The six orthodox (astika) darshanas, which accept the Veda as authority, are Nyaya (Gautama), Vaisheshika (Kanada), Sankhya (Kapila), Yoga (Patanjali), Mimamsa (Jaimini) and Vedanta (Badarayana). Grouping them as one list of six, the ‘shad-darshana’, is a later, medieval convention; older texts count the schools in other ways.
| Name | Founder (tradition) | Root text | Main subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nyaya | Gautama | Nyaya Sutra, 5 chapters | Means of knowledge and reasoning; true knowledge through the sixteen categories, from pramana and prameya to doubt and beyond |
| Vaisheshika | Kanada | Vaisheshika Sutra, 10 chapters | The six categories of the world: substance, quality, action, generality, particularity and inherence, with absence as a seventh |
| Sankhya | Kapila | The oldest surviving text is Ishvarakrishna’s Sankhya Karika; the six-chapter ‘Sankhya Sutra’ in Kapila’s name is taken to be much later | Knowing the difference between prakriti (matter) and purusha (consciousness) |
| Yoga | Patanjali | Yoga Sutra, 4 parts | Stilling the movements of the mind; the eight limbs of yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi; kaivalya |
| MimamsaPurva Mimamsa, Karma Mimamsa | Jaimini | Mimamsa Sutra, 12 chapters (‘athato dharmajijnasa’) | Inquiry into dharma and the rites of the Veda |
| VedantaUttara Mimamsa, Sharirika Mimamsa | Badarayana (Vyasa in the tradition) | Brahma Sutra, 4 chapters (‘athato brahmajijnasa’) | Inquiry into Brahman and the self on the basis of the Upanishads |
Three pairs
The six are usually studied in three pairs: Nyaya-Vaisheshika, Sankhya-Yoga and Mimamsa-Vedanta. Madhusudana Sarasvati’s Prasthanabheda counts Vaisheshika under the word ‘Nyaya’, and calls Jaimini’s Karma Mimamsa and Badarayana’s Sharirika Mimamsa (Vedanta) the two parts of Mimamsa.
When the count of six took shape
In the ‘Shaddarshana-samuccaya’ of the eighth-century Jain scholar Haribhadra the six are different: Buddhist, Nyaya, Sankhya, Jain, Vaisheshika and Mimamsa. In the fourteenth century Madhavacharya’s ‘Sarvadarshana-sangraha’ counts sixteen systems. The list of these six Veda-accepting schools as the ‘shad-darshana’ took shape among Vedanta scholars between the 12th and 16th centuries, and Western scholars later adopted it.
Where the sources differ
- In Haribhadra’s Shaddarshana-samuccaya (8th century) the six are Buddhist, Nyaya, Sankhya, Jain, Vaisheshika and Mimamsa: no Yoga or Vedanta, but Buddhist and Jain schools.
- On the root text of Sankhya: the tradition holds Kapila to be its first teacher (the Bhagavata, 1.3.10, says Kapila taught Sankhya to Asuri), but the Sankhya Sutra in his name is dated to about the 14th century; the oldest surviving text is the Sankhya Karika.
- In its count of the 14 branches of learning, the Prasthanabheda places Sankhya and Yoga within Dharmashastra rather than as separate schools.
Frequently asked questions
What are the names of the six darshanas?
Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta.
Who founded the six darshanas?
By tradition: Gautama for Nyaya, Kanada for Vaisheshika, Kapila for Sankhya, Patanjali for Yoga, Jaimini for Mimamsa and Badarayana for Vedanta (the Brahma Sutra).
What is the difference between astika and nastika schools?
Here astika means one that accepts the Veda as authority. These six do; the Buddhist, Jain and Charvaka schools do not, and so are called nastika.
Is the list of six very old?
The schools themselves are old, but calling exactly these six the ‘shad-darshana’ became current in the medieval period, roughly between the 12th and 16th centuries. Haribhadra’s older work has a different six.
Sources
- Madhusudana Sarasvati, Prasthanabheda: the founders and texts of Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa, Vedanta, Sankhya and Yoga (Sanskrit text, archive.org)
- Bhagavata Purana 1.3.10 (Sanskrit text, GRETIL)
- Wikipedia articles on Hindu philosophy and on Samkhya (when the count of six arose, the Sarvadarshana-sangraha, the dates of the Sankhya Karika and Sankhya Sutra)
- Ṣaḍdarśanasamuccaya, Encyclopedia of Buddhism
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