Orthodox Hinduism

Orthodox Hinduism (Sanskrit: Āstika — "those who accept") denotes the set of Hindu philosophical schools, textual traditions, and ritual systems that accept the authority of the **Vedas** (śruti) as foundational scripture and source of religious law. Āstika traditions are classically contrasted with nāstika (heterodox) systems such as Buddhism, Jainism and Cārvāka that reject Vedic authority.^[1][2]

Adi Shankaracharya

Terminology and scope

The Sanskrit label āstika has multiple senses in the Indian textual tradition; most relevant here is its use for schools that treat the Vedas as a canonical authority for dharma and ritual practice. In some classical definitions āstika is further associated with acceptance of certain metaphysical or social norms, but its central meaning in the context of Indian philosophy is Vedic authority.^[3][4]

Core beliefs and concepts

Although the six classical āstika darśanas vary in metaphysics and method, they commonly presuppose the authority of the Vedas and center on shared soteriological and ethical concepts: **dharma** (duty, law), **karma** (moral causation), **saṃsāra** (cycle of rebirth) and **mokṣa** (liberation). Debates across schools concern the nature of ātman, Brahman, epistemic sources (pramāṇas) and the path to liberation, producing a diversity of dualist, qualified-nondual and nondual positions within the āstika fold.^[5][6]

Authoritative texts

The textual foundations for āstika traditions are the four Vedas (Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma, Atharva), their Brāhmaṇa and Āraṇyaka layers, the Upaniṣads, and technical texts such as the Brāhmaṇa/Śrauta literature, the Bhagavad-Gītā and the Brahma-Sūtra (Vedānta-sūtra). Later exegetical literature (smṛti, śāstra and commentarial works) and the sutra/commentary genres of the darśanas provide hermeneutical rules and technical doctrines that shaped classical āstika thought.^[7][8]

Classical schools (Ṣaḍdarśana)

Classical āstika thought is usually associated with the six darśanas (ṣaḍdarśana) that accept Vedic authority: **Nyāya**, **Vaiśeṣika**, **Sāṃkhya**, **Yoga**, **Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā** and **Vedānta**. Each school develops its own methods (logic, hermeneutics, metaphysical analysis or meditative praxis) while remaining within the Vedic interpretive horizon.^[9][10]

Sāṃkhya and Yoga

Sāṃkhya presents a classical dualist metaphysics that distinguishes puruṣa (consciousness) from prakṛti (primordial matter) and enumerates tattvas (principles) that explain empirical emergence; Yoga (in Patañjali's sutric formulation) provides a practical discipline — ethical precepts, meditation and samādhi — aimed at realizing the distinction and securing kaivalya (liberation).^[11][12]

Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika

Nyāya develops a rigorous theory of knowledge (pramāṇas) and inference that underpins debate and valid cognition; Vaiśeṣika contributes an early atomic/ontological classification of reality (padārthas). Commentarial histories show close cross-influence and eventual synthetical developments in Nyāya–Vaiśeṣika literature.^[13]

Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā and Vedānta

Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā centers on ritual exegesis and the authoritative force of Vedic injunctions (karma-kāṇḍa), while Vedānta (Uttara-Mīmāṃsā) interprets the Upaniṣads, debating the relation of Brahman and ātman and producing major subtraditions such as Advaita (Śaṅkara), Viśiṣṭādvaita (Rāmānuja) and Dvaita (Mādhva).^[5][14]

History and textual development

The āstika traditions grew out of Vedic ritual and Upaniṣadic reflection and consolidated over centuries through sutra/commentary genres, medieval scholasticism and regional interpretive lineages. Classic modern histories and surveys map these developments from Vedic layers through classical darśana exegesis to medieval commentarial debates and modern reinterpretations.^[3][10]

Ritual practice and social organization

Classical āstika literatures (Brāhmaṇas, Dharmaśāstras, Mīmāṃsā works) codified ritual practice, life-stage duties (āśrama) and varṇa-related roles; these texts influenced social institutions historically, although lived practice and regional variations produced considerable diversity and later reform movements contested aspects of caste and ritual orthodoxy.^[15][16]

Modern scholarship, reform and critique

Contemporary scholarship treats āstika systems both as living traditions and as historical philosophical corpora; modern authors and commentators have reinterpreted classical doctrines in light of textual criticism, colonial encounters and modern social reform debates, producing diverse contemporary engagements with orthodox ideas and practices.^[17][10]

Further reading

Selected book references

• Flood, Gavin D., An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press, 1996. ^[1]
• Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli & Charles A. Moore (eds.), A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy. Princeton University Press, 1957 (reprints). ^[2]
• Dasgupta, Surendranath, A History of Indian Philosophy. Motilal Banarsidass. ^[3]
• Sarma, Deepak, Classical Indian Philosophy: A Reader. Columbia University Press, 2011. ^[5]
• Matilal, Bimal Krishna, Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 1977. ^[13]
• Larson, Gerald James, Classical Sāṃkhya. Motilal Banarsidass / Columbia University, 1969/2001. ^[11]
• Potter, Karl H., The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies. Motilal Banarsidass. ^[9]
• Olivelle, Patrick, The Early Upanishads. Oxford University Press, 1998. ^[7]
• Müller, F. Max, The Upanishads (Sacred Books of the East). Oxford University Press, 1890. ^[8]
• Easwaran, Eknath (trans.), The Bhagavad Gita. Nilgiri Press, various editions. ^[18]
• Bryant, Edwin F., The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali. North Point Press, 2009 (ed.). ^[12]
• Deutsch, Eliot, Advaita Vedānta: A Philosophical Reconstruction. University Press of Hawaii, 1969. ^[14]
• The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedanta, editor(s), Bloomsbury, 2020. ^[19]
• Torwesten, Hans & Loly Rosset, Vedanta: Heart of Hinduism. (publisher details vary by edition). ^[20]
• Sharma, B. N. K., History of the Dvaita School of Vedanta and its Literature. Motilal Banarsidass. ^[21]
• Klostermaier, Klaus K., A Survey of Hinduism / Hinduism: A Short History. Oneworld / Routledge (editions). ^[16]
• Doniger, Wendy, The Hindus: An Alternative History. Oxford University Press, 2009. ^[17]
• Bose, Ram Chandra, Hindu Philosophy Popularly Explained: The Orthodox Systems. (recent editions). ^[22]
• Anthology of Kumārila Bhaṭṭa's Works, ed. P. S. Sharma, Motilal Banarsidass, 1980. ^[23]
• Chatterjee, Satischandra & Dhirendramohan Datta, An Introduction to Indian Philosophy. Motilal Banarsidass / Calcutta University editions. ^[24]
• Hiriyanna, M., Outlines of Indian Philosophy. Motilal Banarsidass. ^[4]
• Basham, A. L., The Wonder That Was India. Sidgwick & Jackson / Fontana. ^[25]
• Smith, Brian K., Reflections on Resemblance, Ritual, and Religion. Motilal Banarsidass. ^[15]