Bṛhaspati
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A History of Materialism From Ajita to Udbhaṭa Part IV
The Jayarāśi Question The Lion Assailing the Verities (Tattvopaplavasiṃha), written by Jayarāśi probably in the ninth century, has been claimed by some scholars to be the only surviving Cārvāka work. Others have challenged this view.[i] Since there is no external evidence to settle the question, the debate continues solely on the basis of internal evidence…
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A History of Materialism From Ajita to Udbhaṭa
Part IWhat is Materialism? The word “materialism,” as the name of a distinct approach to nature (including human nature) in the context of philosophy, is found only relatively recently. The first recorded occurrence of the term in English, presumably borrowed from French, dates from the mid-eighteenth century. “Idealism,” the contrary of “materialism,” is not found in…
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Tattvopaplavavāda of Jayarāśi and its Alleged Relation to the Cārvāka/Lokāyata
Ramkrishna Bhattacharya challenges the classification of Jayarāśibhaṭṭa’s Tattvopaplava-siṁha as a Cārvāka text. Highlighting internal textual evidence, he argues Jayarāśi rejected all pramāṇas and claimed intellectual superiority over Bṛhaspati. Rather than endorsing materialism, Jayarāśi established a distinct, radical doctrine—tattvopaplavavāda—aimed at upsetting all philosophical principles and refuting all opposing views.
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Materialism in Indian Philosophy
M. N. Roy traces ancient Indian materialism from Vedic rebellions to its culmination in Cārvāka thought. Challenging priestly orthodoxy, early naturalists developed Kaṇāda’s atomist Vaiśeṣika and Kapila’s empirical Sāṃkhya systems. By grounding reality in matter, perception, and mechanistic natural laws, these rationalist currents dismantled Vedic theology, paving the way for Buddhist Enlightenment.
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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.
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Kṛṣnamiṡra’s Prabodhacandrodya – A Critical Introduction
Dr. Sita K. Nambiar provides a critical analysis of Kṛṣṇa Miśra’s 11th-century allegorical drama, Prabodhacandrodaya. She explores its historical background, dating, and allegorical framework while examining its detailed presentation of the Cārvāka/Lokāyata materialist tradition. Her study highlights the play’s dual significance as both a Vedāntic treatise and an essential source on ancient Indian materialism.
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The Materialism of the Charvakas Lokayatikas
Ancient Indian materialism, represented by the Cārvāka Lokāyata school, sharply rejected Vedic authority, priestcraft, and supernatural deities. The doctrine asserts that the universe originates solely from four material elements—earth, water, fire, and air. Direct sense perception serves as the only valid source of genuine knowledge, denying any existence after physical death.