There are six ancient philosophical systems of India. The first is the Vaisesika philosophy of Kanada Rsi, the atomic theory. According to him, everything is made of atoms. So many different atoms combine and produce this world. Kana means atomic particle. So many atomic particles have combined and produced this world by chance, with no necessity of any reason, rhyme, consciousness, nothing of the kind. And the outcome of these combinations has produced what we find here. That is the opinion of Kanada: it is an atomic world.
Bhakti Vinod Thakur, the nineteenth century founder of the Krishna consciousness movement, sings in one song, «Kesava! Tuya jagata vichitra: «O my Lord Krishna, I see that everything is available in Your world, which has an infinite, variegated nature. Separated from You, however, we are always feeling miseries. A continuous flow of suffering has swallowed us from birth to death, and we cannot tolerate the pain of such misery. And so many relief agents — Kapila, Patanjali, Gautam, Kanada, Jaimini, Buddha — are running towards us, offering their solutions.»
Kapila has come with the sankhya philosophical system of analysis, saying, «Analyse matter, and you will be free from all this pain.» Patanjali has come with yoga, «Hey, jivatma! Come to meet Paramatma! Then all the problems of this world will go away from you. Come in connection with Paramatma, the Supersoul.» This is his recommendation.
Gautam comes with logic, Nyaya-sastra: «There is one Maker, one Creator, but He is indifferent. He has created this world, finished, and left it. And you must try to live with the help of your reason. Develop your reasoning faculty and be reasonable in all your conduct. Then only can you help yourself in this world. There is no other remedy. Be a good logician, and then you will be able to control the environment with the power of reason, and you will be happy.» And Kanada: «By chance atoms have been combined, and with the dissolution of atoms, nothing will remain. Why do you bother? Don’t care. What is fate? It is nothing; ignore it. And when the body is dissolved, nothing will remain. Why lament?»
Then, with the philosophy of karma-mimamsa, Jaimini says, «There may be One who has connected us with this world and our karma, but karma is all-in-all. He is an indifferent observer. He has got no hold on us any longer. According to our karma, we shall thrive or we shall go down. So, these activities are recommended to you. If you go on with your karma, you will be happy. Of course, it cannot be denied; karma-phala, the result of karma, diminishes and is ended. But stick to karma, good karma; don’t go to bad karma. The result of good karma will be finished, but that does not matter; again go on doing good karma, and the good result will await you in heaven, and you will have a happy life. If anything is friendly to you, it is your karma. There is God, but He is indifferent. He is bound to serve you, either good or bad, according to your karma. He has no independence.»
Then another class of philosophy is that of Buddha: «Only the combination of different things has created your mental system. With the dissolution of the mental system, nothing remains. So, somehow, we must dissolve the mental system. Practise ahimsa, nonviolence, satya, truthfulness, and so on.»
It is seen that all these philosophers are talking either of renunciation or of exploitation (bhukti, mukti). And by setting different types of enchanting traps, they arrange to capture the jiva-soul. Bhakti Vinod Thakur says, «But I have come to realise that these fellows are all cheaters. And they all have this common stand; they have no touch of Your devotion, Your service. There, they are one. They cannot deliver any real good. They are common to oppose Your devotional service and supremacy. And ultimately they leave us in chaos.
«But from the ultimate standpoint, I see that they are agents engaged by You to segregate the seriously diseased persons to another ward for the good of the less seriously diseased patients. It is Your arrangement to segregate the hopeless persons to another side for the benefit of the good side. That is Your design, and they are playing in Your hand like so many dolls. They are Your agents, and they are also serving You in some way, because nothing is outside You.» Bhakti Vinod Thakur concludes saying, «I bid good-bye to them all. I feel in my heart that I shall show respect to all these so-called good agents from a distance; however, my only real capital is the dust of the holy feet of Your devotees. I rely on that dust as the source of all my prospects. I seek to put all my energy into taking the dust of their holy lotus feet upon my head. This is everything for me.»