ABSTRACT
The Six Systems of Hindu thought are the Vaisesika of Kanada, the Nyaya of Gotama, the Samkhya of Kapila, the Yoga of Patanjali, the Mimamsa of Jaimini, and the Vedanta of Vyasa. The Six Systems are regarded as astika, or orthodox, because, unlike Buddhism and Jainism, they accept the authority of the Vedas on all questions pertaining to the nature of the universe. Actually the Six Systems of philosophy, reduced to three distinct groups, are not mutually contradictory, though in certain of their theories they would seem to be so. They really represent, not conflicting schools of thought, but a progressive development from truth to higher truth to the highest truth. Almost without exception, critics of Indian philosophy perceive the harmony behind the apparent discord, and so would reconcile the Systems as a perception of the same truth from different angles of vision.
