Last Updated on November 11, 2024 by Tejaswini
There are only the two possible thought systems. Aastik आस्तिक and Naastik नास्तिक.
Sanatan Dharma is the only Aastik Darshan Shastra आस्तिक दर्शन शास्त्र . Everything else, all religions, philosophies, thought systems etc is Naastik.
We all have heard these words in our lives but we have never deliberated on what they mean. This is the beauty of Sanskrit, our real mother tongue, it hides the truth in plain sight. But if anyone genuinely wants to know, it as easily shows the way. Sanskrit is Devbhasha Samskrutam, its vowels and consonants have meanings and the word itself is the entire concept. There are no proper nouns in Sanskrit. Each Sanskrit word carries in it, the description of what it means. Eg the word ‘Govind’ which is used as a name for a boy, is actually an adjective, it describes the one who is capable of finding, getting, gaining the Go (post here).
So what do the words Aastik Darshan Shastra and Naastik mean?
- Aastik – existence, reality, truth, belief or faith in existence, believer in existence.
- Darshan – anything which is seen, act of seeing, vision, teaching, perception, observation, observing, appearance, noticing, knowing, judgement, discerning, intention, inspection, experience, exhibiting, showing a mirror, etc this word has several meanings.
- Shastra – book, teaching, composition, compendium, art, discipline, rules, an instrument of teaching, direction, good counsel, proper advice etc.
- Naastik – atheist, non belief in existence, non existence.
Sanatan Dharma points towards Existence. It is an instrument which directs towards Astitva. Aastik Darshan Shastra is an art which helps its adherents discern Existence. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion, not a dogma, not a philosophy, not an idea. It is a systematic step wise syllabus towards the Self ie Existence. It does not describe the Self. The Self can never be described. The Self Is Anirvachaniya अनिर्वचनीय. But you follow the steps given here you will be able to claim the Self, own it, know it completely.
Ved and Tantra both are the language of Sanatan Dharma, the same thing presented in different words. If you cannot directly intuit Reality then maybe you can follow its direction when presented in a dialogue, as a teaching. Both Ved and Tantra are equal and and are the exact same thing. Wrote a ‘proof’ on this in this post.
- Ved are ‘seen’ ie directly intuited by our Rishi. There is no author of the Ved, they are apaurusheya. Only the names of the Rishis who ‘saw’ these verses/Rk are mentioned as reference. Thus the Ved are also called Nigam. They are the roots of Sanatan Dharma. They are the route to the Self. They are certainty, reality and they are the Self.
- Tantra is presented as a dialogue between a deity and a disciple. Several tantra are depicted as Bhagwan Shiva teaching Devi Parvati, the reference is ’Shiv Parvati Samvaad’. Then Laxmi Tantra has Devi Laxmi teaching Devraj Indra. There is Vishnu tantra, Gayatri tantra, Ganapati tantra etc. So it can be said that the ‘author’ of the Tantra is the deity who has taught it. But ultimately every deity is the Self. The Tantra let you approach the Self, the origin, thus are called Agam.
Existence /Astitva is not divided, it does not change, it does not have attributes, it cannot be described, nor measured. eg I cannot say that ‘I exist 50% today and tomorrow I will exist 75%’. I cannot ask the shopkeeper to give me ‘5kg existence’. I cannot say ‘existence is salty’, or that ‘existence is yellow’. The – time, kg, salty, green, 50% etc – are attributes, matters of Experience and not pure Existence. You can sense only Experience, ie the created world, the attributes. It is impossible to experience pure Existence. But it is very much possible to know pure Existence. And the route is the syllabus of the Sanatan Dharma.
But not everyone wants to really know pure Existence, most of us are ok with sensing the Experience part. It requires rare courage to see the whole truth. So for those rare ones, who want to know Astitva, reality, truth, infinity, as the Self then this is possible only through Sanatan dharma.
Every system other than Sanatan Dharma is Naastik. They cannot point you towards Existence. These other systems deny the existence of Existence. It sounds absurd when put it like this but do read the texts of these other systems and if possible talk to their teachers. Note their logic or rather the lack thereof. They are incapable of logically describing their system. The Naastik systems operate only on the levels of Experience. Experience is always variable and any system which tries to explain the variable in constant terms is bound to be a failure. The Naastik systems fail at this test of logic.
(The Buddhist system had almost reached, so close to Existence, but they failed spectacularly. Buddhist philosophy remains at the level of the Void /Shunya. Thus 1000+ yrs ago Buddhist teachers conceded the failure of their philosophies during their Shastraarth with Adi Shankaracharya and came back to Sanatan Dharma with their followers.)
Will try to explain with some examples. Existence cannot be described in words so I will lay out the thought process, see where it takes you. Each example should be taken only to that extent that it helps you understand the concept of Reality/ Subject/ Existence. It is an intellectual exercise.
