GRADIENTS ALL THE WAY DOWN

A companion site for the manuscript
Indian Philosophical Lineage From the Vedas through the Major Buddhist and Hindu Schools Hover over any box for substantive content VEDIC / HINDU CONTEMPORARIES BUDDHIST Rigveda ~1500–1200 BCE Other Vedas + Brāhmaṇas (Sāma, Yajur, Atharva) ~1200–700 BCE Upaniṣads ~800–200 BCE Bhagavad Gītā ~200 BCE–200 CE Six Darśanas (orthodox schools) ~200 BCE–500 CE Brahma Sūtras (Bādarāyaṇa) ~400–450 CE Śaṅkara Advaita Vedanta ~700–750 CE Rāmānuja — Viśiṣṭādvaita ~1017–1137 CE Madhva — Dvaita ~1238–1317 CE The Buddha (Pāli Suttas / Tipiṭaka) ~563–483 BCE Early Buddhist schools Theravāda Sarvāstivāda Mahāsāṃghika ~400–200 BCE Mahāyāna emerges (Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras) ~100 BCE–100 CE Nāgārjuna Madhyamaka ~150–250 CE Asaṅga · Vasubandhu Yogācāra ~315–400 CE Bodhidharma → Chan/Zen ~470–550 CE Vajrayāna emerges (Tibetan Buddhism) ~600–800 CE Mahāvīra → Jainism ~600–500 BCE Cārvāka / Lokāyata (materialist) ~600–500 BCE Legend: Framework engages substantively Cross-stream influence Cross-stream arrows: Upaniṣadic influence on early Mahāyāna (debated); Mahāyāna influence on Śaṅkara (the "crypto-Buddhist" charge). The Bhagavad Gītā synthesizes Sāṃkhya, Yoga, and Vedānta. Quantum mechanics is treated separately as a later convergence. Framework engages most substantively with the Upaniṣads + Śaṅkara (Vedantic) and the Buddha + Nāgārjuna (Buddhist).

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