Why is Bauddha's & Jaina's theory called Nastika?

[Dharmraj Mishra]

Both Jainism and Buddhism traditionally accept concepts like reincarnation (rebirth), the attainment of worldly prosperity (abhyudaya), the cessation of suffering (duḥkha-nirodha) & final liberation (niśreyasa), and all of which are also discussed in the Vedas. Given this, what is the fundamental criterion based on which they are classified under the category of Nāstika (heterodox/unorthodox) schools of thought?

Regards.

[Papia Mitra]

They do not accept existence of God which makes them also nirishwarvadis

They do not accept the authority of Vedas as final/revelation and reject Vedic rituals. So they are unorthodox by traditional hindu standards. 

On Thu, 16 Oct 2025 at 18:25, Dharmraj Mishra <ohar...@gmail.com> wrote:

Both Jainism and Buddhism traditionally accept concepts like reincarnation (rebirth), the attainment of worldly prosperity (abhyudaya), the cessation of suffering (duḥkha-nirodha) & final liberation (niśreyasa), and all of which are also discussed in the Vedas. Given this, what is the fundamental criterion based on which they are classified under the category of Nāstika (heterodox/unorthodox) schools of thought?

Regards.

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There is no Brahman. There is only ME.

[Nagaraj Paturi]

https://archive.org/download/Sarva-darsana-sangrahaOfMadhavacharya/sarva-darshana-sangraha.pdf

Sarva-darsana-sangraha of Madhavacharya

by

 

Madhavacharya

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Nagaraj Paturi

Hyderabad, Telangana-500044

 

 

 

[लोकेश]

According to Veda, animal sacrifice is not a bad thing, whereas Buddhism and Jainism opposes this teaching of Veda by simply not accepting its authority. Therefore Buddhism and Jainism do not count as Astika. To be an Astika, one must take Veda as the authority.

[Vichitra Thandava]

This is a loaded topic. Not so simple to digest. 

Buddhism split from the time of Kanishka into Mahayana, which is what is present today in the arc from Ladhak to Tibet and China through to Japan. Mahayana is not very different from Hinduism. The Buddha is an avatar of Vishnu. And a monk went from Odiyana, one of the four regions of modern Odisha, to propagate Tantra in the Shakti Path with Tara Devi. You will find worship Kali, Bhairava, and Tara in the temples where monks reside. The majority of the Mahayana scripture is in Sanskrit. 

The original or the residual Buddhist group became labeled as Hinayana. The Indian subcontinent and Central Asia belonged to this school. Now their descendants are all Muslims without exception. What is left of Hinayana is in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. All the Hinayana scripture is in Pali and Prakrit. 

Budhhism has a vegetarian value system but accepts meat a food. The Buddha himself died from eating poisoned meat, at a gathering he forbade his disciples to eat whatever he was. The Buddhist Emperor Ashoka issued decrees limiting hunting and meat consumption in which he declared he had instructed the royal kitchen to limit meat on the menu to twice a weak.

The distinction between Buddhism and Jainism on the one hand and Hinduism on the other can be explained only in terms of Vedanta and the Brahma Sutra, whose three interpretation ls formed the basis of difference between the schools of Shankara, Ramanujacharya, and Madhavacharya. 

The Buddhist Shunya is very similar to the Brahman. The Buddhist Shunya is a merger into that void. Grace comes from the monks of antiquity. Grace in Hinduism can even come from Brahman of necessary. The difference here is Vedanta looks at Brahman as a Supreme Singular Conscious Being, the rest just being a projection of the one. For Buddhism, the Shunya is akin to the eye of the hurricane - perfect nothing. In Hinayana nothing remains of the Buddha. He's been merged with the Void. In Mahayana grace can come from the Buddha. 

In Jainism there is no Brahman or Shunya. What you see has been ever present this way and cyclical. 

In that sense, there is not much difference between Jainism and all the Dwaita schools - and Madhavacharya, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed. The only difference is Jainism does not have a common origin story like the other four. Nonetheless they can't go back to the origin in the Dwaita schools. There is no origin at all in Jainism. 

The fundamental issue with Jainism and all the Dwaita schools, from the perspective of Vedanta, it is hard enough to under the origin of a singular, all pervading being. How would explain the so many different beings? 

Which why there is a common refrain in the West is, if monotheism was an improvement over polytheism, then atheism is an improvement over monotheism and it ends there. 

From a Vedantic perspective too, if there is really only a singular, all pervading, then conscious being, then who's the deity and who's the devotee? 

