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In the last post we made an introduction to Hinduism more focused on religion. Now we will deal with Hindu philosophy, an ambiguous term that, at the very least, represents a tradition of Indian philosophical thought. However, it can also designate a comprehensive philosophical doctrine, shared by all Hindu thinkers. Often the term is used loosely in a philosophical or doctrinal sense, but this usage is misleading.
There is no single, overarching philosophical doctrine shared by all Hindus that distinguishes their view from contrary philosophical views associated with other Indian religious movements, such as Buddhism or Jainism, on questions of epistemology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, or cosmology. Hence historians of Indian philosophy typically understand “Hindu philosophy” as the collection of philosophical views that share a textual connection with certain central Hindu religious texts and do not identify it with a particular overarching philosophical doctrine.
Thus understood, Hindu philosophy includes not only the philosophical doctrines present in Hindu texts of primary and secondary religious importance, but also the systematic philosophies of Hindu schools. Her role has been far from static: she was influenced by Buddhist and Jain philosophies and, in turn, influenced Buddhist philosophy in India in its later phases. In recent times, it has evolved into what some scholars call neo-Hinduism, which can be understood as an Indian response to the perceived sectarianism and scientism of the West.
Hinduism is a term used to describe a set of religious and philosophical beliefs originating in the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the oldest philosophical and religious traditions in the world and is based on the Vedas, texts written by ancient sages, the Vedic seers, and often considered the oldest texts of humanity. We deal with it in the post Holy Books of India. The philosophical-cultural system of Hinduism remains practically unchanged in its essence, persisting through centuries of insistent invasions and domination by different Persian, Greek, White Hun, Arab and European peoples.
Hindu culture accepts all philosophies and religions as real paths to encounter the divine essence. Their cultural tradition is called Sanatana Dharma (the Eternal Path or the Eternal Law), taught by oral tradition (Paramparay) from expert to disciple, from father to son, from generation to generation.
The foundations of Hindu culture
The name “Hindu” was given by the Persians who began to call the population that lived on the banks of the great Indus river Hindus. The original name of the territory was always Bharata or Maha-Bharata. During the British government, the term “Hinduism” was used to differentiate, in strictly religious terms, the followers of the Hindu and Muslim religions. The restriction on adopting the religious character, to the detriment of the cultural dimension of the name Hinduism, is a Western inheritance.
In India, culture, philosophy, science, and religion are always integrated, guiding, and elucidating all aspects of life, laws, moral order, customs, rituals, and social organization. The Indus-Saraswati River Valley civilization or Harappan civilization was the society that developed Hindu culture. Many questions about the origin of Hinduism have been answered from archaeological finds.
The traditional residents, known as the Dravidian people, already presented a wide range of cultural aspects and material artifacts. The Dravidians or Dravids are ethnic groups who speak any of the languages of a large non-Indo-European language family in the south of the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the oldest populations in southern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Maldives, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
Stages of development of Hindu philosophy
The history of Hindu philosophy can be divided into three, overlapping, stages:
Unsystematic Hindu philosophy – found in the Vedas and secondary religious texts (beginning in the second millennium BC);
Systematic Hindu philosophy – begins in the first millennium BC;
Neo-Hindu philosophy – begins in the 19th century AD.
It is difficult to reduce Hindu philosophy to a defined doctrine because Hinduism itself, as a religion, resists identification with any well-developed doctrine. This may not be so surprising when we consider that the term Hinduism itself does not appear in traditional pre-colonial Hindu literature. According to Dilipi Luondo, PhD in Indian Philosophy from the University of Mumbai (India) and Coordinator of the Center for Studies in Religions and Philosophies of India (NERFI-CNPq.):
“Hinduism, if we take the defining criteria of religions as a reference, is not a religion.”
Brahman, Maya, and Karma
The basis of the spiritual teaching of Hinduism is the idea that everything that surrounds us is the manifestation of the same ultimate reality that unifies all gods and goddesses. The ultimate reality is the “soul,” or Brahman, the inner essence of all things that cannot be known or described with the intellect. It is the beginning without beginning or end, the Supreme, that which is beyond, the Limitless. However, he is represented as a deity through mythological language. All gods and goddesses are its various aspects and reflections of ultimate reality. Brahman becomes the world, and, in the end, it will again become Brahman.
