual, spiritual forces of their age which arose against the prevalent brhamanical order. 

Similarities between Buddhism and Jainism

  • Both being inspired by upnishadic philosophy in terms of Atheism, pessimism about human life being full of miseries, desires, doctrines of transmigration of soul and the theory of karma, belief in dualism. 
  • Jainism preaches the triratnas, which are right faith, knowledge and conduct. Buddhism also has eightfold path which includes not only these three, in addition right speech, resolve, occupation etc.
  • Both religions espouse non-violence as the foundation of living. Both aimed at nirvana/salvation and laid stress on leading moral and righteous life free from vices. 
  • Both emphasised the theory of transmigration of soul and role of karma in deciding future births. 
  • Both organised the Sangha to spread their teachings. Buddha had two kinds of disciples – monks (bhikshus) and lay worshippers (upasikas). The monks were organized into the Sangha for the purpose of spreading his teachings.
  • Both shunned the use of Sanskrit and adopted regional languages to propagate their ideas. However the core philosophies do remain same but their differences lies in the approaches for attainment. 

Differences between Buddhism and Jainism

  • Jainism believes that all elements of nature have a soul whereas Buddhism believed that life exists in animate things only. 
  • In terms of non-violence, Jainism laid great emphasis on it and believes in extremities on the other hand Buddhism is liberal in its approach and even at times permitted eating of flesh on its followers where it was their traditional diet. 
  • In Jainism, the doctrine of asceticism and renunciation was also carried to extreme lengths by the practice of starvation, nudity and other forms of self-torture. This was not the case in Buddhism.
  • Buddhism emphasised the love to all beings which is a positive virtue and more affirmative than the concept of ahimsa in Jainism which is absolute. Even the practice of agriculture was considered sinful in Jainism as it causes injury to the earth, worms and animals. Most of them were traders. No such distinction is there in Buddhism.
  • Buddhism made a direct attack on the caste system. Though Jainism did not make a direct attack on the caste system and calls cased on karmas accumulated through previous births. Mahavira was however against any social distinctions and threw open his order to all.
  • According to Jainism, salvation can be attained only after death, while on the other hand Buddhism says that it is possible during one’s life time if one is able to detach himself from worldly attachment and cessation of desires is achieved. 
  • While Jainism describes nirvana as freedom from body, Buddhism describes it as an end of the self and breaking the cycle of birth and death by detached attitude and shunning of worldly attachments. 
  • Buddhism was more a social than religious revolution. It taught the code of practical ethics and laid down the principle of social equality.

Thus the ideas and core philosophical thoughts of Buddhism and Jainism provided new directions to systems of inquiry on matters of salvation, birth and death etc. and provided people an alternative from of religion, they became a light of hope for the downtrodden and the marginalized.

Procedure of Answer Writing:

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  2. Please read the theme and its description, and try to cover the topics given within the theme before writing the answer along with the sources.

Step 2 (Answer Writing):

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  3. Mention your name, email id, location, and phone number on the 1st page in the top right corner and the page number on each page.
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