Wm ^?T|T mf’sft ff?rT€5T 3T^K*fr 2 Lai Bahadur Shastri Academy % of Administration !^ *T^fV MUSSOORIE S 2??R>r5rir ^ LIBRARY \00^*^S“l5(!f sT^rrP^ ^fs^TT in < ^ Accession No l.”AM.M...f.... ^ Class No,., Book No,.,. BRARY \00^*^S“l5(!f I ^hl 10 LE A Short History of Indian Materialism^ Sensationalism and Hedonism BY Dr. DAKSHINARANJAN SHASTRI BOOKLAND PRIVATE LTD. PUBLl^HEES & BOOKSELLERS C5ALCUTTA : ALLAHABAD : PATNA BOOKLAND PRIVATE LTD« 1, Sankar Ghosh Lane, Calcutta-6. Branches : CALCUTTA 211/1, Cornwallis Street, Calcutta-6. ALLAHABAD 44, Johnstonganj, Allahabad-3. PATNA Chowhatta Patna-4. Price Rupees Three only Published by Janakinath Basu, M.A., for Bookland Private Limited, 1, Sankar Ghosh Lane, Calcutta-6, and Printed by Gouri Sankar Roy Chowdhury at the Basusree Press, 80/6 Grey Street, Calcutta-6. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION Oriental scholars are unanimous that the works on Materialism and Sensationalism in their relation to the Hindu system of Philosophy are very rare, and that this dearth of literature stands in the way of properly understanding Hindu thoughts and ideas in regard to these subjects both in this country and in the West. In the following pages I have attempted to present before the public a bird’s eye view of the origin and development of Materialism and Sensationalism in India. I have been urged to make this humble effort not by the belief that my contributions to the knowledge on these subjects are likely to be of any considerable value, but by the hope that insignificant as they are they will serve to attract to the subject the attention of worthier scholars and call forth their energies. This short treatise has been designed to prepare the ground for a systematic study of Indian Materialism and I have spared no pains to make it as such. My labours will be amply rewarded if on the perusal of my humble work one single reader feels himself interested in the study of Indian Materialism, Sensationalism and Hedonism. I have much pleasure in acknowledging here my indebtedness to Mahamohopadhyaya Dr. Haraprasad Shastri, M.A., D.Litt., C.I.E., Mahamohopadhyaya Dr. Bhagabat Kumar Shastri, M.A., Ph.D., and Principal Gopinath Kaviraj, M.A., whose very interesting articles iv throw many new lights on the subject. I also express my gratitude to Dr. Mahendra Nath Sarkar, M.A., Ph.D., whose class room lectures on Psychology were of help to me. No less is my debt of gratitude to Professor Shyama Charan Mukherjee, M.A., and Srijut Eamsankar Dutt for their valuable help in seeing the book through the press. My thanks are also due to Srijut Upendra Kumar Bose, Librarian, Sanskrit College, and his assistant, who gave me every possible help I needed and to the authorities of the Book Company, Calcutta, for the interest they have taken in the publication of this little book. I take this opportunity to express my heart felt thanks to Dr. Aditya Nath Mukher jee, M.A., P.R.S., Ph.D., I.E.S., Dars'ana- sagar. Principal Sanskrit College who induced me to take up this task, gave me many valuable suggestions. Sanskrit College, The Slst March, 1930, Dakshinaranjan Shastri. PEEFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION It is well known to students of Indian philosophy that the original sutra works of the materialists, sceptics and agnostics- of India are now lost to us. To be compelled to rely exclusively for a certain doctrine or way of thought on its presentation by its avowed opponents are seldom found free from pre- judices and personal predilections. Purvapak?as or the opponent’s views are almost invariably presented in an inadequate and unsympathetic manner, so that no sound judgment as their proper philosophical worth can be easily formed. If one notes how the doctrines of the Sarvastivadin Buddhists, the Pas'upatas, and the Paflaratras have suffered at the hands of S'ahkaracarya, it would be clear that the study of a certain system from its presentation by its opponents has to be undertaken with a proper appreciation of these difficulties. An attempt has been made here to collect from different sources fragments of actual statements by the founders and propounders of different schools of the materialists, sceptics and agno- stics of India]. [Kusumanjali, Nyayamafijari, Advaita-brahmasiddhi, Vivara i^-a-prameya-sa li graha, and numerous other works by orthodox writers, Hindu and Jain, Sanskrit and Prakrit works, and Buddhist Pali works, all contain a good deal of useful information on these schools. But these are only fragments of the original works of these schools now irrevocably lost to us. The purvapaksas or views of opponents, vi in which form they appear in subsequent literature, have been studied in the light of and interpreted consistently in the spirit of, the fragmentary texts yet preserved of the earliest exponents of the systems. It is pointed out in this connection that the Oriental Institute of Baroda has published in the year 1940 “Tattvopaplavasimha” of Jayarasi Bliatfa which is an interesting work of the Lokayata school of philosophy. Attempts have been made in the present edition to utilise Jayaras'i’s work. The first edition of this short history published in 1930 has completely been exhaust- ed long ago. Since then the book was almost lost to the interested readers