Maya is the world, the setting for the work of Brahman, when man believes that the things that surround him and himself have a reality of their own. The world of Maya continually changes, and the force of change is Karma, which means action, the active principle of the creator's work where everything is dynamically related.
Brahman = soul. Maya = world. Karma = action
A common thesis associated with Hinduism is the view that events in a person's life are determined by Karma. The term means “action,” but in this context it denotes the moral, psychological, spiritual, and physical causal consequences of morally significant past choices. If it were true that belief in Karma is common to all Hindu philosophies, and only Hindu philosophies, then we would have a clear doctrinal criterion for identifying Hinduism.
This approach is unsuccessful because belief in Karma is common to many of India's religious traditions, including Buddhism and Jainism. Furthermore, it is not evident that it is embraced by all sources that we consider Hindu. For example, the doctrine of Karma appears to be absent from a large part of the Vedas. It is not a sufficient criterion of Hinduism and probably not a necessary condition either.
If you are under the effects of Maya, that is, if you have a fragmented view of the world, without seeing the unity of all things and believing that you can act independently, you will be a prisoner of Karma. To free yourself from it and the charm of the world, you need to understand that everything you perceive is part of the same reality, that is, everything, including yourself, is Brahman.
The most popular way to connect with divinity is by worshiping a personal god or goddess. The three most revered deities are Shiva, Vishnu and Shakti (the Divine Mother). Shiva is the cosmic dancer, the god of creation and destruction who maintains the infinite rhythm of the universe. Vishnu is the preserver of the universe; and Shakti is the archetypal goddess who represents the feminine energy of the universe.
Unlike most Western religions, sensual pleasure is not censored in Hinduism, because the body is considered an integral part of the spirit. For Hindus, the human being must fulfill himself with his body and his mind.
Puruṣārthas: Dharma, Artha, Kāma and Mokṣa
Hinduism can be identified with a core set of values, commonly known in Hindu literature as Puruṣārthas, or goals of the people. The word Purusārtha generally means human effort; but in the current context it means the goals or ends sought through that effort. Classical Hindu thought identifies four such goals:
1 - Dharma – correct life or fulfillment of duties;
2 - Artha – acquisition of wealth;
3 - Kama – gratification of desires;
4 - Moksha – obtaining spiritual liberation according to soteriology, which is the study of human salvation.
Varna (caste)
Finally, one could try to identify Hinduism with the institution of a caste system that divides society into a specific set of classes whose natures dispose them and oblige them to certain occupations in life. More specifically, it can be argued that Hinduism is any belief system linked to the idea that any well-ordered society is made up of four castes:
Brahmins - priestly or scholarly caste,
Kṣatriya - marshal or royal caste,
Vaiśyas - merchant caste and
Sūdras - labor caste.
This approach to defining Hinduism is a rehabilitation of the idea that some central moral doctrine unites it. There are two problems with this approach that make it useless for identifying Hinduism. Firstly, anyone familiar with Indian society will know that caste (Varna, or Jāti) is an Indian phenomenon that is not restricted to the Hindu sections of society.
It can be argued that the approving use of the term Brahmin in Buddhist and Jain texts shows that even these socially critical movements were comfortable with a caste-structured society, if the obligations and privileges accorded to various castes were distributed. Secondly, and more importantly, it is not clear that caste is philosophically important for many schools that are conventionally understood under the heading of Hindu philosophy.
Since the term Hinduism has no roots in the conceptualization of people, we, in retrospect, label as Hindus, we are unlikely to find anything significant in the way of philosophical doctrine that is essential to Hinduism. However, the term continues to be useful because it focuses on a stance that separates Hindu thinkers from Buddhist, Jain, or Sikh thinkers. The position in question is the openness to the provisional validity of a core set of Hindu texts.
The Four Vedas
Veda means knowledge or wisdom and embodies what was probably considered by its original assistants to be the total of the knowledge of its people. Based on linguistic variations in the corpus, contemporary scholars are of the opinion that the Vedas were composed at various points over a period of approximately nine hundred years, which could be at most 1500 BC to 600 BC.
They are composed in an Indo-European language that is loosely called Sanskrit, but much of it is in an ancient precursor to Sanskrit, more appropriately called Vedic. The Vedic corpus is composed of four works, each called Vedas: Ṛigveda, Sāmaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda, respectively. These works are detailed in the post Holy Books of India.
