CHAPTER - 2

LOKAYATA S APPROACH TO ATHEISM

 LOKAYATAS A P P R O A C H TO A T H E IS M

The school o f Carvaka, otherwise known as the Lokayata DarSana was

know n to the students o f Indian Philosophy as a Purva Paksa in alm ost all the

systems. The references o f the Lokayata or the Carvaka darsana are found in the

Epics and in the Early Buddhistic literature.

Lokayata is explained by Wilson1 as the system o f atheistical philosophy

taught by Carvaka. Petersburg Dictionary 2 explains it as Materialism. The word

used for m aterialism is also called Lokayatam ata i.e. the view o f common

people. L oka means the common world. Lokayata means lokesu-ayato

i.e. accepted and supported inlarge by the com m on people. They exert

themselves about it, strive about it through the pleasure they take in discussion,

for living beings donot stir-up their hearts to right doing by reason. The lokayata

is a text book o f the vitandas (sophists) Lokayatam, Vuccati vitandavada

sattham3.

Lokayata is however mentioned in various books o f the fourteenth

century. In the M ilinda also, the word is used for twice. In the Brahmajala sutta,

Pitakas refer to famous saying tarn jivam tam sariram (for instance in M ahali

and Jalia Suttas)4.

Samkaracharyya also used the word Lokayata in his Brahm asutra for

several times. H e uses it in the same sense as the view o f those w ho look upon

1 T W . Rhys Davids on Lokayata . 2 Ibid,

Quoted m Carvaka/Lokayata P-369
P-369, 3 Ibid
Edited by D. P. Chattopadhyaya P-371.
4. ibid
P-370.
 (4 6 )

the soul as identical w ith the body, as existing only so long as the body exists,

not continuing, after death, in a new condition and separate from the body5.

B ut there is no evidence o f anyone throughout all writings w ho called

him self a Lokayatika, or his own knowledge lokayata.

The Lokayatas Claim that the cause o f the world is svabhava as commented

by Bhatta Utpala6 in the commentary o f the Brhat Samhita. From svabhava, arises

the variegated world and because o f svabhava it is eventually destroyed.

SvabhSvad eva jagad vicitram ut padyate.

Sabhavato vilayam yati.

N o original w ork o f this Lokayata or Carvaka school is know n except a

much later work, Tattvopaplavasim ha o f Jayarasl Bhatta published by the

Oriental Institute o f Boroda in 1940.

We find verses attributed to the Carvaka and the name o f Brhaspati as the

founder o f the Lokayata school, more familiarly known as the Carvaka Darsana

in the works ofSastravarta Samuccaya, the Sadadarsana samuccaya o f Haribhadra

Suri (AD 700-70), and the Sarvadarsana samgraha o f Madhavacarya (fourteenth

century A.D.).

There are various view points also as to the origin, o f the Lokayata or

carvaka school.

Brhaspati, a heretical teacher is regarded as the traditional founder o f

this school. Sometimes this Brhaspati is equated with the teacher o f the gods

5 Ibid
P370
6 Cf Bhatta Utpala - Brhat Sam hiti (1.7) Quoted in Gopinath Kabiraj Lokayata & Doctrine of Svabhava'.
1 Carvaka/Lokayata. Edited DPC
P 449
 (47)

who propagated materialism among the asuras so that they might be ruined.

Carvaka, after whose name this school is so called, is said to be the chief disciple

o f Brhaspati. According to another view, Carvaka is the name of the founder of ^

this school. According to still another view, the word Carvaka is not a proper

name but a common name given to a materialist, and it signifies a person who

believes in eat, drink and be merry (the root charv) means to eat, or a person

who eats up his own words or who eats up all moral and ethical considerations

or a person who is sweet tongued (Charu-vak) and therefore whose doctrine is

superficially attractive7.

Brhaspati, the traditional founder of this school is regarded as the founder

of materialism. This view is based on the facts -

(a) That some Vedic hymns ascribed by tradition to Brhaspati, son of

Loka, are marked by a spirit of revolt and free thinking,

(b) That Mahabharata and elsewhere materialistic views are put in the

mouth of Brhaspati and

(c) That about a dozen sutras and verses are found quoted or referred
g
to by different authors as the materialistic teaching of Brhaspati.