who insisted on its re-publication from time to time- Inspite of the fact that I also felt some sort of responsibility to bring out its second edition, I faded to do so earlier due to my indisposition of health and other unavoidable short-comings. At length, the publication saw the light of the day being embodied with the results of my further study on the subject, the credit of which goes direct to my affectionate Sriman Bani- kantha Chakravarty B.Sc., C.A. and to the authorities of the Bookland Private Ltd. But for their juvenile enthusiasm the matter would have been delayed for unlimited time. D. R. S. Calcutta, The 31st March, 1957. BIBLIOGRAPHY, Dacca University Bulletin_, No. I. Saras wati Bhaban Studies,, Vol. II & III. Tattva Sangralia Gaekwad Series. Saddars'ana Samuchchaya. Sarvadars'ana Sangralia. The positive sciences of the Ancient Hindus. Nyayamanjari of Jayanta. Chaitanya and his age. Sammati Tarkaprakara^la. History of Materialism — Lange. An outline of Philosophy — Russels. Modern Materialism — William Dougall. Materialism : Has it been Exploded ? The Panjab Sanskrit Series I. Six Systems of Indian Philosophy — Max Vidwanmoda % arangiljL i. Kusumanjali. Advaitabrahmasiddhi. The vivara Q.aprameyasangraha. The Commentary on Brhatsamhita — Bhottotpala. The Ramayana. The Mahabharata. N aishadhacharitam. Prameyakamalamartanda. Buddhacharitam by Asvaghosha. JProbodha Chandrodaya Natakam. Angutharanikaya. Asvalayana Sutta. Milindapanha. Indian Philosophy — Radhakrishnan. The Epics — Hopkins. Sarvamatasangraha. The Problems of Hindu Philosophhy. viil Pre-Buddhistic Philosophy. Sarvasiddhantasangrah The Purva Mimarasa System. The Vishnu PuralJLam. The Pandma Pural^Lam. Arthas'astra of Koutilya. Li. de la Vallee Poussin — Materialism (Indian). A Sketch of Indian Materialism — Tucci. Nanaprabandha. Fellowship I.ectures — Mahamohopadhyaya Chandrakanta Tarkadankar and Mahamohopadhyaya Durgacharan Sankhya Vedantatirtha. Spread of Buddhism. The Rigveda. Charvaka Shashti, etc. Bharatiya Nastik Dars'aner Itibritta (Bangadars'an, Nava Paryaya Baishakh 1316) Tattvopaplava Siihha. A Short History of Indian Materialism^ Sensationalism and Hedonism INTRODUCTION Indian materialism has passed through four logical stages of development. In its first stage it was a mere tendency of opposi- tion. It called in question all kinds of knowledge, immediate as well as mediate and all evidence perception as well as inference. It denied the authority of even the Vedas. In that period, its name was Barhaspatya. In its second stage, Svabh&vav&da, recognition of perception as a source of knowledge and the theory of the identification of body with the self, w«re incorporated into it. In that stage, it took the form of a system of philo- sophy. However low its position may be, in the rank of philosophical systems, it can by no means be denied that, at that remote period of Indian history, it was the only system of philosophy, worthy of its name. In that period flourished famous materialists like Ajita Kes'a- kambalin, Kambalas'vatara and Puraija Kas'- yapa. In that stage it came to be known as Lok&yata. In its third stage, an extreme form of ^hedonism, which was due, perhaps, to tlie 2 INDIAN MATERIAUSM corruption of freedom of thought — social, reli- gious and political, formed the most important feature of this school. Gross sensual pleasure superseded bliss or contemplative joy and licen- tiousness replaced liberty. Devils occupied the seats of angels. As a consequence of this impact of corruption and misunderstanding,^. cJikrvkkism originated. In that stage this school preached — ‘Eat, drink and be merry, for,, to-morrow we may die.’ The reaction to this extreme form of licentiousness was destructive to the very vitality of this school. From that time this extreme form of materialistic school leaned towards sjiiritualism. So long it had maintained that the body was the self. In that period, being severely attacked by the- spiritualists, it gave up the theory that there was no self apart from the body and tried^ gradually, to identify the sense organs, breath,, and the organ of thought with the self. Before that the materialists had affirmed that inference was not a means of knowledge. But in this stage they accepted at first Probability and then even Inference, though in a restricted form, as a source of true knowledge. Philo- sophers, like Purandara, were the advocates of this form of Indian materialism. In its fourth stage, it came to be at one with the Buddhists^ and the Jains in opposing the Vedicists and got the common designation N^stika, A N^stika is one who condemns the Vedas — N^stiko Veda-nindakah. The texts, added in" the appendix with evidences of their INDIAN MATERIALISM 3 genuineness, record some of the views of these different stages in a blended form. As the literature of this school is now entirely lost, except what has reached us in fragments, we are quite unable to give here, verbatim, all the original Sntras of this school which represent its various aspects and phases. But there are passages both in Sutra and sloka form which embody in substance these different stages of the Lokayata school. We can have a complete systematic work of the materialists of India if we gather them together in a sympathetic manner. Tradition ascribes