Darśanas (Indian philosophy)

Indian philosophy refers to ancient philosophical tradition of Indian subcontinent. The two broad branches of Indian philosophy are Orthodox or Āstika and heterodox Nāstika. There are six major schools for the orthodox system. Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Pūrvamīmāṃsā, and Vedānta. Buddhism, Jainism, Materialism etc. are included in the heterodox system.

V.V has referred to some basic aspects of the Orthodox systems of Indian philosophy. Here an attempt is made to analyse the philosophical concepts found scattered in V.V.

In the fourth Canto, Nanda donate wealth of all kinds to the Brahmins for the sake of the son. Here Vāsudeva attributes the Lord as the one whom the Sāṅkhyas addressed the first Puruṣa with 25 principles.^[1]

When commenting this verse, he quotes the 25 principles of creation of Sāṅkhya philosophy:

mūlaprakṛtiravikṛtirmmahadādyāḥ prakṛtivikṛtayassapta |
ṣoḍaśakaśca vikāro na prakṛtirna vikṛtiḥ puruṣaḥ ||^[2] iti saptatau |

Sāṅkhyasaptati is otherwise known as Sāṅkhyakārikā and is composed by Īśvarakṛṣṇa. Puruṣa, Prakṛti, Mahat(buddhi), Ahaṅkāra, Manas(mind) five sense organs (jñānendriyas), five organs of action (karmendriyas), the five subtle elements (tanmatras), the five gross elements (mahābhūtas) are the twenty five principles of Sāṅkhya. These twenty five principles are mentioned also in the sixth Canto, when he eulogises Lord Viṣṇu. It is stated as Viṣṇu created the race of principles beginning from Mahat to Prithvī.^[3]

There are some more references to Sāṅkhya philosophy. The Aṣṭaiśvaryas viz.

aṇimā mahimā caiva laghimā garimā tathā |
īśitvaṃ ca vaśitvaṃ ca prāptiḥ prākāmyameva ca ||^[4]

Are cited to praise Lord Viṣṇu in order to get Salvation. The man who is dovetailed with aṇimā etc. as well as praised other deities like Brahman will not attain salvation if he is not worshiped Kṛṣṇa. Aṣṭaiśvaryas are included in the basic tenets of philosophy and also in Hinduism.

Thus the philosophy of Sāṅkhya is incorporated in Vāsudevavijaya In the same way, the Yoga philosophy has referred to in Vāsudevavijaya The definition of Yoga given by Patañjali in Yogasūtra i.e yogaścittavṛttinirodhaḥ^[5] is incorporated in the commentary of V.V. This definition is mentioned in the fifth canto, at the time Garga’s return in to his hermitage after the naming ceremony. Here Garga pleased Nanda with loveable words and went to his hermitage for meditation^[6]. In the commentary of this verse Vāsudeva states that cittavṛttinirodhalakṣaṇāya yogāya^[7] It is the cessation of the meditation of the mind. It is the important concept of Yoga philosophy.

In another context at the time of the description of Māyā, it says trayoviṃśatitattvarūpā^[8] formed by the 23 priciples. This is according to Yoga philosophy.

To substantiate this Vāsudeva quotes a scholar named Bopadeva.^[9] He says:-

tatra yogamate-cittaṃ nāma tattvāntaraṃ na hi, atastrayoviṃśatiko gaṇaḥ iti bopadevaḥ |

According to Bopadevacitta or mind is not a separate principle and thus 23 principles in Yoga philosophy. ThusVāsudeva uses the word trayoviṃśatitattvarūpā | Hence, there can be found references for Yoga philosophy.

In the same way there are hints for the Pūrvamīmāṃsā too. In the first Canto it is stated that nigamārthavartanīḥ mīmāṃsamānam |^[10] It is an attribute to Brahmā and it means the one who worship the path of Vedas. It is generally ascribed to the Pūrvamīmāṃsā philosophy which is also known as Karmamīmāṃsā. This philosophy advises to attain Salvation through the performance of the rituals and sacrifices as instructed by the Vedas. Thus it can be considered as a basic of Mīmāṃsā philosophy. The rituals and sacrifices can be found throughout in V.V. Thus the impact of Pūvamīmāṃsā philosophy in Vāsudevavijaya cannot be avoided.

The philosophy of Vedānta can be traced in the sixth Canto. To sum up, Vāsudeva has well aware in the discipline of Indian Philosophy. But he employs the principles of Sāṅkhya and Yoga philosophies more in his poem.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

puruṣaṃ yamuśanti pañcaviṃśaṃ kṛtino'naśvaramādyamātmajasya |
udayārethamamuṣya tāṃ pitā'pad varivasyākuśalaiḥ sahātmavargyaiḥ || Prof.Vijayapal Sastri.op.cit.v.4.49

[2]:

Sāṅkhyakārikā, Īśvarakṛṣṇa. verse 3, P.12.

[3]:

dadraṣṭha cāturvaidyaṃ tvaṃ sasmartha ca punaḥ śrutīḥ |
mahadādi pṛthivyantaṃ tattvajātaṃ sasarjitha ||P rof.Vijayapal Sastri.op.cit.v.6.72

[4]:

Īśvarakṛṣṇa.op.cit.v.45, P.127.

[5]:

Yogasūtra. 1

[6]:

vākyairakṛtrimarasaiḥ praṇayenanandamebhiḥ pratoṣya sa sahāyudhikāgavīnam |
īṣatpaṭuskhalananaikaṭikaiṇapetaṃ yogāya yogyahṛdṛṣiḥ svakuṭīramāṭīt || Prof.Vijayapal Sastri.op.cit.v.5.8

[7]:

ibid.p.98

[8]:

mahiyasīrūpatayoditā yā hṛllekhasaṃsārabhayāpahartrī |
yā ca trayoviṃśatitattvarūpā varṇāstriṣaṣṭiśca vapuryadīyam ||ibid, v.2.54

[9]:

There is a famous grammarian one who composed the grammatical treatise Mugdhabodha. He is also a philosopher who considered Bhakti as the supreme rasa. He composed commentary on Bhāgavataviz. Paramahaṃsapriyā. Dayanandasaraswati considered Bopadeva as the author of Bhāgavatapurāṇa, where as some scholars like Baladeva Upadhyaya suggest that Bhāgavata was already popular before the period of Bopadeva of 13^th century. (www.kamakotimandali.com)

[10]:

mīmāṃsamānaṃ nigamārthavartanīrandvijitrī samiteḥ śuṭātha sā |
kārśyaṃ dadhatyarttibharātpraṇatya taṃ jagaddhitejāgratamārcicadgirā ||P rof.Vijayapal Sastri.op.cit.v.1.3