In the first chapter of Sarvadar&ma Samgraha, MHdhavacarya wrote

Carvaka darcana as a system of philosophy, which believed neither in god nor in

future existence. We can cite some of the passages containing atheistical and

satirical remarks. These are similar to the same tenor, which occurs in the Visnu

7 A critical st udy of Indian Philosophy, C. D. Sarm a 8 An Int roduction t o Ind. Phil.

P 40 SCCh a t t a r j e e & D M .Dut t a
P5 6
 (4 8 )

PurHna and in the Ramayana.

1. The passage from Sarvadar&na Samgraha is as follows - All this

has been uttered by Brhaspati as well - There is no heaven, no

final liberation, no soul (which continues to exist) in another

world, nor any ceremonies of castes or orders which are productive

of future reward.

2. The Agnihotra sacrifice, the three Vedas, the mendicants triple

staff (tridanda), and the practice of smearing oneself with ashes,

are only means of livelihood ordained by the creator for men who

have neither understanding nor energy.

3. If (it be true that) an animal slaughtered at the Jyotistoma sacrifice

is (in consequence) exalted to heaven, why does the worshipper

not immolate his own father ?

4. If a sraddha (offering of food to the manes) satiates even defunct

creatures it is quite superfluous to furnish people who are setting

out upon a journey with any provisions (as their friends to remain

behind can offer food to them).

5. Since (as you say) persons in heaven are filled with oblations

presented upon earth why is food not similarly offered (by those

below) to people on the roof of the house?

 (49 )

6. While a man lives, let him live merrily, let him borrow money,

and swallow clarified butter how can a body return to earth after

it has been reduced to ashes? Yavajjfbet sukham jtbet mamkrtva

ghritam pibet paraloka gatam punaragamanam kutah?

7. If a man goes to another world when he quits his body, why does

affection for his kindred not impel him to come back?

8. Hence ceremonies for the dead are a mere means of livelihood

devised by the Brahmins, and nothing else.

9. The three composers of the Vedas were buffoons, rogoues and

goblins, everyone has heard of jarpharT, turpharTand other such

(non-sensical) exclamations of the pandits.

10. It is well known that in an asvamedha (horse sacrifice) the

embraces of the horse must be received by the queen, and it is in

like manner, also well known what other sorts of things are to be

grasped by those buffoons. In the same way, the eating of flesh is

prescribed by those goblins9.

In Visnu Purana, similar verses are quoted which are identical with

above passage.

In the passage of the Ramayana, the Brahmin Javali endeavours

ineffectually to shake the resolution of Rama, who was unwilling to deviate

from the arrangements made by his late father Da/aratha and return from the

9 Qtd in J Muirs
Carvaka/Lokayata Edt by DPC,
P 352
 ( 50)

forests of the south to Ayodhya to take possession of the throne offered to him

by his dutiful brother Bharata. In his speech Javali tried to incite Rama in the

following way:

1. Anyone who feels attachment to any persons such as his father

and mother is to be regarded as insane since no one is anything to

any other.

2. You, most excellent ofmen, ought not by abandoning your paternal

kingdom, to enter upon a wrong road painful, uneven and beset

with troubles.

3. Da^aratha (his father) is now nothing to you, nor you to him, that

king (was) one person and you (are) another, do, therefore, as I

advise.

4. If an oblation eaten here by one (really) passes into the body of

another, then let a sraddha be offered to a man who is traveling

abroad he need not eat upon his j oumey.

5. These books composed by wisemen containing such precepts as

worship, bestow, offer sacrifice, practice austerities are mere

charms to draw forth gifts.

6. Accept this great kingdom, which is free from rivals and enemies.

Even RSma, when he had heard these discourse although slow to

wrath, was greatly incensed at being exhorted to atheism10.

10. RSmayana Ayudhya kSnda Section 108 Ed Schfegel

Carvaka/ Lokayata Edt. by DPC,
355e3S$
p.P.
 (5 1 )

We can cite many more instances and examples o f Carvakas atheism

which are developed through the different vedic and other religious literary

works. As for example there are lofty examples in M anus Institutes eg. ii, II, it

is mentioned whatever Brahmin addicting him self to rationalistic writings (hetu

-sastra), shall despise these two sources o f (Knowledge, the J>ruti and the Smrti)

is to be cast out by good m en as a nihilist and reviler o f the Veda xii, 9 5,96.

