ajAti vAda

The yoga sUtras of patanjali form the basis for the yoga school of thought. Generally,
the principles of sAm.khya are accepted in the texts on yoga, so that these two schools
are usually paired together. However, ISvara, an Omniscient God, as a 25th principle, is
an important feature of the yoga school. There is a commentary on the yoga sUtras by
vyAsa, to which SankarAcArya has written a sub-commentary. The metaphysics and
psychology of yoga (and sAm.khya, through yoga) have been absorbed into the vedAnta
schools. Indeed, most of the post-Sankaran non-advaita schools of vedAnta can be seen
as restatements of the sAmkhya pluralism, with an added theistic dimension, which
comes from the influence of bhakti in Indian religion.
Thus, these four schools emphasize one or more of logic, psychology, ontology and
metaphysics. They do not necessarily rely on Sruti (i.e. the vedas) as an independent
pramANa (valid source of knowledge), though they do not explicitly reject it either.
vaiSeshika, sAm.khya and yoga schools of thought do not offer an exalted place to the
vedas. The nyAya school makes these texts to be the compositions of a Creator God, but
the existence of this Creator is itself established only through the inferential arguments
proposed by the logicians. Thus, the validity of the veda is dependent on the validity of
their logical analysis. When the nyAya authors say that the vedas also offer evidence for
the existence of a Creator God, they commit the fallacy of arguing in a circle - the veda
is valid because it was composed by a Creator God, and the Creator God exists because
the veda says so. This is a logical fallacy committed by most theologians, and is not
acceptable to the mImAm.sA and vedAnta schools of thought.
*** An alternative definition of an Astika school is acording to its acceptance of an
Omniscient, Omnipotent Creator God. In this viewpoint, all the usual nAstika schools
remain so, but both sAm.khya and pUrva mImAm.sA would have to be described as
nAstika. It is very interesting to note that such a notable mImAm.sA author as kumArila
bhaTTa argues vigorously for the unquestioned validity of the vedas, and equally
vigorously against the notion of a Creator God. And it should also be noted that,
according to this definition, the ajAti vAda school of advaita vedAnta would be
considered nAstika by rival schools of vedAnta. Therefore, the demarcation of
Astika/nAstika thought, according to the acceptance of the vedas or otherwise, is
historically and doctrinally more accurate.
THE UPANISHADS
Transliteration Key