On Thu, Oct 16, 2025, 5:55 AM Dharmraj Mishra <ohar...@gmail.com> wrote:

Both Jainism and Buddhism traditionally accept concepts like reincarnation (rebirth), the attainment of worldly prosperity (abhyudaya), the cessation of suffering (duḥkha-nirodha) & final liberation (niśreyasa), and all of which are also discussed in the Vedas. Given this, what is the fundamental criterion based on which they are classified under the category of Nāstika (heterodox/unorthodox) schools of thought?

Regards.

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[Dharmraj Mishra]

Although being Nirishwaravādi is not the same as being nāstika (heterodox), which would then include Mimamsa and Samkhya in the category of nāstika. Can we essentially say that it's just because the Buddhists and Jains did not accept the Vedic rituals (karma-kāṇḍa)?"

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[Prakash Raj Pandey]

Who do live in सुखावती भुवन ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhavati

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[Ananda Maitreya]

As Paturi ji pointed out from the Sarva-darshana-samgraha - the Buddhists and Jainas do not believe in Veda as pramāṇa. 

Here nāstika is not to be taken as the commoner current meaning as not believing in god, not nirīśwaravādi, as you note. There are other derivations from asti/nāsti etc.

A good part of Śaṁkara Advaita has a troubled relationship with karma-kāṇḍa.

[V Subrahmanian]

On Sat, Oct 18, 2025 at 4:15 PM Ananda Maitreya <amait...@gmail.com> wrote:

As Paturi ji pointed out from the Sarva-darshana-samgraha - the Buddhists and Jainas do not believe in Veda as pramāṇa. 

Here nāstika is not to be taken as the commoner current meaning as not believing in god, not nirīśwaravādi, as you note. There are other derivations from asti/nāsti etc.

A good part of Śaṁkara Advaita has a troubled relationship with karma-kāṇḍa.

Namaste

I am not sure what you mean by that remark about 'a troubled relationship with karma-kāṇḍa.'.

Here are some of the many statements from Shankara about the karma kānḍa:

Sādhana-Pañcakam: “Five Verses on Spiritual 

1. वेदो नित्यमधीयतां तदुदितं कर्म स्वनुष्ठीयतां

तेनेशस्य विधीयतामपचिति: काम्ये मतिस्त्यज्यताम् ।

पापौघ: परिधूयतां भवसुखे दोषोऽनुसन्धीयतां

आत्मेच्छा व्यवसीयतां निजगृहात् तूर्णं विनिर्गम्यताम् ॥ १

Study spiritual texts (“Vedas”) regularly and put into practice their teachings. Worship the Divine in that manner and give up the thought of desires. Wash away the cascading fruits of bad karma and examine the defects of worldly excitement. Hold on to the awareness of the Ātman and let go of your limited identity. (1)

And we have the famous statement: चित्तस्य शुद्धये कर्म...in the Vivekachudamani. 

2.  न हि शास्त्रविहितं किञ्चिदकर्तव्यतामियात् ।  Nothing that the śāstra enjoins is to be shunned. Iśāvāsya upaniṣad bhāṣya.

From the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad bhashya:

3. कर्मकाण्डप्रामाण्यविघातकृत् उपनिषद्वाक्यमिति, तन्न, अन्यार्थत्वात् ।  The Upanishad does not uproot the authority of the karma kānḍa as the domains of the two are different. 

4.   ‘किञ्ज्योतिरयं पुरुषः’ (बृ. उ. ४ । ३ । २) इत्येवमादिषष्ठप्रपाठकविहितायामेतस्यां ब्रह्मविद्यायाम् एवंफलायाम् काम्यैकदेशवर्जितं कृत्स्नं कर्मकाण्डं तादर्थ्येन विनियुज्यते ; तत् कथमित्युच्यते — तमेतम् एवंभूतमौपनिषदं पुरुषम् , वेदानुवचनेन मन्त्रब्राह्मणाध्ययनेन नित्यस्वाध्यायलक्षणेन, विविदिषन्ति वेदितुमिच्छन्ति ; के ? ब्राह्मणाः ; ब्राह्मणग्रहणमुपलक्षणार्थम् ; अविशिष्टो हि अधिकारः त्रयाणां वर्णानाम् ; अथवा कर्मकाण्डेन मन्त्रब्राह्मणेन वेदानुवचनेन विविदिषन्ति ; कथं विविदिषन्तीत्युच्यते — यज्ञेनेत्यादि ॥  

Again, the indispensability of the karma kanda to the engendering the thirst for Self-knowledge is emphasized in the above. 