A ll religious systems (smrtis) which stand apart from the Vedas, and all

heretical opinions whatever, are unprofitable in the next world, for they are

founded on darkness. W hatever books separate from the Vedas, spring up and

disappear, are worthless and false due to their recentness o f date.

In the Rg Veda viii, 89,3.4, reference is made to some free thinkers who

had doubted the existence o f Indra.

In the Nirukta, YSska refers to an older author named Kautsa, w ho had

spoken o f the hymns o f the Veda as often being unmeaningful or contradictory11.

(original sansk. Texts, ii 180 bb).

But no well known text on Lokayata has come down to us. So the principal

tenets o f this school can be restored only on the basis o f the Lokayatam ata that

is to be found in the POrvapaksa o f many Brahmanical and Buddhist philosophical

works.

In the long list o f various sorts o f hermits given in the Harsa carita, the

Lokayatikas come among others who would be classed by Vedahtists as heretics.

H Ibid
p.p 3 6 8 ,3 6 2.
 (52)

The w ord lokayata was used in about 500 B.C. in a complimentary w ay as the

name o f a branch o f Brahmin learning and probably meant N ature Lore - wise

saying, riddles, rhymes and theories handed down by tradition as to cosmogony,

the elements, the stars the weather, scraps o f astronomy, o f elementary physics,

even o f anatomy, and knowledge o f the nature o f precious stones and o f birds

and beasts and plants. Even before the Christian era masters o f the dark sayings,

the mysteries o f such mundane lore, w ere m arked w ith sophists and casuists12.

In the fourteenth century, the great theologian Sayana M adhava in his

longish chapter ascribes to the Lokayatikas the m ost extreme forms o f the let-

us-eat and drink for tomorrow w e die view o f life, o f Pyrrhonism in philosophy,

and o f atheism in theology13.

Kautilya, in the fourth century B.C. speaks o f the LokSyatikas only once

in his work, but the connection in which he speaks o f them seems to indicate

that they had a system like that o f the Sankhya Yoga.

In the second century B.C., Patanjali speaks o f the Lokayatas and o f

Bhaguri as their Varttika or supporter14.

In the second century A.D. VatsaySna in his KHmas'astra, quotes a number

o f L oklyata sutras and refutes them. These sutras relate to the desirability or

otherwise the study o f Pharm asastra. The To|cayata, w ho believes neither in

Dharma nor in adharma says -

1. Religious rites should not be practise^,

______ 2. Because their fruition depends upon the future.

12 D Rhys Lokayata Edt by DPC, , ' 13. Ibid '
P 374 ; R 375

14 H P Sastri Qtd m Lokayata/Carvaka Edt by DPC,

P 379
 ( 53 )

3. And is doubtful.

4. Who, unless he is a fool, gives away what belongs to him to others?

5. A pigeon today is better than a peacock tomorrow.

6. A sure kaudi is better than a doubtful goldcoin. So says the

Lokayata.

These six seems to be genuine aphorisms from the Lokayata sutras15.

In the eighth century, Haribhadra Suri, the voluminous writer o f the Jainas,

writes six verses in his saddarsana samuccaya noting the fact that the Lokayatas

regard earthly enjoyment as the highest aim o f human life. But his commentator

Gunaratna gives us a quotation from Vacaspati, which may be synonymous with

Brhaspati. Prthivyaptejovayuriti tattvani tatsamudaye sanravisayendriyasamjhas

# * * *

tebhyascaitanyam16. Earth, water, fire and air are the four elements and out o f

these combinations body, sense organs and consciousness arise.

From the statements o f the commentator Gunaratna, it appears that there

were Lokayatikas even in his time, the end o f the fifteenth century A.D., that

they were given to eating and drinking, that they indulged in all sorts o f sensual

excesses, that they w ere KSpalikas, besmeared w ith dust and they w ere Yogins

belonging to all casfes.

In a w ork entitled to Sarva siddhanta sara sam graha attributed to

Samkarlcaryya in the early part o f the ninth century, it is stated that BSrhaspatya,

A rhata and Buddhism are non-Vedic systems o f philosophy. The well known

15 Carvaka/Lokayata Qtd in IbidH PSastn

P 379
16 Ibid
P 379
 (54 )

verse agnihotram trayo Vedah etc. Samkara attributes to Brhaspati and he says

that the Lokayatas do not believe in the blessings o f the future existence, but

only in such blessings as agriculture, commerce, dairy farming and dandaniti,

which produce tangible results in this world. This is w hat Kautilya also says

about the followers o f Brhaspati, the author o f an ancient Artha&astra before

him, w ho according to him, believed only in varta (Economics) and dandamti

(coercion)17.

