CARVAKA- Materialistic Philosophy in Ancient India

Dr.V.K.Maheshwari Dr.Suraksha Bansal Ph.D Ph.D Former Principal Sr.Lecturer DIMS,Meerut DIMS,Meerut India India

Jabali, a learned Brahman and a Sophist skilled in word, Questioned Faith and Law and Duty, spake to young Ayodhya’s lord: “Wherefore, , ideal maxims cloud thy heart and warp thy mind, Maxims who mislead the simple and the thoughtless human-kind... Ah, I weep for erring mortals, who, on erring duty bent, Sacrifice this dear enjoyment till their barren life is spent, Who to Gods and to the Fathers vainly still offering make. Waste of food! For neither God nor Father doth our pious homage take! And the food by one partaken, can it nourish other men? Food bestowed upon a Brahman, can it serve our Fathers then? Crafty priests have forged these maxims, and with selfish objects say, “Make thy gifts and do thy penance, leave thy worldly wealth, and pray!” There is no hereafter, Rama, vain the hope and creed of men; Seek the pleasures of the present, spurn illusions poor and vain.

It is a genral belief that the Western and Eastern minds work indifferent ways, that they see the world from different perspectives. Nevertheless, and as a generality, it can be said that Eastern philosophy,at least as it is represented by the traditions of India, is not so much amatter of abstract analysis as a way of life, a way of life which has at itsheart a deeply spiritual orientation: Hindu philosophy comprises the same areas of rational enquirythat have pre-occupied the philosophers of the West since thetime of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle – namely ontology , epistemology logic, and ethics. Various societies at different times have dazzled with their bursts of creative and intellectual energy. Historians have a penchant for dubbing them Golden Ages. Examples include the Athens of Herodotus, the Baghdad of Haroun al-Rashid, and the India of the Buddha. But though India has long been famous for its "ancient wisdom", the few historical sources refers that around 600-500 BCE,in parts of the Indo-Gangetic plain of north India, people were asking some very bold and original questions: What is the nature of thought and perception? What is the source of consciousness? Are virtue and vice absolute or mere social conventions? Old traditions were under attack, new trades and lifestyles were emerging, and urban life was in a churn, reducing the power of uptight

It comes as a surprise to many that in ancient "spiritual" India, atheistic materialism was a major force to reckon with. Predating even the Buddhists, is one of the earliest materialistic schools of Indian philosophy, named after one Carvaka, Carvaka Philosophy is a fanatical effort made to rid the age of the weight of the past that was oppressing it. It is a system of Indian philosophy that adopted numerous forms of philosophical agnosticism and religious impassivity. The branch is also known as Lokayata philosophy, as is stated in the"Rig Veda"

Named after its founder, Carvaka, (also known as Charu or Brhaspati) author of the Barhaspatya-sutras, the Philosophy is an atheistic, acquisitive and wild thought. It is also known as `Lokayata` because it admits the existence of this world (loka) alone. Materialist philosophers who are referred to as are also known as Lokayatas or Laukayatikas, because they act like ordinary people. The name `Lokayata` can be found in Kautilya`s Arthasastra" that refers to the three `anviksikis` or logical philosophies - , and Lokayata. This very term was restricted to the school of the `Lokyatikas`. In 7th century, the philosopher Purandara had used the term `Charvaka` for the first time. The 8th century philosophers Kamalasila and Haribhadra had also used the same term.

In the outlines of Indian philosophy, Carvaka is classified as a "heterodox" (nastika) system, the same classification as is given to and Jainism. While this branch of Indian philosophy is not considered to be part of the six orthodox schools of Hinduism, it is a remarkable testimony of the materialistic movement within Hinduism

Carvaka, an atheistic school of Indian philosophy, traces its origins to 600 BCE, while some claim earlier references to such positions.[ It was a hedonistic school of thought, advocating that there is no . Dharmakirti, a 7th century philosopher was deeply influenced by carvaka philosophy, .carvaka is a system of Indian philosophy that assumes various forms of philosophical skepticism and religious indifferencei It is characterized as a materialistic and atheistic school of thought.