5. एवं काम्यवर्जितं नित्यं कर्मजातं सर्वम् आत्मज्ञानोत्पत्तिद्वारेण मोक्षसाधनत्वं प्रतिपद्यते ; एवं कर्मकाण्डेन अस्य एकवाक्यतावगतिः ।  When the enjoined karma is performed eschewing the kāmya karma, it results in being the means to mukti through generating Self-knowledge. Thus the Jnana kanda has ekavākyatā with karma kanda. (The karma kanda dovetails into the jnana kanda)   

6. There is a Brahma sutra सर्वापेक्षा च यज्ञादिश्रुतेरश्ववत् ॥ २६ ॥  3.4.26 which establishes the indispensable connection between the karma kanda and jnana kanda. 

7. विहितत्वादेव ‘तमेतं वेदानुवचनेन ब्राह्मणा विविदिषन्ति’ इत्यादिना; तदुक्तम् — ‘सर्वापेक्षा च यज्ञादिश्रुतेरश्ववत्’ (ब्र. सू. ३ । ४ । २६)  Shankara says in the Brahma sutra bhashya 3.4.33

8. There is the Bh.Gita verse too: ‘यज्ञो दानं तपश्चैव पावनानि मनीषिणाम्’ (भ. गी. १८ । ५)  

9.  Kenopanishad bhashyam introduction:

  ‘देवयाजी श्रेयानात्मयाजी वा’इत्युपक्रम्य ‘आत्मयाजी तु करोतीदं मेऽनेनाङ्गं संस्क्रियते’ इति संस्कारार्थमेव कर्माणीति वाजसनेयके ; ‘महायज्ञैश्च यज्ञैश्च ब्राह्मीयं क्रियते तनुः । ’ (मनु. २ । २८)‘यज्ञो दानं तपश्चैव पावनानि मनीषिणाम्’ (भ. गी. १८ । ५) इत्यादिस्मृतेश्च ।   

To summarize, in the Sānkaran Advaita the Veda-enjoined karma is indispensable for someone who wants to attain self-knowledge and through that, liberation.  There is thus absolutely no room for the thinking  //A good part of Śaṁkara Advaita has a troubled relationship with karma-kāṇḍa.//

warm regards

subrahmanian.v

 

[Mahamaho. Subrahmanyam Korada]

नमो विद्वद्भ्यः

 what is the fundamental criterion based on which they are classified under the category of Nāstika (heterodox/unorthodox) schools of though

                                                                                                                                                                 --विद्वान् Dharmraj Mishra

नास्तिकः --

अस्तिनास्तिदिष्टं मतिः (पा 4-4-60) ठक् , ठस्येकः (पा 7-3-50) -- नास्तिकः ।

महाभाष्यम् -- .... चौरे’पि प्राप्नोति । एवं तर्हि - इतिलोपो’त्र द्रष्टव्यः । अस्तीत्यस्य मतिः आस्तिकः । नास्तीत्यस्य मतिः नास्तिकः । दिष्टमित्यस्य मतिः दैष्टिकः ।

कैयटः -- अस्तीत्यस्येति । परलोककर्तृका च सत्ता विज्ञेया । तत्रैव  विषये लोके प्रयोगदर्शनात् । तेन परो लोको’स्तीति मतिर्यस्य सः आस्तिकः तद्विपरीतो नास्तिकः।

Because  the term is being used in the sense of a person who does not believe in the existance of परलोक ।

मनुस्मृतिः (2-11) --

यो’वमन्येत ते मूले हेतुशास्ताश्रयात् द्विजः ।

स साधुभिः बहिष्कार्यः नास्तिको वेदनिन्दकः ॥ (ते मूले = श्रुतिस्मृती) ।

अमरकोशः(धीवर्गः - 4) -- मिथ्यादृष्टिः नास्तिकता ।

अस्ति इति न तिङन्तम् - किन्तु विभक्तिप्रतिरूपकम् अव्ययम् । प्रत्यय on a पदम् ।

नास्ति + ठक् -- this is the only प्रत्यय applied on a वाक्यम् ।

दिष्टि means destiny - the one who depends mostly on दिष्टि is called दैष्टिकः (दैवं दिष्टं भागधेयं भाग्यं स्त्री नियतिर्विधिः - अमरकोशः ) ।

मीमांसकs are not निरीश्वरवादिन्s -- it was due to an aberrant of Sabaraswamy that people stamped them as such.

धन्यो’स्मि

Dr.Korada Subrahmanyam

Prof of Sanskrit (Retd)

Chairman , Bharateeya Vidvat Parishat

Ph:09866110741

https://sites.google.com/view/koradeeyam/home

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