Karma Khaṇḍa or action portion of the Vedas
The main part of the Veda consists of Mantras, or sacred chants and incantations. This is followed by a section called Brāhmanas, which contains ritual instructions and speculative discussions on the meaning of Vedic rituals. These first two portions comprise what is often called the Karma Khaṇḍa or “action portion” of the Vedas, or alternatively, the Pūrvamīmāṃsā (“prior investigation”).
Many of the Karma Khaṇḍa hymns ask for special favors from the deities and emphasize the worldly rewards of Artha (economic prosperity) and Kāma (sensual pleasure) that come from propitiation to the gods through prescribed sacrifices. Propitiation is the action or ritual with which one seeks to please a deity, a supernatural or natural force, to obtain their forgiveness, favor, or goodwill.
Many of the Mantras reappear in the last part of the Vedas as dense expressions of metaphysical theses. Furthermore, many parts of Karma Khaṇḍa elaborate on the significance of the various Vedic deities, which goes beyond the role that could be assigned to them in a polytheistic context. Instead, what is often found is the elevation of a single deity to the level of the cosmic soul.
A recurring cosmological and ethical vision seems to emerge in Karma Khaṇḍa. It is the idea that the universe is a closed ethical system, supported by a system of reciprocal sacrifice and obligation. In this context, Karma Khaṇḍa promotes the practice of animal sacrifices to the gods to ensure that conditions on earth are habitable and fruitful for all its inhabitants.
Transmission of knowledge
Hinduism began with Shruti, a Sanskrit word meaning “that which is heard” or “divine revelation,” understood by Rishis who lived in time immemorial and who heard eternal truths and transmitted them to the world. Each branch of knowledge is associated with an art, a highly specialized science, and a congruent way of life, therefore, learning takes place alongside a guru who teaches with his own example, as he brings with him the ability to understand the nature of divine manifestation.
For the Hindu, every individual is a Sukshma-Jagat, that is, a “diminutive world,” corroborating the Christian idea that God created man in his image and likeness. Therefore, self-knowledge is a safe way to find your own divine essence (Purusha), because by understanding your own internal forces, the individual will be able to understand all the forces of nature and the universe.
According to Swami Krishnananda Saraswati, theologian, saint, yogi, philosopher, and author of more than forty texts and Master of Yoga, religion, and metaphysics, one of the reasons given is that
“behind this persistence of India's culture lies its capacity for accommodation, which does not reject the ideals of the past and does not ignore the ideals that may advance in the future.”
The Greek army of Alexander the Great from Macedonia entered the Indian subcontinent in 325 BC, ruling for a brief period, but did not go beyond the Hyfasis River (modern Beas River). He did not expand his Empire across India, as occurred with the Persian and White Hun invasions. It can be said that the Greeks and Romans absorbed Hindu knowledge and thought structures to formulate their own cultural traditions, which created the structural bases of Western civilization.
Ecumenical India also gave rise to many missionaries who migrated to the West, teaching respect and ecumenism as true values of their own belief. Hindu culture taught humanity that ethics has a deeper effect on existence and that it must be reflected in culture as an essential value of life.
Philosophical basis for the world's major religions and philosophies
India was the birthplace and place of study, passage and home of great sages. Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, was an Indian prince leader of the Sakya Clan, who gave up the comforts of his kingdom to dedicate himself to spiritual pursuits. Upon attaining Enlightenment (Samádhi), he committed his life to transmitting his wisdom to the world.
We find Hindu references in myths, legends, parables and scriptures of all kinds in the main civilizations and peoples of the world. According to Yogananda, we find in the book Genesis, in the Ten Commandments of Moses, in legends and rituals of the Bible, as well as in the miracles performed by Christ a parallel with the much earlier Indian Vedic literature. The teachings of Christ in the New Testament and of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita have an exact correspondence.
In the field of science, the great achievements of Hindu experts are recognized. The exquisite grammatical structure of the Sanskrit language, one of the oldest in the world, known as Devanagari, is considered the native language, and has influenced languages across the planet. It was codified by the sage Panini in 1600 BC. Divodas Dhanvantari transmitted the teachings of medicine and surgery in 1000 BC, long before the “discovery” in the West. Together with Sushruta, who lived at the same time, they are recognized as the fathers of medicine in the world, followed by Charak, who lived in mid-800 BC.