Saddaniti and Buddhaghosa in the 5th century connect the "Lokayatas" with the Vitandas (sophists).Only from about the 6th century is the term restricted to the school of the LokyÄtikas. The name Carvaka is first used in the 7th century by the philosopher Purandara, who refers to his fellow materialists as "the Charvaka, and it is used by the 8th century philosophers Kamalaala and Haribhadra. Shankara, on the other hand, always uses LokÄyata, not Charvaka. etymological meaning of the word Charvaka is 'a person who is clever in speech and is extremely fond of wrangling W. Hopkins, in his The Ethics of India assumes that Charvaka philosophy is co-eval with Buddhism, mentioning "the old Charvaka or materialist of the 6th century BC"; Rhys Davids assumes that lokayata in ca. 500 BC came to mean "scepticism" in general without yet being organized as a philosophical school, and that the name of a villain of the Mahabharata, Charvaka, was attached to the position in order to disparage it. The earliest positive statement of skepticism is preserved from the epic period, in the ".regard only that which is an object of perception, and cast behind your back whatever is beyond the reach of your senses.

The system of philosophy named after its founder, Carvaka, was set out in the Brhaspati Sutra in India probably about 600 BCE. This text has not survived and, like similar philosophy in that this is a rationalistic and skeptical philosophy, this undermines the widespread belief in the West that Indian philosophy is primarily religious and mystical. Amartya Sen has argued, in fact, that there is a larger volume of atheistic and agnostic writings in Pali and than in any other classical tradition—Greek, Latin, Hebrew, or Arabic. He adds that this applies also to Buddhism, the only agnostic world religion ever to emerge.

Charvakas philosophy developed at a time when religious dogma concerning our knowledge of reality, the constitution of the world, and the concept of an afterlife were being increasingly questioned, both in India and elsewhere. Specifically,t he school of Carvaka contained within itself a materialism that ruled out the supernatural (lokayata), naturalism (all phenomena described in terms of the properties of the four elements), rejection of the (nastika), and a skepticism that included rejection of inferential logic, or induction.One of the best sources for Charvakas atheistic argument happens to be a book, Sarvadarshansamgraha (the collection of all philosophies), written in the Fourteenth Century by Madhavacarya, a Vaishnavite (Hindhu) scholar.

Though materialism in some form or other has always been present in India, and occasional references are found in the Vedas, the Buddhistic literature, the Epics, as well as in the later philosophical works we do not find any systematic work on materialism, nor any organised school of followers as the other hilosophical schools possess.. Our knowledge of Indian materialism is chiefly based on these Available evidence suggests that Carvaka philosophy

The Carvaka scholars carried on research, termed Aanvikshiki,whereevery branch of knowledge and developed it elaborately. It is possible that they also observed and kept records of the historical supernovae, which the Chinese, the Incas and Mayans and all other ancient civilizations did, as per records left to posterity in the form of astrological writings (Chinese) and cave paintings (Incas and Mayans). However, the Indian records have not yet come to light, perhaps due to the predominance of oral tradition in India, liable to easy distortion. More probably, any records have been destroyed by the Carvakas' opponents.

NO original text of the Carvaka school of philosophy has been preserved. Its principal works are known only from fragments cited by its materialistic, atheistic sutras were the foundational text of the Carvaka school of materialist (nastika) philosophy. Dale Riepe says, "It may be said from the available material that Carvakas hold truth, integrity, consistency, and freedom of thought in the highest esteembut how can we attribute to the Divine Being the giving of supreme felicity, when such a notion has been utterly abolished by Charvaka, the crest-gem of the atheistic school, the follower of the doctrine of Brihaspati? The efforts of Charvaka are indeed hard to be eradicated.

A symposium of philosophers of all faiths held in 1578 at Akbar's insistence. Some Carvaka thinkers are said to have participated in this symposium Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak also known as Abul-Fazl, Abul Fadl and Abul-Fadl Allami: the vizier of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, and author of the Akbarnama, the official history of Akbars reign.. ...Under the heading "Nastika," Abul Fazl has referred to the good work, judicious administration, and welfare schemes that were emphasised by the Carvaka lawmakers. Somadeva has also mentioned the Carvaka method of defeating the enemies of the nation.

