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, Rama, 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 Brahmins 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 Charvaka 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 Charvakas 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 Buddhism 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 afterlife. 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 Ramayana".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 Sanskrit 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 Vedas (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.