Page 10 - Hinduism
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order to redeem him from his sinfulness. The hymns of the Nāyanmārs and the Ālvārs are mainly sung in praise of arca or idol in the temple for the bestowal of His redemptive grace.
The study of the Vedas, the Smṛtis, the Itihāsas, the Purāṇas, the Āgamas and the experiences of the Ālvārs and the Nāyanmārs reveal the inner truth of religion, viz., the gradual descent of God to the human level to lift him up to the Divine level. The Brahman of the Vedas becomes the antaryāmin of the Vedānta, the Īśvara of the Smṛtis and the Purāṇas, the Avatāra of the Itihāsas and the arca of the Āgamas, Ālvārs and Nāyanmārs. With God's grace man ascends from the animal and human through the spiritual stages to the divine stage of mukti. Thus all the scriptures have a unity of spiritual purpose suited to different types and persons.
Hinduism as Vedānta expounds this unity of import in a philosophic way. The six Darśanas or systems of philosophy were composed by different Ṛṣis with one single aim, namely, the removal of the ills of life to the attainment of mokṣa. Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika deals with the logic or pramāṇas and their categories of life. The Sāṅkhya-Yoga deals with puruṣa and prakṛti and the way in which the puruṣa frees himself from prakṛti. Purvamimāṁsa stresses the ethics of dharma. Uttara-mimāṁsa or the Vedānta is the
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