CARVAKA METAPHYSICS Carvakas cultivated a philosophy wherein theology and what they called "speculative metaphysics .According to the Carvakas, there is no such thing as the atman. One does not and cannot perceive the atman, and one cannot establish its existence with the help of inference, because inference is not a valid source of knowledge. The Carvakas state that consciousness is not due to the atman. When a man dies, his/her consciousness goes away and one cannot prove that it vanishes and exists somewhere else. Being conscious is a peculiar quality of the living human body. It can keep back the consciousness so long as the physical parts are healthy and stay together in a certain form. Consciousness thus is an emergent quality of the physical parts coming together in specific proportions. For example, when yeast is blended with certain juices, they turn into wine. The property of being wine is a new quality which yeast and juices obtain when blended. Therefore, according to Carvakas metaphysics, life also is only a new configuration of matter. Nothing but matter is real. Therefore the atman or self-awareness is only the physical body with a new emerging quality. But one always says that, `I have a handsome body, a tall body` and so on. If the `I` is not different from the body, how can it say: `I have such and such a body`? To this the Carvakas answer by saying that the use of `have` in these expressions is only conventional, created by the false impression that the `I` is different from the body. The Carvakas metaphysics speak of the mind (manas), which is different from the atman. But the Carvakas appear to think of mind as the consciousness in its knowing function, which of course is not separate from the body. The body together with its consciousness is the atman and consciousness in its experiencing function is the mind. Mind knows the external world through the senses.

The world is the material world only. According to the Carvakas, it does not consist of five elements, as the Mimamsa believes. Earth, water, fire, air, and ether are the usual five elements corresponding to the qualities smell, taste, colour, touch, and sound, and also corresponding to the five sense organs, nose, tongue, eye, touch, and ear. The first four elements are perceivable, but not ether. So the Carvakas deny the reality of ether. It was thought that the cause of sound in the ear was the all-pervading ether. But the Carvakas say that sound is caused by air touching the ear. It is due to the movement of air not of ether. The other four elements constitute the world. They consist of tiny particles, which are not, however, the invisible atoms of the Naiyayikas. The particles accepted by the Carvakas are visible particles; they could not accept the reality of anything that could not be perceived with the senses.

There is no external cause for the four elements coming together and obtaining the qualities of life and consciousness. It is their nature to come together and to have those qualities. But we cannot generalize on this process and establish a law that, whenever these four elements come together in certain ratio, life and consciousness will emerge. The elements may change their nature any time. We cannot, therefore say that Nature contains some eternal laws. Every event is a chance, and if it develops into something, then it develops according to its own particular nature. One may conclude that, according to the Carvakas, the existence of everything is a chance, and that there are no laws of nature, but every object has its own nature.

Carvakas defended a complete reductive materialism according to which the four elements of earth, water, fire, and air are the only original components of being; all other forms are products of their composition. Consciousness arises from the material structure of the body and characterizes the body itself—rather than a soul—and perishes with the body.Ajita Keshakambalin, a prominent Carvakas and contemporary of the Buddha, proclaimed that humans literally go from earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust:

According to the Carvakas, the soul is only the body qualified by intelligence. It has no existence apart from the body, only this world exists Carvaka metaphysics states that nothing that is not perceived with the senses or consciousness is real and existing". The Carvakas state that consciousness is not due to the atman. When a man dies, his/her consciousness goes away and one cannot prove that it vanishes and exists somewhere else. Being conscious is a peculiar quality of the living human body. It can keep back the onsciousness so long as the physical parts are healthy and stay together in a certain form. Consciousness thus is an emergent quality of the physical parts coming together in specific proportions. For example, when yeast is blended with certain juices, they turn into wine. The property of being wine is a new quality which yeast and juices obtain when blended. Therefore, according to Carvaka metaphysics, life also is only a new configuration of matter. Nothing but matter is real. Therefore the atman or self- awareness is only the physical body with a new emerging quality. But one always says that, `I have a handsome body, a tall body` and so on. If the `I` is not different from the body, how can it say: `I have such and such a body`? To this the Carvakas answer by saying that the use of `have` in these expressions is only conventional, created by the false impression that the `I` is different from the body. The Carvaka metaphysics speak of the mind (manas), which is different from the atman. But the Carvakas appear to think of mind as the consciousness in its knowing function, which of course is not separate from the body. The body together with its consciousness is the atman and consciousness in its experiencing function is the mind. Mind knows the external world through the senses. The world is the material world only.

