How Hinduism is structured
This Reel on the reality of Hinduism is going to break your mind.
What most people don’t realise is that Sanatan Dharma isn’t one religion at all.
Its like a network of rive rs all flowing into the same ocean, so you have 100+ different POVs from which we can understand who we are & how we’re connected to the universe … and you’re free to choose your path.
At the top we have two types of thinking, called “Nastika” & “Astika.”
The nastika schools reject our Vedas as the #1 source of knowledge. You have Charvaka, which says this is the only life we have & there’s nothing beyond it so just live, eat, enjoy & die … and you have Ajivika which says no matter what karma we do, everything is already fixed in the universe & our fates are sealed. Buddhism & Jainism also fall under nastika.
Parallely, there are 6 astika schools of thought, which do believe more or less in the Vedas & also believe that an Atman or the immortal self exists,.
Starting with Samkhya & Yoga, which are like psychology & applied psychology. Samkhya says the universe is divided into the purusha (the conciiousness) & prakriti (material nature), while the different types of Yoga teach us how to get liberation from this material nature.
We have Nyaya & Mimamsa which focus on practical logical thinking & reasoning based on real evidence & observation, so they’re very scientific.
And finally, under the larger Vedanta, we have the two biggest competitors, Dvaita & Advaita, with Advaita saying that we are all already part of the infinite Brahman and we’re sitting inside him, so our goal is to slowly increase our perception of reality to realise this truth.
But Dvaita, standing for duality or separation, says that Krishna or the Brahman is separate from us atmans & the purpose of our lives is to find our way back to him by escaping the illusions of life called maya. This school where the Srimad Bhagavad Gita sits.
In this wide network, you also have the sub-category Bhakti marg, that talks about devoition to one deity through heavily through dance & music, Tantra that focuses on rituals to gain powers & Kashmir Shaivism placing Shiva at the center of the story.