The Six Darshanas

The six orthodox schools (shad-darshanas) are usually named as Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa, and Vedanta. They are called “orthodox” here in the classical sense that they accept the authority of the Veda, even when they disagree sharply on what the Veda means, what counts as valid knowledge, and what liberation finally is.

Classical doxographies often group them as three working pairs: Nyaya–Vaisheshika for logic and categories of reality, Samkhya–Yoga for metaphysical analysis and disciplined practice, and Mimamsa–Vedanta for Vedic interpretation in its ritual and metaphysical dimensions. The pairing is heuristic rather than absolute, but it helps a new reader see how schools developed in conversation rather than isolation.

Each school is anchored in foundational texts and commentarial traditions: Gautama’s Nyaya Sutra opens with its subjects of inquiry (pramana-prameya-samsaya..., 1.1.1); Kanada’s Vaisheshika Sutra begins by defining dharma and the categories of inquiry (1.1.1–4); Jaimini opens the Mimamsa Sutra withathato dharma jijnasa (1.1.1); Badarayana opens the Brahma Sutra with athato brahma jijnasa (1.1.1); and Patanjali defines Yoga in Yoga Sutra 1.2 asyogas chitta-vritti-nirodhah. Samkhya is classically represented for many readers through Ishvarakrishna’s Samkhya Karika, though the school is older than that text.

Citations above refer to the opening passages of the foundational texts commonly used to introduce each school. This page is a navigation hub, not a substitute for the sutras, karikas, and bhashyas themselves.