Hindu atheism

Hindu atheism or non-theism, which is known as Nirīśvaravāda (Sanskrit: निरीश्वरवाद, , lit. "Argument against the existence of Ishvara") has been a historically propounded viewpoint in many of the Astika (Orthodox) streams of Hindu philosophy. Hindu spiritual atheists, agnostics or non-theists who affirm Vedas and Brahman, as well as those who follow astika (orthodox) philosophies but reject personal god(s), are also called Dharmic atheist, Vedic Atheist or Sanatani atheist. In current Indian languages, such as Hindi or Bengali, āstika and its derivatives usually mean 'theist', and nāstika and its derivatives denote an 'atheist'; however, the two terms in ancient- and medieval-era Sanskrit literature do not refer to 'theism' or 'atheism'. In ancient India Astika means those who affirms vedas, atman and brahman while nastika by contrast, are those who deny all the respective definitions of āstika; they do not believe in the existence of Self or Ishvara (God) and rejects Vedas. Sometimes nastika philosophies are also considered as a part of Hindu philosophy because the word 'Hindu' is actually an exonym and historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent. Many Scholars consider the Nāstika philosophies (Indian 'Heterodox' Philosophies) like Buddhism, Jainism and Charvaka as distinct schools of philosophies while some others consider them as part of Hindu Philosophy. There are six major orthodox (astika) schools of Hindu philosophy — Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā and Vedanta. Among them, Samkhya, Yoga and Mimamsa, while not rejecting either the Vedas or Brahman, typically reject a personal God, creator God, or a God with attributes. Some schools of thought view the path of atheism as a valid one but difficult to follow in matters of spirituality. The Sanskrit term ("pious, believer") refers to the systems of thought which admit the validity of the Vedas. Sanskrit means "there is", and (per Pāṇini 4.2.