दर्शन · darśana — a way of seeing
Indian Philosophy
Explore the ideas that shaped thousands of years of Indian thought.
From the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita to Yoga, Vedanta, Buddhism, Jainism, Shaivism and beyond.
26 traditions · 69 texts · concepts, thinkers and comparisons — all connected
Question first
What are you trying to understand?
षड्दर्शन
The six darshanas
- 1न्यायNyayaThe school of logic and epistemology: right reasoning as a path to liberation.
- 2वैशेषिकVaisheshikaA realist, atomist account of the categories of reality.
- 3साङ्ख्यSankhyaA dualist analysis of reality into pure consciousness and creative nature.
- 4योगYoga (Patanjala)A discipline of mind for isolating pure consciousness, built on Sankhya metaphysics.
- 5पूर्व मीमांसाPurva MimamsaThe science of interpreting the Veda, centred on dharma as ritual duty.
- 6वेदान्तVedantaThe family of schools that interpret the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita.
Compare perspectives
What is the Self?
Indian traditions give sharply different answers to what, if anything, the word "I" ultimately refers to. The rows below summarise each tradition's own account.
Understand → compare → reflect. No view is ranked.
- Advaita
- The Self is pure consciousness, identical with Brahman.
- Vishishtadvaita
- The self is an eternal knower, a real mode of Brahman.
- Dvaita
- The self is eternally distinct from God and every other self.
- Sankhya
- The Self is one of many pure, inactive witnesses (purusha).
- Yoga
- The Self is the seer, apparently coloured by the mind's fluctuations.
- Nyaya
- The self is an eternal substance that becomes conscious through a mind.
Concepts that travel across traditions
All conceptsFirst complete module
The Bhagavad Gita, with Sadhak Sanjivani
All 700 verses — Sanskrit, Hindi and English, word-by-word meanings and Swami Ramsukhdas’s full commentary — with a learning layer for every verse of Chapter 2 and the key verses of every chapter.
Today’s verse ·
अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे।गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिता:॥ ११॥
You grieve for those not worth grieving over while speaking learned words; the wise grieve neither for the dead nor for the living.तुम अशोच्यका शोक करते हो और पण्डिताईकी बातें कहते हो; पण्डित मृत या जीवित किसीके लिये शोक नहीं करते।
तुमने शोक न करनेयोग्यका शोक किया है और विद्वत्ता (पण्डिताई) की बातें कह रहे हो; (परन्तु) जिनके प्राण चले गये हैं, उनके लिये और जिनके प्राण नहीं गये हैं, उनके लिये पण्डितलोग शोक नहीं करते।
The Blessed Lord said: Arjuna, you grieve for those who should not be grieved at, yet speak as if a man of wisdom. The wise grieve, neither for the living, nor for the dead.
A library that knows how its books connect
The whole libraryLearning paths
All pathsI know nothing about Indian philosophy
A gentle first walk through the big ideas that recur across Indian thought, anchored in the Bhagavad Gita. By the end you will know the core vocabulary and be ready to explore the individual schools.
How do we know something is true?→Gita 2.7→Dharma→Gita 3.35→Karma→Gita 2.47…
Understanding God
A tour of how Indian traditions conceive of the Divine, beginning with the Gita and the Upanishads and moving through devotional, Vedantic, Shaiva, Shakta and Sikh understandings. Each step is presented on its own terms, without ranking.
Gita 7.7→Gita 9.4→Gita 15.17→Shvetashvatara Upanishad→Brahman→Bhakti — devotion…
Understanding the mind
How Indian traditions map the mind and train it, from the Gita's practice and dispassion to Sankhya's model, Patanjali's Yoga, Hatha Yoga's breath and body, and Buddhist meditation. It shows both shared techniques and different views of what lies beyond the mind.
Gita 6.34→Gita 6.35→Gita 6.19→Sankhya→Buddhi — intellect→25 Tattvas Explorer…
Who am I?
A path through the texts that make the question 'Who am I?' their centre, from the Gita and Upanishads to Advaita manuals and Ramana Maharshi. It follows mainly the Advaita line of interpretation and closes with a contrast from Buddhism so the alternative is visible.
Gita 2.13→Gita 2.20→Gita 13.1→Katha Upanishad→Mandukya Upanishad→Brihadaranyaka Upanishad…