Svabhāva
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Svabhāvavāda
Lectures on the Cārvāka/Lokāyata (Part III)This lecture examines the conceptual evolution of svabhāva (own being) and yadṛcchā (chance) in Indian philosophy. Originally framed as cosmic first causes in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, svabhāva gradually shifted from signifying causality to chance. Between the sixth and eighth centuries CE, svabhāva-as-causality became assimilated into the atheistic Cārvāka/Lokāyata materialist tradition.
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What is Meant by Svabhava: Chattopadhyaya and Needham
Ramkrishna Bhattacharya examines the intellectual debate between Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya and Joseph Needham on the Indian concept of svabhāva. Analyzing classical Sanskrit and medical texts alongside Chinese parallels (Tao), he demonstrates that svabhāva encompasses both causality and accidentalism (yadṛcchā), challenging its oversimplified equation with deterministic “laws of nature.”
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Lokayata Darsana and a Comparative Study with Greek Materialism
This paper defines materialism, contrasting the Indian Cārvāka/Lokāyata school with Presocratic Greek philosophy. It examines primary Cārvāka aphorisms and fragments, refuting long-standing misrepresentations regarding their epistemological stances. The author demonstrates that Cārvākas admitted empirical inference and rejected unrestrained hedonism, establishing their rigorous scientific and logical framework.
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Syncretism in the Caraka and Suśruta saṃhitās
This paper investigates syncretism in the medical compendia Carakasaṃhitā and Suśrutasaṃhitā regarding the first cause of human existence, health, and disease. It contrasts ancient scholiasts’ interpretations of doctrines like svabhāva (inherent nature) and kāla (time), demonstrating how early non-medical philosophical traditions evolved into medical naturalism.