Achyuta Gurukul] Shad darshan: additional Inquiry to deeper understanding

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First I apologize for intruding into this thread. Well we see that

Internet is filled up with sayings that shad darshana-s are

diverging schools of thought. It is not TRUE.

 

Here is a related abstract:

 

Vedic thought forms the basis of present day Hindu traditions.

Teaching its six darshana-s was common in ancient India's gurukula-s

and schools, be they Vedic, Bauddha, or Jaina. With happiness (and

Happiness or Moksha) as the self evident human life pursuit, the

ancient sages modelled a pedagogy to reach or experience bliss and

real happiness in everyone's mundane life as well. I propose that

the six darshana-s were the result and eventually means of this

pedagogy.

 

We look at the six darshana-s in the order of sAKhya, yOga, nyAya,

vaishEshika, pUrva mImAmsa, and uttara mImAmsa as the six successive

steps, not as various or divergent schools, in ancient Gurukula

pedagogy. Typically, they were all taught in the same gurukula

school. Ancient sages surmised from the Veda-s that "That One

Indivisible Indescribable Divinity ever exists in everyone and

everything everywhere; Its nature is immutable, omniscient, and

bliss (sat-chit-Ananda); experiencing It is the real lasting

happiness and is the purpose of our lives". Thus r`Si Kapila's

sAKhya of learning about this material world and universe (prakr`ti)

fully occupied by Divinity (PuruSa) is the first step in this

learning process. The next step is sage Patanjali's yOga - a

systematic way of proving the existence of puruSa in us and in every

material through its eight indivisible limbs. Through the daily

practices of yama-niyama-Asana-prANAyAma-pratyAhAra and the

techniques of DhAraNa and DhyAna, the student learns to reach

samADhi and verify teacher's claim. Succeeding in this step is

crucial to usher in harmony and happiness, and to properly grasp the

next steps.

 

nyAya and vaishEshika develop intellectual logic and rigor, and its

limitations, needed to establish facts and know truth. All along,

seeking That Divinity is not forgotten nor ignored. Thus the logical

tools (shruti, pratyakSa, upamA, anumAnaH) to verify the

relationship among prakr`ti, PuruSa, Dharma, Atman, and ParamAtman

are mastered. In the fifth step of pUrva mImAmsa, dealing with karma

section of the Veda-s and the daily living practices, student learns

and fashions his/her life so as to reach That goal in this very

life. This practice goes hand-in-hand with yOga's pratyAhAra, of

turning the mind towards Divinity. After the studies, the student

would live through family life thus and support the society in line

with Dharma. Then student is exposed to uttara mImAmsa or the

science of Vedanta in the sixth step, which he/she shall utilize in

later life to his benefit and also to teach the full pedagogy to

younger generations.

 

A wholesome re-examination of these darshana-s in this light is

relevant for teaching Hinduism. The points of differences from one

step to another are pedagogical needs only just as Bohr's atomic

model taught in science high schools is highly at variance from

particle physics of graduate school