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This scheme of Vedantic knowledge has been basically accepted not only by the orthodox Indian philosophies but also by other systems of philosophy with some modifications except, of course, the materialistic philosophy of Charvaka. It may be said that Indian philosophers recognised in the Shruti, the earlier results of intuitions, an authority superior to Reason. Those who did not recognise the Shruti, however, still refer to the intuitive or spiritual experience to be higher than Reason and as the goal to be attained for purposes of liberation, mukti, kaivalya, nirvana. But these philosophers, at the same time, started from Reason and tested the results it gave them, holding only those conclusions to be followed, which were supported by the supreme authority of Shruti or direct spiritual experience.
If we study closely the development of Indian philosophy, we shall find that intellectual speculations tended at first to keep near at the centre to the highest and profoundest experience and proceeded with the united consent of the two great authorities, Reason and Intuition. But in the later developments of Indian philosophy, the natural trend of Reason to assert its own supremacy triumphed in effect over the theory of its subordination. This can be seen clearly if we examine the history of the rise of conflict among schools, each of which founded itself in theory on the Veda or on spiritual experience and used its texts or its formulations as weapons against others. Thus unity of the first intuitive knowledge was broken and ingenuity of the logicians was always able to discover devices, methods of interpretations, standards of varying value by which inconvenient texts of the Scripture or formulations of spiritual experiences could be practically annulled and an entire freedom acquired for their metaphysical speculations.
The Age of Reason in India, which succeeded the early age of Intuition, reached climactic peaks, and the movement of the Indian mind during this age is represented by two simultaneous developments: on one side, there was strenuous philosophical thinking, which got crystallised into the great philosophical systems; and on the other side, there was an equally insistent endeavour to formulate in a clear body and with strict cogency an ethical, social and political ideal and practice of a consistent and organised system of individual and
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