to Brhaspati the first treatise of this school and there is no reason for rejecting this view. It is evident Irom the Sutras extant and quoted under Brhaspati’s name that he was not a mythical figure. He was an historical personage. But it is very difficult to ascertain who this Brhaspati was. It is probable that the conception of this school first dawned on Brhaspati, the preceptor of the gods, who is regarded by scholars like Professor Belvalkar as the first founder of this Barhas- patya system. If we be authorised to give the credit of founding this system to more men than one then we should like to mention the names of Ajita Kes'akambalin, Charvaka and Purandara as the second, third and fourth founders respectively of the Lokayata, Char- vaka and Nastika systems. We know from the Mahabhasya of Patanjali that Bhaguri was one of the expounders of the Lokayata dogmas. Not a single Sutra attributed to Bhaguri of the 4 INDIAN MATERIALISM Lokayata school having been recovered we can- not give him any position in these stages of development of Indian Materialism and Sensa- tionalism. We shall deal, now, in the following pages, with these four distinct steps of evolu- tion of Indian Materialism more elaborately. EVOLUTION OF MATEEIALISM AND SENSATIONALISM IN INDIA In ancient India, the necessaries of life being abundantly provided for by nature, the struggle for existence was not very keen. The people’s tastes were not nice. In order to escape from the heat of the tropical sun, they took up their abode in the shady groves or in the caves of mountain valleys. Their peace of mind was not disturbed by political strife. In the absence of the art of writing the people were a stranger to literary ambition, nor were their energies called forth by art or science. There was no literature except what could be retained in memory. The metaphysical and religious problems formed almost the only subjects of speculation. They meditated on how and why the world was in which they lived. What were they ? Whence came they f Whither went they ? What had they to do f They made an endeavour to answer these questions in their own way, and thus laid the foundation of philosophical enquiries in India. These queries are recorded in the Vedas, the oldest literature of mankind still extant. These earliest attempts cannot properly be called philosophical systems, rigidly consistent and calmly reasoned. They are mere tenden- cies scattered and unsystematic like landmarks in an ocean. After a long course of develop- ment, from the first hesitating and imperfect stage of tendencies, they became perfect. Amongst these re-arranged, systematic, consis-' tent calmly reasoned, perfect systems of Indian 6 INDIAN MATERIALISM philosophy materialism can be counted as very old. Some go so far as to count it as the oldest and adduce, among others, the following reasons in support of their opinion. It is a fact that all other schools, in their respective systems, try to refute the truths established by this school, thus admitting its priority. It is also a fact that the word Dars'ana in its primary sense means perception. In its secondary sense it means the S'astra which is as good an authority as perception. This emphasis on perception reminds us of the materialists and there are scholars who maintain that the word was first originated by the followers of Brhaspati. It was from them that the word was borrowed by other schools. This fact induces them to establish the priority of this Dars'ana to all other Dars'anas. Scholars are, also, bold enough to declare that the materia- listic school is the only original school of philosophy. All other schools were originated, simply, for the sake of refuting and destroying this school whose teachings according to them were detrimental to the best interests of man- kind. Others, again, do not go so far. It may be, say they, as old as other schools of philo- sophy, but not older. Materialism is preached nowhere as a doctrine of philosophy, except as a re-action against some perverted ideas or practices. The materialists of India, namely, Brhaspati and his followers, do not pretend to lay down a constructive system of philosophy of their own. They try to refute foolish orthodoxy of other schools. This, in their INDIAN MATERIALISM 7 opinion, proves that the system of Byhaspati cannot he the first system. It is rather the last. It raises objections against the views of all other systems and pre-snpposes the exis- tence of all other schools, thereby. Blit all systems of philosophy are the growth of years, nay, of centuries. The systems which we possess of the different schools of philosophy, each distinct from the other, are rather the last summing up of what had been growing up among many generations of isolated thinkers and cannot claim to represent the very first attempts at a systematic treatment. A large mass of philosophical thought must have existed in India long before there was any attempt at dividing it into well defined departments of systematic philosophy or reducing it to writing. But such a growth must have required a great length of time. So it is probable that during that long period the views of one system were discussed in another. During that long period anything could be u,dded and anything left out. Subsequently each