Indian Philosophy (Bharatiya Darshan)
Indian Philosophy (Bharatiya Darshan) tests how well you distinguish schools by their pramanas, metaphysics and arguments. The board expects accurate Sanskrit terminology and the ability to reconstruct a school's position rather than quote slogans.
Core framework
- Astika schools accept Vedic authority: Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta. Nastika schools-Charvaka, Jaina and Bauddha-reject it.
- Pramanas: pratyaksha (perception), anumana (inference), shabda (testimony), upamana (comparison), arthapatti (postulation) and anupalabdhi (non-apprehension). Mimamsa and Vedanta accept six; Nyaya accepts four; Charvaka accepts only perception.
- Nyaya analyses inference through five members: pratijna, hetu, udaharana, upanaya, nigamana.
- Advaita Vedanta: Brahman alone real; jiva and jagat are maya-dependent. Vishishtadvaita: qualified non-dualism. Dvaita: real distinction between God and souls.
- Jaina syadvada and anekantavada express conditional predication, not indifference to truth.
Worked example
Question: ‘Sound is non-eternal because it is produced, like a pot.’ Identify the Nyaya members. Reasoning: pratijna = ‘sound is non-eternal’; hetu = ‘because it is produced’; udaharana = ‘like a pot’; upanaya = ‘sound is produced’; nigamana = ‘therefore sound is non-eternal.’ The hetu must be present in the paksha, absent from vipaksha and free from fallacies.
Traps
Do not call Charvaka ‘materialist’ without noting its rejection of inference as unreliable. Do not confuse Samkhya's purusha and prakriti with Advaita's Brahman. Do not treat maya as mere illusion in every Vedanta school. Do not mix up pramana counts.