Indic Thought Models
Research Team: Dr. Vaishnavi Nishankar, Dr. Suryanarayana Jammalamadaka, and Dr. Sai Susarla
Based on insights of Prof. Shrinivasa Varakhedi.
Background
Model-based reasoning is the hallmark of all sciences. A model is a compact representation of a real-world system that makes it amenable to explanation, prediction, and control. A model consists of concepts and their relationships. Abstraction and classification are the techniques used to extract concepts from the system.
However, deriving the concepts is non-trivial. A system can be viewed in multiple ways, resulting in a variety of models. To arrive at a model that represents the system accurately and answers specific types of questions, we need a suitable viewing methodology.
Śāstras provide models of real-world phenomena, but the concepts they embed are derived using standard perspectives common across all śāstras. These perspectives are provided by the Vedic darśanas. Understanding the darśanas enables one to understand the abstractions of śāstric models accurately. We call these perspectives thought models.
There are four thought models:
- Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika
- Sāṃkhya-Yoga
- Vyākaraṇa
- Mīmāṃsā
Proposal
Our ultimate aim is to transform śāstras into deployable models that can, in turn, be used to develop real-world applications in wellness, jurisprudence, governance, architecture, and psychology. To develop such models, one needs to understand the fundamental thought models of Vedic knowledge.
This project extracts the thought models from four main darśanas, separating their perspectives from their content.
These thought models can then be taught to groom the next generation of śāstra experts, enabling them to recontextualise Bharatiya vijñāna as new śāstras.
Approach
To illustrate what we mean by the perspective of the darśanas, let us use the modelling of a car as a running example.
- Anatomically: A car can be described as an assembly of parts connected by relations. This is the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika view.
- Transformationally: A car can be described as an engine that transforms energy from chemical to rotational. This is the Sāṃkhya view of how a tattva manifests in various forms.
- Functionally: A car can be described as a room, a means of transport, a workstation, and so on. This is the Vyākaraṇa view: a successively refined hierarchy of concepts represented by words and sentences.
- Instructionally: A car can be described as a series of actions that construct it from raw materials. This is the Mīmāṃsā view of the world as a sequence of actions or karma.
