CHARVAKA

Rationalism. Secularism. Freedom

SHRIPAD KRISHNA BELVALKAR

and

RAMCHANDRA DATTATREYA RANADE

  • The Lokayata School

    Explore the historical foundations of the Lokāyata tradition in this excerpt from S. K. Belvalkar and R. D. Ranade (1927). Tracing its origins back to Bṛhaspati and its mentions in the Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra and Mahābhārata, the authors highlight its reliance on perception (Pratyakṣa), its rejection of causality, and its positive program for human welfare.

  • Materialism in Indian Philosophy

    Tracing its roots from early Upanishadic heterodoxy and Ajita Keśakambalin’s radical elemental philosophy to the formal Lokāyata school, this compiled selection from S. K. Belvalkar and R. D. Ranade’s landmark 1927 volume presents Indian materialism as an influential, systematic framework of ancient rationalist thought that challenged orthodoxy and shaped early secular philosophy.

  • Ajita Kesa-Kambalin

    Extracted from S. K. Belvalkar and R. D. Ranade’s History of Indian Philosophy (1927), this study examines the radical radicalism of Ajita Keśakambalin. Drawing from the Sāmaññaphala Sutta, the authors explore his rejection of ritualism, his four-element physicalism, and his place as an early precursor to full-fledged Cārvāka thought.