Aspirant Academy

History

Vedic Philosophy and Theological Systems

Religious Beliefs, Saints, Folk Deities

Paper I · Unit 1 Section 6 of 15 0 PYQs 53 min
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Vedic Philosophy and Theological Systems

The Six Orthodox Schools (Shad Darshan) - RPSC PYQ 2021

The six Astika (accepting Vedic authority) schools of Indian philosophy are collectively called Shad Darshan. RPSC Mains 2021 directly asked students to "name any four out of six."

School Founder Core Doctrine Key Text
Nyaya Gautama Logic; 16 categories of reasoning; proof through perception, inference, analogy, and verbal testimony Nyaya Sutra
Vaisheshika Kanada Atomism; universe composed of eternal atoms (paramanu); 6 categories (padarthas) Vaisheshika Sutra
Samkhya Kapila Dualism: Purusha (consciousness) + Prakriti (matter); 24 elements; no god in original Samkhya Samkhya Karika
Yoga Patanjali Eight-limbed path (Ashtanga Yoga) for liberation; accepts Samkhya metaphysics plus Ishvara Yoga Sutra
Mimamsa Jaimini Ritual interpretation of the Vedas; Vedic injunctions are self-evidently valid Mimamsa Sutra
Vedanta Badarayana (Vyasa) Upanishadic synthesis; three sub-schools: Advaita (Shankara), Vishishtadvaita (Ramanuja), and Dvaita (Madhva) Brahmasutras

Source: Dasgupta, "History of Indian Philosophy"; RPSC 2026 syllabus

Memory aid for RPSC (6 schools): Nyaya-Vaisheshika form a complementary pair; Samkhya-Yoga form a complementary pair; Mimamsa-Vedanta form a complementary pair.

Nastika (rejecting Vedic authority) schools: Buddhism, Jainism, and Charvaka (Lokayata). These are important for comparative questions but technically fall outside the "orthodox" (astika) classification.

Prasthan Trayi - RPSC PYQ 2018

Prasthan Trayi = the three foundational texts of Vedanta:

  1. Upanishads - 108 total; 10-12 principal ones
  2. Bhagavad Gita - 18 chapters of the Mahabharata; Shankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva all wrote commentaries on it
  3. Brahmasutras - also called Vedanta Sutra or Uttara Mimamsa Sutra; 555 aphorisms by Badarayana; systematises Upanishadic thought

Every major Vedanta acharya - Adi Shankaracharya (788-820 CE, Advaita), Ramanujacharya (1017-1137 CE, Vishishtadvaita), and Madhvacharya (1238-1317 CE, Dvaita) - wrote a bhashya (commentary) on all three texts. Their canonical status as a three-text triad is what makes them the Prasthan Trayi.

Concept of Rina - RPSC PYQ 2013

The concept of Rina (debt/obligation) in Indian tradition refers to the innate duties or obligations that every human is born with. Classical texts (Satapatha Brahmana, Manusmriti) enumerate three primary rinas:

  1. Dev Rina (debt to gods): discharged through yajna (sacrifice/ritual)
  2. Rishi Rina (debt to sages/teachers): discharged through svadhyaya (study of scripture) and by passing knowledge to the next generation
  3. Pitru Rina (debt to ancestors): discharged through pinda-dana and by having a son who performs shraddha rites

Some texts (Manusmriti 6.35) add a fourth: Manushya Rina (debt to fellow humans), discharged through hospitality and social service.

The concept of rina grounds the Vedic theory of dharma in social obligation - every person exists in a web of reciprocal debts that structure their duties.

Naynar and Alwar Saints - RPSC PYQ 2023

Nayanars (Tamil Shaiva saints):

  • 63 Tamil devotees of Shiva (c. 5th-9th centuries CE)
  • Composed Tevaram - 7 volumes of hymns in Tamil
  • Principal figures: Appar (Thirunavukkarasar), Sambandar (Thirugnana Sambandar), and Sundarar
  • Socio-religious significance: included members of all castes - a leather-worker (Thiruneelakanta Nayanar), untouchables, and women - challenging Brahmanical hierarchy; they used Tamil vernacular rather than Sanskrit for divine praise

Alvars (Tamil Vaishnava saints):

  • 12 Tamil devotees of Vishnu (c. 5th-10th centuries CE)
  • Composed Nalayira Divya Prabandham - 4,000 verses in Tamil
  • Principal figures: Nammalvar, Andal (the only female Alvar), Periyalvar, and Kulasekhara Alvar
  • Socio-religious significance: Andal (a woman saint) and Tiruppan Alvar (born in the Panar, an untouchable community) demonstrate the Bhakti movement's challenge to gender and caste exclusion; their Tamil compositions formed the scriptural basis for the Sri Vaishnava tradition systematised by Ramanuja

Broader significance: Naynar-Alwar movements (6th-10th centuries CE) preceded the north Indian Bhakti saints by 3-5 centuries. They established the template of vernacular, emotionally intense, caste-inclusive devotion that later influenced Kabir, Dadu Dayal, and Meera Bai.