Carvaka metaphysics are of the faith that there is no external cause for the four elements coming together and obtaining the qualities of life and consciousness. It is their inherent quality to come together and to have those qualities. However one cannot generalise on this process and establish a law that, whenever these four elements come together in certain ratio, life and consciousness will emerge. The elements may alter their nature any time. One cannot, therefore say that Nature comprises some eternal laws. In this school the four elements, earth, fire, water and air are the original principles. From these alone, when transformed into the body, intelligence is produced”just as the intoxicating power of some herbs is developed from the mixing of certain ingredients. When the body is destroyed, intelligence at once perishes also.

Therefore the soul is only the body distinguished by the attribute of intelligence, since there is no evidence for any self distinct from the body. Therefore the existence of such a separate self cannot be proved,According to the Carvakas, the soul is only the body qualified by intelligence. It has no existence apart from the body, only this world exists .All anti-Vedic schools and even some Vedic schools such as Samkhya and Mimamsa, were atheistic. The existence of god was a standard topic for rational debate. In the 11th century Udayana, , set forth five ways of proving the existence of god. The atheists put forward excellent rejoinders, like the following: "If the universe requires a maker because it undergoes change, even God needs a maker because he sometimes creates, sometimes destroys." "Madhavacharya, in his works, has elaborated on the theory of materialist philosophers who believed only in the present existing world. They did not believe in the theory of divine creation of the universe by a supernatural power. According to them, if there is a benevolent God supervising humanity, then why is it that a majority of the human population is in the throes of misery and suffering? If there is a just God above us, then why is there so much injustice on the earth, against the poor and deprived sections of society?"

Accepting only perception as the valid source of knowledge, the Carvakas disapproved the reality of God. No one has ever seen God and no one can see him in future. In fact, in the Carvaka way of life, even the minor gods also do not exist. They and the Vedas belong to the imagination of guileful priests, who invented them to make a living out of them by refereeing at sacrifices, and to awe people into submission by saying that God would punish them if they did not abide by the Vedas. There is no heaven, no hell, no God, and there are no objective ethical laws. The only laws binding men are the laws of the state, obedience to which brings rewards and disobedience of which fetches punishment. And the science (shastra) of the laws of state is the only science worth studying. What is meant by heaven is the pleasure one has in eating, drinking, making merry and singing. And hell is the pain one experiences in this world itself

"Madhavacharya, in his works, has elaborated on the theory of materialist philosophers who believed only in the present existing world. They did not believe in the theory of divine creation of the universe by a supernatural power. According to them, if there is a benevolent God supervising humanity, then why is it that a majority of the human population is in the throes of misery and suffering? If there is a just God above us, then why is there so much injustice on the earth, against the poor and deprived sections of society?

CARVAKA EPISTOMOLOGY Of the three important sources of knowledge accepted in common by all the orthodox schools (perception, inference, and verbal testimony), the Carvakas accepted only perception as the valid source of knowledge and rejected both inference and verbal testimony. Whatever we know through perception is true and real. The Carvakas at first seem not to have been aware of the difficulties in accepting perception as a valid source of knowledge, which were pointed out later by the Buddhist and Vedanta dialecticians. The later Carvakas showed that they knew of the difficulties, but they did not discuss the implications of this question and maintained on the whole a realistic position.

It is interesting to note that, in their examination of inference, the Carvakas anticipated the European skeptics. They said that inference was not a valid source of knowledge, because the major premise of an inference cannot be proved. For example: Wherever there is smoke, there is fire (Major premise); This mountain has smoke (Minor premise) ;There is fire in the mountain (Conclusion}. This is the classical example of inference in Indian epistemology. The Carvakas ask:

(i) How can we formulate the major premise unless we have seen all the instances of smoke? If we have not seen all the instances, how can we logically be justified in using the word 'wherever'? If we have seen all the instances, we must have seen the present case, viz. the mountain also.

(2) Then what is the use of making an inference when we have already perceived that there is fire in the mountains? So the Carvakas say that inference is either impossible or unnecessary. Inference cannot yield truth. But are not causal statements like 'Fire causes the bodies to expand' true? And they are universal propositions like the major premise. The Carvakas say that these causal laws also cannot be true. If we are able to apply causal laws and find them to be true, it is only an accident. In fact, there are no causal laws. Every event is a chance everything comes into existence and passes out of it according to its own nature. Even this nature is not a universal law; it too may change. However, i t should also be noted that they did not deny the formal validity of inference, because they used the very laws