system reached the form in which we possess it. It is not improbable that the Lokayata school of philosophy, being developed as the first system of philosophy, raised objections against the views of other schools which were even then mere tendencies and which took shape as systems later on. Thus, -although, as mere tendencies almost all philo- sophical thoughts are contemporaneous, as systems they belong to different ages. The school of Bfhaspati is regarded as the weakest 8 INDIAN MATERIALISM school of philosophy in comparison with other ^ schools. The law of evolution or gradual development proves that the earliest school is the weakest and the latest the strongest. If the Materialistic school be the weakest, it is probable that it is the earliest also. The First Stage. Originally, this school of Brhaspati meant Vitai^da or casuistry and nothing else. In it Vitaiida was essential. With its impatience of Vitai^Lda. all authority, it tried to refute the views of other schools. It was, in its original stage,, without any constructive element and without any positive theory to propound. It was negative and destructive. The record of this period is kept by Jayaras'i Bhatta, author of Tattvopaplava Sim ha. This negative aspect of this doctrine finds expression in the Vedas themselves. From the earliest Vedic times,, there were people who denied the existence of even the Vedic deities. The Vedic hymns pointedly refer to scoffers and unbelievers. Those hymns, which are traditionally ascribed to Brhaspati, son of Loka, contain the first germs of protest against a mere verbal study of the Veda and emphatically declare that a man, who tries to understand the Veda, is far superior to a mere sacerdotal priest. The Maijduka hymn is a panegyric of frogs who are described as raising their voices together at the commencement of the rains like Brahmin pupils repeating the lessons of their teachers and this celebrated hymn on frogs is a satire, says Professor Maxmiiller, upon the Vedic- priesthood, or better upon the system of hynm INDIAN MATERIALISM 9 chanting. Yaska clearly tells us that those who merely memorise the texts, without knowing the meaning, do not see the real form of the Veda and that such people are deluded, in as much as the way to attain the summum bonum is not revealed to them. In various Brahma ^as mere knowledge of a performance has been mentioned as having the same effect as the performance itself. In the Chhandogya UiJanisad it is stated that a performance accompanied by knowledge, produces a better result than a performance without knowledge. Jaimini, in his Pfirva mlmansa system, recording this opposition devotes an entire chapter to drawing the conclusion that study consists not only in learning by heart the letter of the Veda but also in clearly understanding its spirit. Traces of an opposi- tion to the religion of the Vedas appear in the Vedas and in later works. In Aitareya Arai?.yaka we find — ‘Why should we repeat the Veda or offer this kind of sacrifice Later on the very authoritativeness of the Vedas was questioned by Kautsya. Opposition was the only duty of the followers of Brhaspati and they did it from the very beginning of their career. They opposed the Vedas and the practice of repeating them without understand- ing their meaning. But all these represent only the opposing, destructive or negative aspect of the Barhaspatya system. And it is; well-known that a system ceases to have any great interest and even value without a cons- tructive element, without a positive theory to* 10 INDIAN MATERIALISM Barhas- patya. propound. So the doctrine of the followers of BThaspati appeared to be incomplete without any positive element in it. It felt the necessity of a positive element. Everybody knows that necessity is the mother of invention. Barhas- patya in its very early stage found out the means of being complete. So long under the designation Barhaspatya it admitted no autho- rity other than its own. Now, in its second stage, in explanation of the why of an event or product it accepted the doctrine of Svahhikva. This doctrine of Svahhkva main- tains that Hhe effects are self existent and are produced neither by different things as causes nor by themselves inasmuch as no cause can be found for the filament of the lotus or the eye- like marks on the peacock’s tail. If it cannot be found it certainly does not exist. Such is the case with this diversified universe. Simi- larly, feelings like pleasure, pain, etc., have no causes, because they appear only at times’. This doctrine of Svahhkva had been in vogue in independent forms. In course of centuries this doctrine, like many other doctrines, lost its independence altogether and came to be affilia- ted to the Barhaspatya system. The conse- quence of this gradual assimilation has been a blending of thoughts. The followers of Brhas- pati became at one with, and the earliest representatives of, the extreme form of Svabhava vada. Prom this time, the rejection of causal principle, the rejection of good and evil consequences of actions, formed its most important feature. The INDIAN MATERIALISM 11 product comes into existence without any cause. This materialistic view was emphasised by Brhaspati in Vedic times. Tn the first age of the gods the existent was born of the non- existent — Asatah Sadaj^yata, The SVetas'- vatara Upanisad contains a nominal enuncia- tion of some of the most popular theories current in its times in explanation of the origin of the universe and Naturalism forms one of this number — K^lah Svahhkvo Niyatirya- dxchhk^ etc. Up till then it was an indepen- dent doctrine and the Barhaspatyas were merely the oppositionists. Brhaspati, with a lofty enthusiasm, flung away the fetters of religion that he might be righteous and noble. Some of the verses of the Vedic hymns ascribed to Brhaspati are very noble in thought. Whatever may be said of his followers, his own teachings were of an elevated character. BFhaspati had many followers and all of them were independent thinkers raising objections against the current superstitions. It is perhaps for his freedom of thought that he was regarded as the priest — the adviser, — the coun- sellor of India, the king of the gods. But this state of things changed very soon. A re-action against the school of Brhaspati appeared on the stage. Perhaps the negative or destructive element of the doctrine was responsible for this reaction. The Vedic litera- ture, posterior to the Mantras is disfigured by filthy story and anecdotes in which the pious sages poured out vials of their wrath on the •devoted heads of those early oppositionists, 14 INDIAN MATERIALISM most abominable shapes, as in this period of Indian cultural history. A dark shadow fell upon the oppositionists — the independent thinkers. All independent line of thinking, became for hundreds of years to come an impossibility through the powerful influence of various schools of the Vedicists. The Second Stage. The state of things turned, however,, through the influence of Naturalism. Opposed by the strong advocates of the orthodox Naturalism Community the Lokayatikas returned with the and affiliation of naturalism or Svabhavavada. Perception. Neither of these two doctrines Lokayata and Svabhavavada accepted the good or evil conse- quences of actions. The Lokayata school,, which was so long a mere tendency, with the incorporation of naturalism, formed a philoso- phical system. Thus originated the first Lokayata. jj^rs'ana or the LoHyata Datiana. Percep- tion was emphasised in the very name of this newly built-up system, Dars'ana. So long the Barhaspatyas did not admit any authority whatsoever. Now, in its new shape, the school accepted the authority of perception. Percep- tion became the only criterion of existence. Whatever was not perceived was held to have no existence at all. The causal principle was rejected, because, sensuous perception is not an evidence in support of its existence. For mere perception of two events, which stand isolated and self-cantained, is not sufficient to establish between them a causal relation. ‘To ascertain whether a given antecedent condition has the INDIAN MATERIALISM 1 & character of a true cause it is really necessary to find out with certainty the elements of invariability and of relevancy involved in such a notion. But this certitude can never be arrived at\ The universal propositions can- not be established by our limited perceptions. Perception presupposes actual contact of the object with the perceiving organ and is thus necessarily confined to the present. It is a case of here and now. It does not extend to the past or the future and is thus unable to estab- lish universal connection of things. In other words, sense perception can give us only particular truths. But knowledge of particular facts cannot give us knowledge which is universally true. Therefore perception cannot give us universal relation. Nor can universal relation be established by Inference alone. For, the inference, which yields a universal relation as its conclusion, cannot work unless it pre- supposes another universal connection as a necessary pre-condition of its possibility and that again another and so on. In other words, the process of reaching a universal conclusion is always like arguing in a circle. Vy^pti is derived from Anunikna and Anumkna again from Vy%ptL Thus even inference in itself is not sufficient to produce a universal proposi- tion. Nor is the universal relation supplied by testimony. For, testimony involves in- ference. Comparison is equally unable to establish a universal relation. Comparison only establishes the relation of a name to some- thing that bears that name. Now, such. 16 INDIAN MATERIALISM relation of the name and of the named is a particular relation, whilst we are in search of an unconditional universal relation. Thus, the universal relation, which is indispensable to all inference, is not given by any of the so- called sources of knowledge. Therefore, uni- versal relation cannot, by any means, be established. As inference is not possible without universal connection and universal connection is unattainable the Lokayata as a system discarded, in its earlier stages, inference as a source of knowledge. It rejected ether as an element, because, ether cannot be known by perception and it maintained that the four elements of earth, air, fire and water are the original principles of all things. The four elements, in their atomic condition,* when mixed together in a certain * The theory that matter consists of “atoms”, i.e. of little bits that cannot be divided, is very