In an another work entitled Sarvadarsanasamuccaya the writer includes

the slokas on the Lokayatikas as found in H aribhadras work. From this it is

possible to recount a history o f the system from the seventh century B .C. to the

present day. Here it was written as - The Lokayatikas do not believe in'Kvara or

in a future existence. Virtue and vice they have none. They believe in the present

and not in the past nor in the future. They are positivists. They have few doctrines

to defend but many to assail, and in the matter o f assailing they are bold, direct

and exceedingly sarcastic. Here are some o f their sarcastic arguments -

1. Those who take a dip under the water o f the Ganges with a view to

rise up to heaven seen to be no better than sheep, w ho in order to

advance for a fight in front, always retrace their steps.

2. I f the animal immolated in a sacrifice goes to heaven, why does

the sacrifice not kill his father and send him to heaven?18

17. Ibid P 18 Ibid P

P. 380-3SH P 380-381.
 ( 55 )

Recently Dr. F. W. Thomas has published a work entitled Brhaspati Sutra,

which has been eagerly studied by all scholars interested in Indian history, thought

and society. Brhaspati is said to have been propounder o f the doctrine o f the

Lokayatikas. The Brhaspati sutras give us the most important piece of information

as regards the Lokayatika's close connection with the Kapalikas. It says, for the

production o f wealth Lokayata is the sastra for kama or earthly enjoyments.

Kapalika is the sastra. But the Brhaspati sutras tell us that the Kapalikas are an

ancient sect, at least as ancient the Lokayatas. Brhaspati considers them to he

distinct sects, but Gunaratna identifies the Kapalikas with the Lokavatikas

Nodoubt Brhaspati sutra gives the idea that there are more Kapalikas bent on

Kamasadhanathan Buddhists19.

Again, the original school o f Brhaspati meant vitanda or casuistn

and nothing else20. In it vitanda was essential. It was in its original stage. withou>

any constructive element and without any positive theory to propound. It \\a>

negative and destructive. It is recorded in Tattvapaplava simha, written by Jayarasi

Bhatta. This negative aspect o f the doctrine finds expression in the Vedas

themselves. The Vedic hymns pointedly refer to scoffers and unbelievers. I hose

hymns which are traditionally ascribed to Brhaspati, son o f Loka. contains tin.

first germs o f protest against a mere verbal study o f the Veda and emphatically

declare that a man who tries to understand the Veda is far superior to a mere

sacerdotal priest. It is written that the Manduka hymns is a panegyric o f frogs

19 ibid
p.p 381 - 383
20 D R Sastri : A Short History of Indian Materialism. Sensationalism and Hedonism
Qtd in C'arvaka/I.okavata
P. 400
 (56 )

who are described as raising their voices together at the commencement o f the

rains like Brahmin pupils rapeating the lessons o f their teachers, and this

celebrated hymns on frogs is a satire, so declares M ax M uller21 upon the priest

hood. Yaska clearly tells us that those w ho merely memorize the texts w ithout

knowing the meaning, do not see the real form o f the Veda. In the Chandogya

Upanisad, it is stated that a performace accompanied by knowledge, produces a

better result than a perform ance w ithout knowledge. Jaimini, in his Purva

MImamsa system, devotes an entire chapter to drawing the conclusion that study

consists not only in learning by heart the letter o f the Vedas but also in clearly

understanding its spirit. So long under the designation o f Barhaspatya, it admitted

no authority other than its own. In its seconc^stage, in explanation o f the origin
/' "

o f an event or product it accepted the doctrine o f svabhava. This doctrine o f

svabhava maintains that the effects are self existent and are produced neither

by different things as causes nor by themselves, in as m uch as no cause can be

found for the filament o f the lotus or the eye like marks on the pea-cocks tails.

I f it cannot be found, it certainly does not exist22.

We can draw five essential features ofLokayata or CarvSka dar^ana. There

a re -

-A. Bhutavada - That is m atter is the only reality. These ate earth,

water, fire and air.

