Nine Philosophical Systems: Side by side with the development and spread of Upanisadic though and its popularization through the Epics and the Puranas there arose great philosophical systems, founded by great thinkers who looked upon man and the universe with an unbiased, free, and rational mind.

        A Large number of such schools of thought must have been prevalent in ancient times. We know nine of them as the most important and influential. They are the Carvaka, Jaina, Buddha; Vaisesika, Nyaya, Samkhya, Yoga, Mmamas and Vedanta systems.

They fall into two groups, Astika and Nastika, the former believing in the authority of the Vedas and the latter discarding it. The first three systems are Nastika and all others Astika. It is difficult to say when and in what temporal order these systems originated. They refer to each other and seem to have originated and grown up simultaneously.

        Carvaka System: The Carvaka system also called Lokayata Darsana (the philosophy of the masses) propounds gross materialism.

Sense perception is the only source of knowledge; unconscious matter in the form of the elements of earth, water, fire, and air is the only reality; the physical king is the only God; death is the only end of man; and the enjoyment of sense-pleasures the only object in life. 

There is no conscious entity like mind or soup apart from human body in which consciousness arises temporarily by virtue of a certain fusion of elements. There is no life beyond death, no heaven or hell and no fear of after-death consequences of good or evil deeds done in this life. There is no ‘Law of Karman’ and no rebirth.

        Jainism is a philosophy based on the teachings of Mahavira, a senior contemporary of Buddha. It takes Reality to be a multiple comprising two main kinds of objects: the Jivas (souls) and the Ajivas (non-souls). The Jivas are infinite in number. They vary in their capacity for knowledge, power, and joy. The essence of a Jiva is consciousness power and bliss. Potentially every Jiva has these qualities in infinite magnitude but actually it displays them in varying degrees, being overpowered by the material particles of Karma pudgala with which the souls ate intermixed from time immemorial like iron with one.     

Both the Jivas and Ajivas have been existing eternally. The world was never created. It is eternal. Jainas do not therefore, believe in the existence of a Creator. Instead of believing in God, they believe in the existence of perfected souls abiding in the highest region of the world with fully developed consciousness, power, and bliss.     

The Reality as a whole is both one and many, static as well as changing, from different points of view. In fact, the Reality has an infinite number of aspects and attributes (ananta-dharmatmakarneva tattvam). This doctrine of Jaina philosophy is called Anekantavada.

The Jaina doctrine of Syadvada asserts that statements must be made with caution, keeping in view that they cannot be absolute and that opposite statements are plausible.

Jainism recognizes five sources and kinds of knowledge: Mati, knowledge obtained through sense-perception and inference Sruti, knowledge conveyed by others through intelligible symbols Avadhi, knowledge acquired by some supernormal means, such as clairvoyance and clairaudience; Manahparyaya, knowledge of other minds gained by means of telepathy; and Kevala Janna, knowledge of the perfected souls who have acquired omniscience. The Jainas lay great emphasis on Ahimisa (non-violence) both in theory and practice.