charvaka philosophy

Whatever our sense organs perceive is the reality, beyond which every other claim is false. Intuition and consciousness are the by-products of the functioning of the body, according to Charvaka philosophy.
Besides Jainism and Budhism another powerful atheist school of Indian philosophy was the Charvaka school. Whether Charvaka was the name of material philosopher or not is debatable. There are references about Charvakar, both in the Vishnu Puran and in the Manu Smriti. His name shows up in the Mahabharata as well. When Yudhishthir ascended the throne of Hastinapur, a demon (Charvaka) in the garb of an ascetic reminded Yudhishthir of the crimes he had committed. He also criticised him for the half-truth he had uttered in order to win the war and dethrone his enemy. He then advised Yudhishthir and propagated a profane, heretical and atheistic doctrine as a philosophy. According to some experts, the word Charvak is the distortion of Charuvak(pleasing phrases).

Charvak's philosophy is based on hedonism: Eat, drink and be merry .It represents the extremity of materialism; it does not believe in repetitive cycles of creation, preservation and destruction, for the whole process of psychosomatic existence is the result of matter and its constant activity. We are made of four vital elements: earth, water, fire and air. These have produced the visible world including our corporeal existence, which is a reservoir of immense possibilities. Whatever our sense organs perceive is the reality, beyond which every other claim is false. Intuition and consciousness are the by-products of the functioning of the body.

According to Charvaka, the inherent nature of things is dharm.Vardhaman Mahavir also says so. Rituals are superficial or surface activities. So the cause and consequence theory is absurd. There is no invisible world beyond. Imagination cannot play the role of reality. While Charvakar was lecturing Yudhishthir, the Brahmins got so angry that Charvaka was reduced to ashes by the fire of their wrath.



The Charvaka doctrine of innate nature is so powerful, that no theistic philosophy can refute its logistics. Charvaka says swan's egg produce swans and not snakes.
Another popular theory about Charvaka claims Brihaspati as its propounder. In Sanskrit, Brihas means prayer and Pati means Lord. So Brihaspati stands for the Lord of prayer; the preceptor and counsellor of the Gods. Brihaspati. however, deliberately incited the demons to indulge in all kinds of immoral activities. Anyway, the Charvaka school totally rejects the idea of God. If Karl Marx called religion opium, Charvaka had


branded religion as an aberration. "While you live, live well, even if you have to borrow, for once cremated there is no return", is the famous aphorism which reflects the philosophy of Charvaka.

Charvaka did not believe in heaven or hell. There is no such thing as soul and so there is no transmigration. The Charvakas use unpleasant language for the Vedas, the priests and gurus. A guru is just another struggling human being. No sensible man should depend on the priests, who proclaim that one who performs scarifies goes to heaven. For Charvakas the sacred fire ceremony is meaningless. There is no chanting as a mantra which is merely a combination of certain letters.

According to Charvaka, if the offering of the food satisfies the hunger of departed soul, why does not the supply of oil rekindle the flame of an extinct lamp? Like Kabir, the Charvakas also denounced castes as monstrous invention of priests and ascetics. According to them, Vedic teachers and priests were worse than Scorpions and Cobras. The Charvakas ridiculed all the rituals laid down by the Vedas and the pundits.