Aryabhata (476 AD) was one of the first and main astronomers and mathematicians, the first man who transmitted the teachings of algebra and astronomy with enormous precision, at a date long before the discovery acclaimed by the West. He was joined by the astronomer Varahamihir (499 AD), who described the forces of gravity more than a millennium before Isaac Newton (1670 AD).
These facts are highlighted if we consider that, around five thousand years ago,
“when the ancestors of the Britons and Gauls, of Greeks and Latins, roamed the immense forests of Europe in search of food, in the midst of barbarism, the Hindus were already dedicated to meditating on the mystery of life and death.”
Scientific and philosophical root of Hindu spirituality
For Hindu thought, the fundamental problem of all philosophy, science and art is the search for truth. However, “truth is not valuable in itself; it becomes fundamental because knowledge of it helps man to free himself,” it is the recognition of the laws of nature that govern his evolution. For the Hindu, the cause of human suffering is due to ignorance (Avidya) of his divine essence.
The Western conception of science is a commonly anti-religious and non-spiritualist view of the human being and the universe. For the East, material, and spiritual reality, manifested and unmanifested, coexist and interact. Western science separates knowledge into disciplines, but for the Eastern structure of thought everything is permanently connected and interrelated. It cannot be understood in its entirety in isolation, as can be understood in the formulation of Hindu philosophical schools.
There has never been a radical clash between science and religion in India. Hindu philosophy has remained traditional and renewed, so that science and religion have strengthened and helped each other. Truth is one with universal being, and it makes no difference whether it is reached through philosophical, scientific or spiritualist inquiry. For the Hindu, primordial reality must also be investigated and questioned to be understood.
The philosophical schools of Hinduism
It is almost impossible to define when and how the philosophical schools (Dárshanas) were originally formulated or even to calculate their influence on the foundation of so many solid systems around the world. A spirit of philosophical and scientific inquiry sung in pure form in the Vedas was already in force in the first Upanishads. They are systematic studies, written in sutras, the result of faithful oral transmissions.
With high esteem and respect, the speculations of each philosophical school were reconciled with doctrines of existing systems, placed under criticism and analysis that gave rise to countless commentaries, texts as important as the originals of each Dárshana. In the Hindu tradition, it is necessary to recognize the growth that each school has acquired over time, as there is no place for those that only had their importance in a specific period.
Rationalist schools, such as Sámkhyá, Nyáya or Vaisheshika, strongly influenced Western thinkers such as Pythagoras, Socrates, and Aristotle, and contributed to the supply of knowledge in the oldest libraries such as that of Alexandria, which formed the bases of Western logical and rational thought understood today as science or philosophy.
Nyáya School
The Nyáya philosophical school, codified by the sage Shri Gautama in 600 BC, also known as Aksapada Vidya, is applied in describing the conditions, validity, and nature of correct knowledge (Vidya), as well as the means to acquire it. Nyáya means “logic, method” or “science of critical study” and is recognized for highlighting reason, logic, and systematic reasoning as a real instrument of knowledge.
It formed the basic structure of reasoning and logic of Eastern philosophy, especially for other Hindu and world philosophical schools. Its main codification is contained in Shri Gautama's Nyáya Sutra, as well as Vatsyayana's Vatsyayana Bhasya commentaries (500 BC).
The transmission and organization of teaching arose long before writing. The Paramparay system of oral transmission maintained its fidelity and purity for millennia long before the need for codification and the creation of analyzes and comments.
The Nyáya system studies manifested and unmanifested realities for the pursuit of knowledge or Prameya - “that which can be known” or “object of true knowledge”), not necessarily found in the physical world. Prama means “higher knowledge” and refers to everything that must be known, not just material or circumscribed in the universe of the senses.
The Nyáya system accepts and adopts the concept of Pramana, the source of valid or true knowledge. The word also covers the concepts of “measure, limit, authority, testimony, evidence, instrument or means of knowledge.” The acuity of each stage of analysis of the Nyáya system requires discernment, precision, and philosophical depth for it to be considered true or real.