2. Dehatmavada - there is no soul separate from the body.

21 Maxmuller-Six systems P 94 Qtd in Carvaka/Lokayata Edt by DPC,

P.400
22 Ibid
P.401
 (57 )

3. Pratyaksapradhanavada - Perception is the only source of

knowledge,

4. Svabhavavada - The varieties in the world is a natural fact, therefore

as the creator of the world, the presence of God or supernatural

being is simply creation of mind.

5. Paralokavilopavada - there is no future world, therefore,

transmigration of soul is futile.

In the second Act o f the allegorical play called prabodhachandradoya

krishnapati mishra sums up the teachings of Carvaka materialism - Lokayata is

the only shastra, perception is the only authority, earth, water, fire and air are

the only elements, enjoyment is the only end of human existence, mind is only

a product of matter. There is no other world, death means liberation23.

According to the Lokayata or Carvaka, perception (pratyaksa) through

sense organs is the only valid source of knowledge. Lokayatas do not accept

anumana or inference as a source of knowledge since it is based on unperceived

facts. Out of the four substances earth, water, fire and air arise bodies, senses

and objects of this world just as red colour is produced by the combination of

betel nut, leaf and lime. There is no soul or consciousness apart from the body.

So, the continuity of self or soul is meaningless. When the body perishes, soul

also perishes. Therefore, transmigration of soul, heaven, hell etc. are mere

imagination. Plato says, there are four elements out of which the body is

23 A critical survey of Ind Phi C D Sharma

P 41
 ( 58)

com posed. These are earth, fire, w ater and air24. K am alasila w rites in

Lokayatasutra tat samudaaye visayendrisamjha25. With the denial o f karma phala,

this school denied the existence o f the universal mysterious agency called fate

or Adrsta or Daiva i.e. dependence on the being or the supernatural. It denies the

existence o f merits and demerits acquired in our previous existence. B ut most

Indian philosophers are in conformity the the law o f karm a and simultaneously

with the retribution o f good and bad deeds. The opponents argue that fate must

be admitted as the cause ofthe differences and determinations o f the phenomenal

w orld. B rhaspati and others bring forw ard the doctrine o f Svabhava or

spontaneous generation o f things according to their respective natures.

SvabhSvavada, in contrast to Adhyatmavada which is adoctrine ofimmortal

soul does not accept law o f karm a also.

In Sveta^vatara Upanisad, w e find some examples o f theories current in

its time in explanation o f the universe. A nd naturalism i.e. Svabhavavlda forms

one o f this -

Kalah Svabhava niyatiryadrccha etc. Svabhavavada denies the principle

o f causality and asserts the supremacy o f the inherent or immanent nature o f a

thing .

Svabhavavada is more or less identical with Yadrcchavada. Yadrccha is

*

defined by Samkaracharyya as akasm ikapraptih or coincidence.

24 Plato Dictionary 25. Tattva Samgraha Panjika, 1860 Qtd in Ibid

P 74 P 77
Qtd. in CltrYaka Dar/ana L Chotta pSdhyaya 26. Qtd in LokSyata & the doctrine of SvabfrSva
Gopmath Koviraj
f.p
 (59)

The lokayatas acceptance ofSvabhava or nature as the origin o f the world

is reflected in Devatama*s conceptof the w orld process. A ccording to him also,

the origin o f the w orld is grounded in nature. By nature, he gives emphasis on

the scientific explanation o f m atter force leading to change.

In M ahabharata, sim ilar doctrine o f svabhava is found w ith the

materialistic out look. Those who thought that material elements alone were

ultimately real subscribed to the doctrine o f Svabhava. Svabhavam bhuta

cintakah27.

Madhavacaryya in his Sarvadar^ana Samgraha 28 refers to the arguments

o f Lokayata in the following manner -

[But an opponent w ill say] if you thus do not admit adrsta, (the unseen)

the various phenomena o f the word would be just fortuitous (akasmika). However

(answer the Lokayatas) this is not properly said in as much as it [i.e. the causation

o f all phenomena] is adequately explained by Svabhava. Again, the fire is hot,

the w ater is cold and air is neutral (i.e. neither hot nor cold) to touch. By whom

are all these varieties created? because ofSvabhava all these are so29. Devatma,

also finds no supernatural hand in the creation o f the world. It is by natural force

everything is created.

The Lokayata the Carvaka is also known as Nastikya, Barhaspatya,

Bhutavadin and Iccantika etc.