Eg. a gold bangle. The ‘bangle’ is the shape (Naam roop). The ‘gold’ is the substance (Vastu). So if you describe the bangle, as made of gold, round in shape, named as a ‘bangle’ etc you are operating at the level of Experience. You focus on the name – shape. You will consider that the necklace, bangle, earring, a lump of gold is different from each other. But if you are able to say that the gold exists in the round shape, named as a bangle then you are operating at the level of Existence. You are simultaneously aware of the shape – name (naam roop) and the substance (vastu). You know that the bangle, necklace, earring, lump etc is the same gold which has been temporarily in a different name – shape. And also remember that you know that you can never experience/ see gold without a shape. Nor can you experience the name-shape separate from the substance.
Let’s extrapolate this concept. It will be easy if you can think in the abstract. The tree, the bangle, the sky, the space, the sound, the color, the taste, the touch etc are all different name – shape (naam roop) of the essential Existence (vastu). Existence cannot be seen or heard or tasted etc, it cannot be described by any one single name – shape. It can only be known by the 3rd eye/ vijnyanmaykosh. This is what the Sanatan Dharma does. It points towards the Self, it does not describe the Self. So if you follow the path it lays out you will know your Self. This is the 100% promise of the Aastik Darshan Shastra. And you will know it here itself, you don’t have to go to a heaven to know that you yourself are the Self. You are the Subject, Existence, Reality and all these name – shapes are also your own. You are the indescribable Eternal.
Eg. We are humans, but humans are really mammals, and mammals are really vertebrates, vertebrates are really animals, and animals are really living beings. What have we done here? We have understood that the limited category – ‘human’ is actually a much broader category – living. So when I say that there is no difference between a human and a fungus, I am 100% right. At that broadest subjective level they are both living organisms, thus non different from each other. Existence is the broadest possible subjective reality. You are this Existence and everything from the subtle indescribable consciousness to the material physical earth is only you, the Self.
Eg. You eat a sweet. Your tongue senses the sweetness and your brain interprets it as sweet. What has really happened? The object is glucose molecules, but molecules are really atoms, and atoms are really electrons/neutrons/protons etc subatomic particles in subatomic space. These sub atomic particles are also shown to be actually space or energy. What is space? We have these quantum, string etc theories which says that matter is strings, energy moving as waves in an enclosed space, etc etc. That is all that the modern scientists can think of. But in Sanatan Dharma we go even deeper within. We say that all this is actually existence /Astitva, awareness, intelligence, consciousness. So what do we get? The object ‘sugar’ is consciousness. Similarly your brain is also is consciousness. Sanatan Dharma asserts that there is only one non-dual Astitva. Existence is the only indescribable constant. So the sugar, the brain and also the process of recognising the object as sugar are all consciousness. What we have done here is to gradually delve into the object, examine it critically and thus reach the Subject, ie the Self. We have understood that there is no difference in the subject, the object and the process of cognition. We have simultaneously expanded our thinking and made it subtle to claim Existence as the Self.
All Naastik systems are confined to discussions on Non-existence. So what is ‘Non existence’ – If someone considers Experience, to be the ultimate purpose of human life then he believes in ‘Non existence’. If someone considers ‘Experience’ to be the ultimate reality, then he is a Naastik. If you think that there is nothing beyond Experience then you are a Naastik.
What is ‘Experience’ ? It is Naamroop. It is – words, name, attribute, form, shape, description, etc. It can be only experienced and that too only once, eg you can see a particular sunset only once. It cannot be repeatedly experienced in that exact same way. eg you can never see the same sunset you saw on 23/02/2023 at 6hr, 03min 02 sec. And it cannot be conclusively proved to exist either, eg you cannot prove that you saw the sunset. ie the ‘sunset’ experience is nothing but atoms, and atoms are nothing but space, and space is nothing but pure awareness. And time? You cannot even exactly pinpoint the time you saw the sunset. So technically ‘this precise sunset experience’ cannot be proved to exist. But it was experienced. This paradoxical situation is called Maya, Experience.
Experience is not real nor is it unreal. You very much see images, hear sound, taste food, etc, these are not illusions. These are 100% real but for your sense organs. This is level of perception is called vyavharik level. A level of perception where transactions are possible because duality is perceived.
The other level of perception is called paarmarthik. The ‘self-evident truth’ which is Existence, Astitva. Here you understand that the attributes are just name -shapes and the substance is the eternal Self. You are simultaneously aware of the apparent experience and the unchanging Existence. There is no duality, there is only the indescribable Eternal. Seekers of the Self try to find this level of perception /drushtikon and remain firm in it.
When I was born in this life, I was called a ‘human’. At the age of 12days I was called ‘Tejaswini’. At school I was called a ‘student’. At the office I was called an ‘officer’. And so on, attributes kept adding up. But what has been added on also has to go away. So when I passed school, I was no longer a ‘student’. When I retire, I will no longer be an ‘officer’. When this jivatma exits this body I will not longer be a ‘human’. So the question is, Who is this unchanging “I”? Who Is I?
If you think like this and feverently want to know the answer to this question. If you are willing to do anything for this one answer. If this is your overriding focus/ your Lakshya then and only then will you be able to fearlessly follow the direction shown by the Aastik Darshan Shastra and claim the answer for your own Self.
(I have used the simplest possible words so that it is easier to grasp the concept. English though popular is a very limited language.)
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