Ancient Indian Schools of Philosophy
  Introduction    Indian Philosophy  (or, in Sankrit,  Darshanas ), refers to any of several traditions of philosophical thought that originated in the Indian subcontinent , including  Hindu philosophy ,  Buddhist philosophy , and  Jain philosophy  (see below for brief introductions to these schools). It is considered by Indian thinkers to be a  practical discipline , and its goal should always be to  improve human life .       Orthodox (Hindu) Schools    The main  Hindu  orthodox ( astika ) schools of Indian philosophy are those codified during the medieval period of  Brahmanic-Sanskritic scholasticism , and they take the ancient  Vedas  (the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism) as their source and scriptural authority:   Vaisheshika : The Vaisheshika school was founded by  Kanada  in the  6th Century  B.C. ,  and it is  atomist  and  pluralist  in nature. The basis of the school's philosoph...