27 Mahabharata Santipriba 232 19 Qtd. in Out lines of Ind Phi Hirriyana

P 105
28 Ind Atheism DPC 29 Ibid
P 65 P 65
 (60 )
The Indian philosophers appropriately characterise the supporters o f

materialism as deniers or negativists (Nlstikas). The CIrvaka or Lokayata is

also called N astika, since it negates soul, the authority o f the Vedas,

transmigration o f soul etc. For Indian materialist it is not only the denial o f the

soul and the exclusive restriction to matter as the cause for the explanation o f

the world. Its aim is to dispute and deny the continuance o f life after death, the

restriction o f good and bad work, and the moral claims derived out o f them. Its

interest is totally negative in character. It is interested in the philosophical

questions so far as they serve this aim.

A s the Carvaka lokayata philosophy has grounded its origin to Brhaspati,

the founder o f this school it is also called Barhaspatya. It is known as Bhutavadin,

since it regards the four elements as the ultimate for the origin o f everything.

It is also called Icclntika, as it believed in natural, spontaneous origin o f

things and beings o f the world.

A s a result o f this materialistic trend, a number o f materialists come

forward to materialize their views.

Among them kambalasvatara, kakudt/1 katyayana AjitaK?#U&mkabalm etc.

are prominent.

Ajita Keshkambalin, the materialist represents the following views

- There is no gift in charity, there is no sacrifice, there are no offerings. There

is no fruit and ripening o f good and bad actions. There is no this world or that.
 (6 1 )

There is neither mother nor father. There are no ascetics and Brahmanas who

have gone along the right path o f conduct and follow the right conduct who have

seen this world and that world out o f independent knowledge and proclaimed it.

A man consists o f four elements. W hen he dies earth goes into the mass o f

earth, water into the mass o f water, fire into mass o f fire, breath into the mass o f

air and the sense organs enter into space30.

Again another teacher, Kakuda Katyayana teaches the following - There

are seven masses, which are neither created nor brought forth. They are unfruitful,

unchangeable and are firm like a pillar. They move not, nor do they change, they

do not disturb each other, nor are they also to procure joy, g rief or jo y and

grief. The seven masses are the earth mass, the water mass, the five mass, the air

mass, pleasure, pain and the souls31.

Out o f the seven categories admitted in the Vai^esika philosophy, such

as substance quality, action, universality, particularly, inherence and non

existence, only the category o f substance is partially admitted by the Carvakas.

I

A ccording to them, quality and action are not separate categories distinct from

the substance itself which is their substratum and universality, particularity,

inherence and non-existence are completely imaginary or unreal.

Again o f the nine substances admitted by the Vaisesika, five substances

namely, aklsa, time, space, self and mind are not admitted as realities in thp

carvaka philosophy. The old w ritings o f the Jainas also describe sim ilar

30 Materialism - E Frauwaliner
Carvaka/Lokayata Edt by DPC 31 Ibid
P 479 P. 480
 (6 2 )

materialistic doctrines. Thus it led to the creation o f a foil fledged materialistic

system in the form o f Lokayata school.

Now, it will be quite convenient for us to discuss the Lokayatas or

Carvakas materialistic, atheistic and naturalistic tendencies under the three heads,

namely Epistemology, Metaphysics and Ethics.

The entire philosophy o f the CarvSkas may be said to depend logically

on their epistemology or the theory o f knowledge. According to the Carvaka or

Lokayata, perception (Pratyaksa) is the only source o f knowledge and they deny

the validity o f other sources such as inference (Anumana) and o f testim ony

(sabda). \

We m ust see the view points or the Carvakas for their acceptance o f

Pratyaksa Pramana as the source o f knowledge. A t the same time enquire under

w hat ground they try to reject inference and other pramanas as sources of

knowledge.

Both the heterodox and orthodox accordingly set about examining their

traditional beliefs, and tried to interpret them consistently. The interpretation

involves a great deal o f independent reasoning. The Carvakas or Lokayatas

rejection o f inference is that there is not sufficient w arrant for believing in the

truth o f the inductive relation or Vyapti which forms its basis. The ascertainment

o f this relation, depends upon observed facts, and since observation is necessarily

restricted in its scope it does not entitle us, it is urged, to universalize the
 (63)

conclusion reached with its help. It is necessary to find out w ith certainty the

elements o f invariability (niyama) and o f relevancy (ananyatha siddhi) involved

in such a notion. Lokayatikas inference being a means o f the ascertainm ent o f

causality contests its evidentiary value.

