Īçvara-vāda in theistic context

This article is devoted to theistic contents of the Indian teaching of Personal God/Īçvara in Hindus Philosophical systems. In spite of various opinions main features of the category “theism” in contrary to the concept of Impersonal Absolute are to be the concept of a Personal God the Initiator and benevolent Guardian over the world. Īçvara-vāda plays significant role in the History of Indian Philosophy, i. e. the title of philosophical school yoga is seçvara-sāņkhya. The strict polemic opposition of īçvara- and nirīçvara-vadas enriched the Indian philosophical culture as a whole. Comparing to monotheistic religiosity, particularly the proofs for the existence of God in medieval scholastics, īçvara-vāda differs from Western theism by its non-creational character.

īçvara-vāda, nirīçvara-vada, theism, seçvara-sāņkhya, creationism