old. But in its old shape it was only a speculation. The evidence for what is called the atomic theory was derived from chemistry, and the theory itself, in its nineteenth- century form, was mainly due to Dalton in Europe. It was found that there were a number of ‘elements’ and that other substances were compounds of these elements. Compound substances were found to be composed of molecules, each molecule being composed of ‘atoms’ of one substance combined with atoms of another or of the same. A molecule of water consists of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen ; they can be separated by electrolysis. It was supposed, until radio-activity was discovered, that atoms were indes- tructible and unchangeable. Substances which were not compounds were called elements. The discovery of radio-activity led to the conclusion that what had been called ‘atoms* were really complex structures, which could change into atoms of a different sort by losing a part. After various attempts at imagining the INDIAN MATERIALISM 17 proportion and according to a certain order, become transformed into aii organism. Consciousness is a function of the body. Evolution For the manifestation of consciousness, body IS an indispensable factor. Consciousness does not inliere in particles of matter. When these l)ai‘ticles come to be arranged into a specific form, in a manner not yet scientifically expli- cable, they are found to show signs of life. Life and consciousness are indentical. Our thinlcing power is destroyed with tlie dissolu- tion of the elements from whose combination it structure of an atom, physicists were led to accept the view of Sir Ernest Rutherford, which was further developed hy Niels Bohr. In this tlieory, all matter is composed of two sorts of units, electrons and protons. All electrons are exactly alike, and all protons are exactly alike. All protons carry a certain amount of positive electricity, and all electrons carry an equal .amount of negative electricity. Protons repel each other and electrons repel each other, but an electron and a proton attract each other. Every atom is a structure consisting of electrons and Protons. The hydrogen atom, whicli is the simplest, consists of one proton with one electron going round it as a planet goes round the sun. The electron may be lost, and the proton left alone ; the atom is then positively electrified, d'he great merit of Bohr’s theory was that it explained wliy elements have the Spectra they do have, which had, before, been a complete mystery. According to this theory of atomic structure ‘an atom’ with its electrons is a system characterised by certain integers all small, and all capable of changing independently. The newer theory has been put forward in 1926, mainly by two German physicists, Heisenberg and Schrodinger, owing to them, the last vestiges of the old solid atom have melted away, and matter has become as ghostly as any- thing in a spiritualist seance. Broadly speaking, it describes the atom by means of the radiations that come out of it. This newer theory confines itself to what is empirically verifiable namely radiations ; as to what there is where the radiations come from we cannot tell, 2 18 INDIAN MATERIALISM is evolved. Consciousness is produced from the body which is endowed with life and vital air. Without sensation no consciousness is Xiossible. When the body perishes no consci- ousness can remain, it must perish also, tio there is notlung to transmigrate. The body, consciousness and sense organs are momentary. Mind is merely the product of a combination of elements, just as, some acid eructations or wines are results of chemical combinations. The four elements when combined i)roduce or manifest the mind. There is no other reality than the four BhiXtas. The instinctive move- ments and expressions of new-born babes are due to ‘external stimuli as much as the o^jening and closing of the lotus and other flowers at different hours of the day or night, or the movement of iron under the influence of load stone. In the same way the spontaneous generation of living organisms is frequently observed, e.cj,, the case of animalcules which develop in moisture or infusions, especially under the influence of gentle warmth or of the maggots or other worms which in the rainy season by reason of the atmospheric moisture^ are developed in the constituent particles of curds and the like, which begin to live and move in so short a time’. It is an indisputable fact that sensations and perceptions can arise and it is scientifically unnecessary to speculate. The mainpoint for the philosopher in the modern theory is the disappearance of matter as a “thing.” It has been replaced by emanations from a locality — the sort of influences that characterise haunted rooms in ghost stories. — Russell. INDIAN MATERIALISM 19 only in so far as they are conditioned by a bodily mechanism. But, it would not be so were not the body the receptacle of conscious- ness. The properties of particular prepara- tions of food and drink, conducive to the development of the intellectual powers, aft’oi’d another proof in favour of the fact that consciousness is a function of the body. Points and evidences of correspondence between mind and body — correspondence between the Psy- chical and Nervous processes — and correspon- dence between mind and brain, the seat of mind, are not rare. The most definite aspects of this corresijondence are — correspondence in quantity — the correspondence in change, corres- X3ondence in growth and development, corres- X3ondence in inheritance and corresx)ondence in quality. When communication is cut off between the brain and any other of the body owing to the nerves of that jiart being- diffused, there is no longer any feeling or sensation connected with that i^art. Psycholo- gical experiments jjrove measurable interval of time between the application of stimulus and the corresponding sensation. Prolonged thought and intense emotion the sensation of fatigue and exhaustion in the brain and if carried further produce pain and disorder. Increase of mental work is accom- panied by an increase of brainwork. Intense mental activity is followed by a casting off of a kind of brain substance known as phosphorus. Comparison of the brains of different creatures and different races of men and of different 20 INDIAN MATERIALISM The ultimate reality in matter. individuals shows that there is a connection between intelligence and the size, weight and comidexity of the brain. Generally speaking the larger the brain, in relation to the rest of the body, the more the intelligence. So the Lokayatas say that Mind is only a form or product of the body. The ultimate reality is matter. Consciousness is a function of the body. As contraction is the function of muscles, as the kidneys secrets urine, so and in the same way does the brain generate thoughts, movements and feelings. Mind, therefore, has no substantial reality of its own, but, springs out of the vibrations of the mole- cules ot the brain. When the molecular activity ot‘ the brain sinks below a certain level generally known as the threshold of conscious- ness, consciousness disappears^ mind ceases to exist as in sleep. When, again, it rises above a certain degree consciousness re-appears. Conscious liie is not a life of continuity. It is coming out of and again going into nothing. The hypothesis of a continuous stream of con- sciousness is a myth of the Divines and the Theologians. This theory is some times known as the Theory of automatism — mind is merely Epiphenomenon or by-product. But there is a difficulty in establishing this theory. The spiritualists raised an objection against the newly built-up materialistic system. The objection is this. As the body is declared to be the agent of all actions it should be held responsible for their natural consequences. But this is impossible. The particles which form INDIAN MATERIALISM 21 the body are always in a state of flux and the body which performs an action at one moment does not persist at the next to feel its re-action. It is on the other hand undeniable that the body suffers change. Otherwise they could not have different sizes. To this, the reply of the Lokayatikas is this. The Lokayata system does not admit the existence of Karmaphala or the consequence of good or evil actions. The experience of pleasure and pain comes by chance. Nature is all powerful. Moreover, re- cognition proves the identity of the body through all its changing states. There is another difficulty. The spiritualists advance another objection against the materialists. The objection is put in the following manner. The theory of matter is unable to account for the facts of memory and recognition. Necessity of thought demands that memory and original experience which gives rise to it should be referred to one and the same conscious subject. But this identity of reference would be possible only when the subject is fundamentally an unchangeable vinity. This difficulty is removed by the Lokayatikas in the following manner. The traces left by previous experiences are capable of being transmitted from the material cause down to its direct product, an analogous instance being the transference of the odour of musk to the cloth in contact with it. But the general answer, of this school to every why is the doctrine of Svabhava. Everything happens through the influence of Svabhava which is all-powerful. It is Svabhava or law 22 INDIAN MATERIALISM of nature that the consciousness is a function of the body and the body is the self. The Lokayatikas refuted the theory of Paraloka — or previous and future births as there was no reality existing before birth or after death. The four ‘bhutas’ or atoms of primary elements are the only realities. Mind is the production of these elements. So it cannot be maintained that the mind at death passes on to another body. Mind in different bodies must be different. The consciousness of a body which has already perished cannot be related to the body which comes into being. One mind can- not produce another mind after total annihila- tion. The theory that the foetus is endowed with consciousness cannot be asserted. With- out sensation no consciousness is jiossible. All knowledge is derived from sense experience alone. All knowledge is posterior to and derived from exx^erieiice. The sense organs cannot revive sensations when they are not in existence. Therefore the foetus cannot be endowed with consciousness. No jiower is pos- sible without a recipient. When the body perislies consciousness cannot remain as there is no recix^ient