The Six Systems of Indian Philosophy

The book opens with the intellectual background of Indian philosophy, including ancient philosophical life, the Upanishads, Buddhist contexts, and the literary transmission of ideas. It then discusses the Vedas as the foundation for later speculation, focusing on Vedic gods, tendencies toward unity, Brahman, Ātman, speech, mind, and early metaphysical concepts. The central chapters present the six systems through their principal doctrines and internal logic: Vedānta or Uttara-Mīmāṃsā is treated through Bādarāyaṇa, Brahman, the Upanishads, causation, avidyā, mokṣa, and Rāmānuja; Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā is examined through Vedic authority, ritual interpretation, and Jaimini’s pramāṇas; Sāṃkhya is discussed through Kapila, puruṣa, prakṛti, the guṇas, causality, evolution, and liberation; Yoga is explained through Patañjali, īśvara, citta, samādhi, vairāgya, yogāṅgas, siddhis, and kaivalya; Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika are presented through logic, inference, means of knowledge, categories, padārthas, atoms, causality, self, and liberation.