The conviction that universal uncomitance or the absence o f a condition

limiting the universality o f the relation on which all inference are based is in

accessible to human resources. The result is that to the Lokayatikas, there is no

order revealed in the world, either o f sense or o f intellect.

B ut in order to demonstrate their stand that perception is the only source

o f knowledge they had to have recourse to all variety o f logical subtleties. In

Slnkhya tattva Kaumudi, there is an example when the materialist affirms that

inference is not a means o f knowledge, how is it that he can know that a man is

ignorant or in doubt or in error? For ignorance, doubt and error cannot possibly

be discovered in other man by sense perception. Accordingly by the materialist

ignorance etc., in other man m ust be inferred from conduct and from speech

and therefore inference is recognized as a means o f knowledge even against his

will32.

So, it is seen that ancient Lokayata lost its original character as it was no

more a rilti, but became a hetuvidy a, a tarka vidya full o f logical subtleties33.

Later on, the Loklyatas appear to have disappeared, but its doctrine still

remained occasionally accepted by disbelievers or materialists, w ho always exist

32 Ind Phi Radha Krishnan Vol.2

P 284
33 Carvaka/Lokayata Tueci-Asketch of Indian laterialism
P.392
 (64)

in every country even in a country which can be called the fatherland o f idealism34.

It is interesting to note that Sunyavada Buddhists and Advaita Vedantists

i

also have rejected the ultim ate validity o f inference. There has been long

controversy between Udayana, the logician and Sriharsa, the Vedantin regarding

the validity o f inference and Sriharsa has denounced all attempts to prove the

validity o f inference. B ut there is a radical difference between the Carvakas

viewpoint and the Vedantins and Sunyavadins view points. The Carvakas accept

only perception and uphold it as a the true means o f valid knowledge. But the

Sunyavadins and the Advaitins reject the ultimate validity o f all means o f

knowledge such as including perception, though they insist on the empirical

validity o f all means o f knowledge. The distinction betw een ultimate and

empirical knowledge is unknown to the CcRvaka.

We can ask the question Do w e not have a kind o f perception, called

internal, which gives an immediate knowledge o f our mental statues? And do we

not perceive in this, consciousness which is no where to be perceived in the

external material objects ? I f so, does it not compel us to believe that there is in
i

us some non-material substance whose quality is consciousness - the substance

w hich is called soul or spirit (Atm3)? The Nyaya Vaisesika and others admit a

separate sense organ called mind. W ith its help people experience pleasure,

pain etc. But in the CUrvaka view, no separate internal sense organ in the form o f
35
the m ind has been admitted . But science, neurological sciences admit the

existence o f mind.____________________________________________________
34. Ibid
P. 392
35 Ananta Kumar Bhattacharya C ah'aka Darsana
Qtd m Lokayata/Carvaka Bdt. by DPC,
P 463
 (65)

The Carvakas admit that the existence or consciousness is proved by

perception. But they deny that consciousness is the quality o f any unperceived

non-material or spiritual entity. According to the Carvaka, what people mean by

a soul is nothing more than this eonscious living body (caitanya vi&ta deha eva

atmS), the non-material soul is never perceived. We have direct evidence o f the

identity o f the self with the body in our daily experiences and when we say I am

fat, I am lame, I am reading and writing, I am sitting etc. in these cases, the body
i
only is the self, in the said awareness involving the T , it is being revealed as the

doer. I f the T , the self, w ere different from the body, th ese w ould be

meaningless36.

Again, according to the Carvaka or Lokayata the consciousness arises

due to particular combination o f four material elements, earth, water, fire and

air. Consciousness is an epifphenomenon or bye product o f matter, there is no

evidence o f its existence independent o f the body.

C arvika argues if there is no independent identity o f the soul, there is no

need o f assuming the possibility o f immortality. O n the contrary, death means

the end o f the individual. All questions about previous life, after life, rebirth,

enjoyment o f fruits o f actions in heaven or hell, therefore become meaningless.

M ore or less in the same m anner the Carvaka or Lokayata is about to

denounce the existence o f God on the basis that it is not perceivable. The four

elements are sufficient for the creation o f the world, the supposition o f a creator

36 Ibid
P 454 i
 (66 )

is meaningless.

B ut the question may be put - can the material elements by themselves

give rise to this wonderful world? D o w e not need an efficient cause for

combination o f these material elements?

