[Sidenote: The Nyaya.]
It is doubtful, however, whether the earlier form of the Nyaya was
theistic or not. The later form is so, but it says nothing of the moral
attributes of God, nor of his government. The chief end of man,
according to the Nyaya, is deliverance from pain; and this is to be
attained by cessation from all action, whether good or bad.
[Sidenote: The Sankhya.]
The Sankhya declares matter to be self-existent and eternal. Soul is
distinct from matter, and also eternal. When it attains true knowledge
it is liberated from matter and from pain. The Sankhya holds the
existence of God to be without proof.
[Sidenote: The Vedanta.]
But the leading philosophy of India is unquestionably the Vedanta. The
name means "the end or scope of the Veda;" and if the Upanishads were
the Veda, instead of treatises tacked on to it, the name would be
correct; for the Vedanta, like the Upanishads, inculcates pantheism.
The form which this philosophy ultimately assumed is well represented in
the treatise called the Vedanta Sara, or essence of the Vedanta. A few
extracts will suffice to exhibit its character. "The unity of the soul
and God--this is the scope of all Vedanta treatises." We have frequent
references made to the "great saying," _Tat twam_--that is, That art
thou, or Thou art God; and _Aham Brahma_, that is, I am God.
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