The methods presented for obtaining information in the mind correspond to: Anubhava, knowledge of experience and Smriti, memory, which is derived from the mind and depends on Anubhava. Furthermore, it specifies the form of expression of knowledge and studies the power of words (Mantras), as symbols that have the ability (Sakti) to accurately designate said objects.
Valid and true knowledge (Prameya) is fundamental to liberation in life, the greatest goal of human life, as it completely dispels the darkness of ignorant self-identification and misunderstanding (Mithyajñana).
The Nyáya school adopts the concept of God or Absolute as Supreme Intelligence, since, according to its causal theory, things cannot be the cause of themselves. Considers valid and accepted the testimony of the great sages (Rishis) who experienced the Truth in themselves and who confirm the existence of divine Consciousness.
Yoga School
Yoga is the practical philosophical school of the Hindu tradition that exposes the effective method for expanding individual consciousness and achieving liberation (Kaivalya) and Enlightenment of consciousness (Samádhi) in life. The word Yoga, derived from the Sanskrit root Yuj, means “to unite, join, reconnect”; as well as “button, cure, path, medicine or means”; always related to the concepts of practice (Sádhana) and discipline (Tapas). The main objective is the control of mental waves, which prevent man from realizing his true nature. Therefore, it clarifies the structure and modifications of the mind.
The systematization presented by Patáñjali describes the practice of Yoga in eight stages, known as Ashtanga Yoga, the first two of which, corresponding to the Yamas and Niyamas, constitute “vows not restricted to social class, place, time and much less circumstance”, corresponding to the foundation necessary to begin the path, without which it is impossible to advance.
The Yoga school also describes in detail the other processes through which the mind experiences, by stating that “pain that has not yet arisen can be avoided.” Among them, obstacles (Vikshepas) and afflictions (Kleshas) are of fundamental importance so that the practitioner can understand the impediments on their path.
Concentration is the gateway to Samádhi, a state of experience of the divine Essence. Without concentration, the energy of the mind is dissipated into vague thoughts, worries, and fantasies, and identifies with the things of the world through the senses. In Samádhi, one recognizes only his Purusha, who is unaffected by the afflictions of ignorance, selfishness, desire, aversion, fear, and death. Gradually, one becomes free from Karmas and latent impressions.
Vedanta School
The Vedānta school explains the content of a specific portion of the Vedas. The Pūrvamīmāṃsā is concerned with the earlier portion of the Vedas and the Vedānta school takes care of the final (Anta) portion of the Vedas. The focus of the previous portion is action and Dharma, while that of the last portion is knowledge and Mokṣa. The word Vedānta is best understood as a term that encompasses divergent philosophical views, but which has a common textual connection: its classical expression as a commentary on the text of Bādarāyana.
The synopsis of the contents of the Upaniṣhads is called the Vedānta Sūtras, or Brahma Sūtras, and its author is Bādarāyana (first century BC). The last part of the Vedas is a vast corpus that does not elaborate a single doctrine in the manner of a monograph but rather a collection of speculative texts with overlapping themes and images.
A common thread running through most of the Upaniṣhads is the concern with elaborating the nature of the Ultimate, or Brahman, Ātma or the Self (often equated in these texts with Brahman) and what in subsequent tradition is known as Jīva, or the psychological unity individual.
The Upaniṣhads are clear that Brahman regards creation as its source and support, but its unsystematic nature leaves much to be specified in terms of doctrine. Although the Brahma Sūtras of Bādarāyana is the systematization of the teachings of the Upaniṣhads, many of the verses in the Brahma Sūtras, without a commentary, are obscure and unintelligible. There are three famous commentaries (Bhāṣyas) on the Brahma Sūtras:
The 8th century CE commentary of Śaṅkara (Advaita);
The 12th century CE commentary of Rāmānuja (Viśiṣṭādvaita);
The 13th century CE commentary of Madhva (Dvaita).
There appear to have been no less than twenty-one commentators on the Brahma Sūtras before Madhva, who is by no means the last commentator. Important names in the history of Indian theology are among latter-day commentators:
Nimbārka (13th century AD), Śrkaṇṭha (15th century AD), Vallabha (16th century AD) and Baladeva (18th century AD).
Dvaita School
Madhva is one of the main theistic exponents of Vedānta. On his account, Brahman is a personal God, and specifically, He is the Hindu deity Viṣṇu. According to Madhva, reality is characterized by a fivefold difference:
Jīvas (individual people) are different from God;
The Jīvas are also different from each other;
Inanimate objects are different from God;
Inanimate objects are different from other inanimate objects;
Inanimate objects are different from Jīvas.