In reply, the Carvaka states that the material elements themselves have
i

got each its fixed nature (svabhava). It is by the natures and laws inherent in

them that they combine together to form this world.

Q uite consistently, the same view point is presented by D evatm a,

W henever a new existent comes into being, it is the result o f the action o f

some immutable process o f Nature and w hen any existent grows or evolves

gradually, it does so in accordance w ith the immutable laws o f nature. In the

same way when any existent in nature undergoes a degeneration or dissolutionary

change in its being, it is also obedience to the immutable laws o f nature37.

B ut Devatma accepts the law o f causality since the change does not take

place haphazardly or unmethodically but they do so by certain fixed process or

immutable law o f nature. By the immutable law o f nature, Devatma means that

the same set o f conditions produce the same effect.

Therefore, according to both the Carvaka and Devatma" there is thus no

necessity o f God or an omnipotent, omnipresent being to create the world. The

CSrvakas or the Lokayatas is therefore, regarded as atheists.

Indian philosophers like the MTmamsakas believe that highest goal o f

37 Ethics of DevatmS
S P Kanal
P 74
 (67)

human life in heaven which can be attained hereafter by perform ing vedic rites.

But according to Carvaka, the notion o f heaven hell etc. are the inventions o f

the priests for their livelihood.

Contrastingly, D evatm as ethical views are different. His distinction

between ethics and religion is therefore, different. Theistic religions regard

good conduct in relation to other human beings as ethical conduct. They regard

conduct in relation to god as religious. So ethics is concerned w ith relationships

in the empirical world. Religion is concerned w ith relationship o f m an w ith the

supersensible w orld e.g. god or gods. For DevStma, there is no supersensible

being called God and the distrinction between Ethics and Religion falls within

the natural world. Devatmas Ethics is naturalistic in the sense that it denies any

being beyond good or evil or that the love o f or identity w ith or realization o f
38
supersensible reality is the highest destiny for human personality .

Likewise, Lokayatas philosophy also dismisses necessarily all b elief in

a super natural or transcendental being, and w ith it also belief in everything that

constitutes the specific subject m atter o f religion and philosophy. Thus,

Hiriyanna, says, Carvaka or Lokayata recognizes neither a God who controls

the universe nor conscience which guides man, and it does not care for b elief in

a life after death, which, so far as right conduct is concerned, matters more

according to the Indian than even b elief in the existence o f God39. Thus it draws

away m ans mind altogether from the thought o f a higher life and fixes it upon

38 Ibid
P 194
39 Outlines of Indian Phi. Hirriyana
P 193
 (68 )

the w orld o f sense. O f the four purusarthas or human values (dharma, artha,

kama and moksa), the Carvakas o f Lokay atikas reject two viz, dharma and moksa,

thus restricting the scope o f human effort to the attainment o f sensual pleasure

(Kama) or securing the means there o f (Artha). The Carvakas are so impatient

o f obtaining pleasure that they do not even try to secure freedom from pain,

N obody casts away the grain because o f the husks so say the Carvakas in

Sarvadarsana Samgrah. The repudiation o f the traditional teaching and all the

moral and spiritual discipline for which it stands is a necessary corollary to this
i

crude utilitarianism, whose motto, is sufficient unto the day is the good there

o f (Yavatf&et SukhamjiVet). We can think o f a school without the ideal o f moksa,

but not without that o f dharma. The life devoid o f dharma is to reduce man to the

level o f the brute40.

B ut as a positive point o f the C lrvaka materialism, it can be said that it

applied to the main questions o f philosophy, a judgm ent free from the fancies

o f theology and the dictates o f authority. M aterialism is the first answer to the

question o f how far our unassociated reason helps us in the difficulties o f

philosophy41.

The chief importance o f the CSrvaka system for us lies in the evidence it

affords o f the many sidedness o f philosophic activity in India in ancient times

and o f the prevalence o f a great deal o f liberty o f thought as well as o f freedom

o f expression.

4 6 Ibid
P 194
41 Ind. Phil Vol-1 Radha Knshnan
P 285
i
 (6 9 )

The long process of the development of naturalist, rationalist sceptic,

agnostic and materialist thought in ancient India found its culmination in the

Carvaka Philosophy. The Carvaka view that no inference can yield certain

knowledge is the view of many contemporary Western thinkers like the

pragmatists and logical positivists.