Nastika
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Nastika (नास्तिक, nāstika; "heterodox") and Astika (Sanskrit: आस्तिक, IAST:āstika; "orthodox") are technical terms used in Hinduism to classify philosophical schools and persons, according to whether or not they accept the authority of the Vedic scriptures as supreme.[1] There are six orthodox (Veda accepting) school of Hindu philosophy: Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Raja Yoga, Purva Mimamsa and Vedanta, which are classified as astika schools; three other systems of Indian philosopy are considered to be nastika schools: Carvaka, Jainism and Buddhism. [2]
In Hindu philosophy it is more important to accept the authority of the Vedas than it is to accept the existence of a God (Theism). Thus, unlike other religions, the criterion of both orthodoxy and heresy in Hinduism is not connected to the belief in, or worship of, a particular God. Notably even among the astika schools, samkhya[3]and the early mimamsa school do not accept a God (while still accepting the authority of the Vedas); thus are still astika schools.
"In modern Indian languages, 'āstika' and 'nāstika' [are sometimes used to] mean 'theist' and 'atheist', respectively. But in Sanskrit philosophical literature, 'āstika' means 'one who believes in the authority of the Vedas'...[4]
Etymology
Astika (IAST:āstika) is a Sanskrit adjective (and noun) that is derived from asti ("it is or exists")[5] meaning "believing" or "pious";[6] or "one who believes in the existence (of God, of another world, etc.)."[5] Nastika (na (not) + āstika) is its negative, literally meaning "not believing" or "not pious". As used in Indian philosophy nastika refers to belief in Vedic authority, not belief or lack of belief in theism. As N. N. Bhattacharyya writes:
The followers of Tantra are often branded as Nāstika by the upholders of the Vedic tradition. The term Nāstika does not denote an atheist. It is applied only to those who do not believe in the Vedas. The Sāṅkhyas and Mīmāṃsakas do not believe in God, but they believe in the Vedas and hence they are not Nāstikas. The Buddhists, Jains, and Cārvākas do not believe in the Vedas; hence they are Nāstikas.[7]
Classification of schools
Many Indian intellectual traditions were codified during the medieval period into a standard list of six orthodox systems, the shaddarshanas (şaddarśana), all of which cite Vedic authority as their source:[8]
- Nyaya, the school of logic
- Vaisheshika, the atomist school
- Samkhya, the enumeration school
- Yoga, the school of Patanjali (which assumes the metaphysics of Samkhya)
- Purva Mimamsa (or simply Mimamsa), the tradition of Vedic exegesis, and
- Vedanta (also called Uttara Mimamsa), the Upanishadic tradition.
These are often coupled into three groups for both historical and conceptual reasons: Nyaya-Vaishesika, Samkhya-Yoga, and Mimamsa-Vedanta.
The three main heterodox schools of Indian philosophy do not base their beliefs on Vedic authority:
The use of the term nastika to describe Buddhism and Jainism in India is explained by Gavin Flood as follows:
At an early period, during the formation of the Upanişads and the rise of Buddhism and Jainism, we must envisage a common heritage of meditation and mental discipline practiced by renouncers with varying affiliations to non-orthodox (Veda-rejecting) and orthodox (Veda-accepting) traditions.... These schools [such as Buddhism and Jainism] are understandably regarded as heterodox (nāstika) by orthodox (āstika) Brahmanism. [9]
The Tantric traditions in Hinduism, have both astika and nastika lines; as Banerji writes in "Tantra in Bengal":
Tantras are ... also divided as āstika or Vedic and nāstika or non-Vedic. In accordance with the predominance of the deity the āstika works are again divided as Śākta, Śaiva, Saura, Gāṇapatya and Vaiṣṇava.[10]
Heresy in Hinduism
The history of heresy in Hinduism is not quite commensurate with the history of heretical movements found in Christianity or Islam. Theologically, many streams of Hinduism are remarkably tolerant and pluralistic, allowing for freedom of worship, and co-existence (even pro-existence) with other relgious points of view. Nevertheless, there have also been examples of violence in Hinduism towards nastika groups such the Jains and Buddhists. For instance, Madhva was known as the "hammer of the Jains" because he encourged the impaling of nastika Jains who refused to accept his phiosophical views of Dvaita Vedanta.
Notes
- ↑ Flood 1996, pp. 82, 224-49
- ↑ For an overview of this method of classification, with detail on the grouping of schools, see: Radhakrishnan & Moore 1989
- ↑ "By Sāṃkhya reasoning, the material principle itself simply evolves into complex forms, and there is no need to hold that some spiritual power governs the material principle or its ultimate source." Francis Clooney, CJ, "Restoring 'Hindu Theology' as a category in Indian intellectual discourse", in Flood 2003
- ↑ Chatterjee & Datta 1984, pp. 5, footnote 1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Monier-Williams 2006
- ↑ Apte 1965, pp. 240
- ↑ Bhattacharyya 1999, pp. 174
- ↑ Flood 1996, pp. 231-2
- ↑ Flood 1996, pp. 82
- ↑ Banerji 1992, pp. 2
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Macdonell, Arthur A. (2006), A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary, Nataraj Books, ISBN 978-1881338567
- Banerji, S. C. (1992), Tantra in Bengal (Second Revised and Enlarged ed.), Delhi: Manohar, ISBN 81-85425-63-9
- Bhattacharyya, N. N. (1999), History of the Tantric Religion (Second Revised ed.), New Delhi: Manohar, ISBN 81-7304-025-7
- Chatterjee, Satischandra & Dhirendramohan Datta (1984), An Introduction to Indian Philosophy (Eighth Reprint ed.), University of Calcutta
- Flood, Gavin (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 8175960280
- Flood, Gavin, ed. (2003), Blackwell companion to Hinduism, Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 0-631-21535-2
- Monier-Williams. Monier-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary. Nataraj Books, 2006. ISBN 18-81338-58-4
- Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli & Charles A. Moore (1989), A Source Book in Indian Philosophy (Princeton paperback 12th ed.), Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-01958-4
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