The Origins of Carvaka

Carvaka, otherwise known as Lokayata, is an ancient materialistic philosophy that originated in India. However, it can be somewhat difficult to trace the original source of the Carvaka school of thought, as these original sources were first obliterated, and then the school was subjected to one-sided condemnation. Since no original text of the Carvaka tradition is in existence, all our information about their thought is derived from the representation of their position by their critics.

Philosophical discussions of the various schools of philosophy are recorded in Buddhist and Jain works of a later period, that is, between the third and ninth centuries CE. In these, materialist thought called Lokayata or Carvaka is taken up to be criticized and attacked. It is generally accepted amongst scholars that Lokayata was taught in the South in the sixth century BCE and that these schools of thought attracted scholars from the North and that Lokayata was one of the earliest systems of thought prevalent in the South. The term ‘Carvaka’ was not given until the 7th century CE (Vanamamalai, p.26).

One of our earliest sources of the belief system is Manimekalai, written in the 1st century CE. The narrator gives valuable information on various schools of Lokayata and systems of logic which dominated the scene at the time.

The Carvaka’s identified consciousness with the self and claimed that both were simply the creation of the combination of the four material elements. Using the production of the intoxicating quality of liquor from non-intoxicating ingredients as an example, the Carvakas argue that consciousness is a quality of the body which can have no existence apart from the living body itself.

One scholar, Dakshin Narayan Sastry, believes that originally the Carvakas’ believed in five elements and that later, owing to the onslaught of the idealist schools of thought, they revised the theory of elements and accepted four. The original belief was that the universe consisted of earth, water, fire and air, to which they later added ‘akasa’, sky or ether (Vanamamalai, p.32).

Carvaka is often depicted as denying spiritual values and is accordingly "represented as discarding morality, and preaching what is reproachfully described as the principle of 'good digestion and no conscience” (Sharma, p.231). However, some scholars believe, however, that this is a misunderstanding of the Carvaka's position since "no serious thinker could have included such a teaching” (Sharma, p.231).

One scholar writes about the Carvaka belief system as, “Of the four ‘purusdrthas’, the Carvakas reject ‘dharma’ (virtue) and ‘moksa’ (spiritual freedom). They regard only wealth (artha) and pleasure (kdma) as the rational ends of man. Of these too, wealth is not the ultimate end; it is good only as a means to pleasure. Pleasure, then, is the ‘summum bonum’. The wise man should squeeze the maximum pleasure out of life. He should not let go a present pleasure in the hope of a future gain. These are the maxims which the Carvakas give: "Rather a pigeon to-day than a peacock tomorrow";" A sure piece of shell is better than a doubtful coin of gold." These are in the spirit of the saying - a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” (Sharma, p.243).

It has been suggested by scholars that the Nyaya belief system could have stimulated the further development of Carvaka dialectic at a time (c. 100 BCE) when it might have fed into the beginnings of the Madhyamika school. However, it should be stressed that the sources for this theory are very obscure.

As seen, the origins of the Lokayata –Carvaka philosophy can be very difficult to trace, but it’s impact of the religious beliefs contemporary with Carvaka at the time can be felt all throughout Indian history.

Bibliography:

Sharma, Arvind (1999) The Purusarthas: An Axiological Explanation of Hinduism, The Journal of Religious Ethics, Blackwell Publishing.

 Vanamamalai, N. (1973) Materialist Though in Early Tamil Literature, Social Scientist, Social Scientist.