The number of types of entities in Madhva's account appears to be three: God,Jīvas , and inanimate objects. However, the actual number of objects in Madhva's account appears to be extremely high. This substantial pluralism differentiates Madhva from the other leading exponents of Vedānta.
A distinctive doctrine of Madhva's Vedānta is its view that the Jīvas fall in a hierarchy, with the most exalted Jīvas occupying a place below Viṣṇu (like Viṣṇu's companions in his eternal abode) down to the lowest Jīvas, who occupy regions dark hell. Furthermore, according to Madhva, the rank of Jīvas is eternal and therefore those who occupy the lowest hells are eternally damned.
Among the mid-level Jīvas, the most virtuous Gods and humans are eligible for liberation. The average among the middle-level Jīvas transmigrates forever, while the lowest among the middle-level Jīvas are in the upper hells.
Advaita School
Combining the negative particle “a” with the term Dvaita creates the term, Advaita. The term “dvaita” is often translated as “dualism,” just as the term “advaita” is often translated as “non-dualism.”
Dvaita in the context of Vedānta nomenclature is an ordinal, which means “secondness.” Dvaita Vedānta holds that there is something called secondness – something extra, which comes after the first: Brahman. Advaita Vedānta, in contrast, asserts that Brahman is one without a second. Advaita can thus be translated as “monism,” “non-duality” or more clearly as “non-secondity.”
The main author of the Advaita tradition is Śaṅkara. In addition to writing several philosophical works, the commentator on the Brahma Sūtras founded four monasteries in the four corners of India. The successive heads of the monasteries bear the name Śaṅkara. This led to great confusion about the views of Śaṅkara, the commentator on the Brahma Sūtras, as many of his successors were also authors of philosophical works with the same name.
The German philologist and scholar of Indian philosophy, Paul Hacker, concluded that only a part of the works attributed to Śaṅkara are his. These genuine works include commentaries on the Upaniṣhads and a commentary on the Bhagavad Gītā.
Visistādvaita School
Viśiṣṭādvaita is often translated as “qualified non-dualism.” An alternative and more informative translation is “non-duality of the qualified whole,” or perhaps “non-duality with qualifications.” The main exponent of this school is Rāmānuja, who attempted to avoid the illusionistic implications of Advaita Vedānta and the perceived logical problems of the Bhedābheda view while trying to reconcile the parts of the Upaniṣhads that affirmed substantial monism and those that affirmed substantial monism. Rāmānuja's solution to his problem is to defend a theistic and organismic conception of Brahman.
The status of Hindu philosophy
Hindu philosophers have varying opinions on many prominent issues in philosophy. Not everyone agreed on whether God is a person, on the nature and scope of the epistemic validity of the Vedas, on basic questions of axiology such as the content of morality. Some affirm the importance of acts prescribed by the Vedas, such as animal sacrifices, while others, such as Yoga philosopher Patañjali, seem to suggest that violence should always be avoided.
Similarly, some Hindu philosophers, such as Rāmānuja, maintain that the content of the Vedas is always binding. Others, like Śaṅkara, consider it as a provisional obligation, subject to a person who does not take liberation seriously. Not all Hindu philosophers agree about whether there is such a thing as liberation. Most recognize its existence while the first Pūrvamīmāṃsā do not.
Although all Hindu philosophers argue that there is such a thing as an individual “self,” they differ radically in their explanation of the reality and nature of that individual. The difference in ontology reflects the rich metaphysical diversity: some claim the existence of a plurality of objects; qualities and relations (such as Vaiśeṣika, Dvaita Vedānta) while others do not (Advaita Vedānta).
Hindu philosophy is not a static doctrine, but a growing tradition rich in diverse philosophical perspectives. Contrary to some popular accounts, what is presented as Hindu philosophy in recent times is not simply an elaboration of ancient tradition, but a reevaluation and dialectical evolution of Hindu philosophical thought. Far from diminishing the authority or authenticity of recent Hindu speculation, what this shows is that Hindu philosophy is a living, vibrant tradition that shows no sign of, in the future, being fossilized as a curiosity of the past.
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