of consciousness. With the intoxication. Prayer is the hope of men who* are weak, without will power to do anything ; worship is an insincere egoism to save one self from the tortures of hell ; prophets are the greatest liars among men. The Vedas are no- authority. There are mantras in the Vedas which do not convey any meaning whatsoever ; some mantras are ambiguous ; some are absui'd ; some are contradictory ; some re^jeat what is already known. As regards the other portions of the Vedas we always find discrepancies and contradictions among them. Cases are not rare where a line of action prescribed by one text is condemned by another. Again, they speak oF results that are never realised. Some portions are rejected by the Vedicists them- selves as interpolations. There are proper names and ex^ithets as well as foolish state- ments like the ravings of a mad man. Hence the Vedas are not only human comx)Ositions but even worse. The buffoon, the knave, and the demon — these are the three authors of the Vedas. All the obscene rites commended for the queen in the horse sacrifice have been invented by knaves. So also the custom of giving presents to j^riests and that of eating flesh have been commended by night-prowling demons. If it were j^ossible for the sacrifices to make one reach heaven after the perform- ances have ceased, the performers themselves INDIAN MATERIALISM 26 have perished and the requisites have been used up, then the trees of a forest burnt down by fire might produce abundant fruit. The exercises of religion and the practices of asceticism are merely a means of livelihood for men devoid oC intellect and manliness. There- fore the so-called sacred books, the three Vedas, have been composed by rogues and can com- mand no authority. A PutreHi sacrifice per- formed for the })irth of a child may yield either ol; the two results — positive and negative which is doubtful. Wlien a child is born the knaves say that it is due to the power of their incanta- tions uttered in performing the rites. When a child is not born they explain the event as being due to the rites being incomplete in some way or other. The priests say that a beast slain ill a sacrifice will itself go to heaven. How is it that they do not kill their own old fathers ill a sacrifice in order to send them directly to heaven % If the offerings in a funeral ceremony may produce gratification to beings who are dead, then in the case of travellers, when they start it is needless to give provisions for the jorney. All these ceremonies were ordered by the Brahmins as a means of their livelihood. They are worth no better than that. Hence,, our religious ceremonies our endeavour to propitiate the gods, to satisfy them by prayers and offerings are vain and illusive. Religion is the invention of individuals desirous of deceiving their fellow men inorder to further their own selfish and ambitions motives. So let us eat, drink^ be merry, for to-morrow we^ 26 INDIAN MATERIALISM die. As the consequence of this kind of think- ing, Kama or fultilment of desire, became the summum bonnm of human life. They were in search of the supreme bliss or contemplative joy, which was available in freedom only. They maintained that there is no particular place named heaven. Kven the Vedas themselves doubt the existence of a world beyond. If a man may go to another world after death why may he not come back again perturbed by the love of his friends and relatives ? When once the body is reduced to ashes how can it ever go to another world f When we die, everything ends there. We do not enter into a region of pain or of darkness unrelieved by a single ray of light. That God is the judge, does not stand to reason, because, in that case partiality and cruelty on the part of God will be indispensable. If God visits us with the evil consequences of our sins He becomes our enemy for nothing. Therefore it is better not to have a God than to have a cruel and partial God. So there is not even such a thing as God, the Supreme author and governor of the world, an omniscient spirit. The senses cannot reach Him, AdrUa, principle of causality, and inference itself have been denied. The Vedas reveal no signs of infallibility. How can we ascertain that an all- knowing, all-pervading and all-powerful spirit exists f Nature and not God, is the watch word of our School. With this enlightened credo the Lokaya- tikas laid aside the traditional life of religion and settled down to strain every fibre of their INDIAN MATERIALISM 27 being, so long frittered away for heaven’s sake, for worl^ing out their immediate earthly wel- fare. The result of this movement was an asihration for freedom. By freedom they meant all-roiind freedom — freedom for the individual as well as for society ; freedom for man as well ns For woman ; freedom for the rich as Avell as for the poor ; freedom for all individuals and foT* all classes. They exhorted all to cast off all the shackles which had bound them for ages and to march shoulder to shoulder towards Freedom. The wonderful consecpience of this struggle for freedom was the rise of Buddhistic -culture. Buddha’s views against the vedic sacii flees, the memorising of the vedic mantras and fruitless repetition to retain them in memoT-y, the caste system, the authority of the V'edas and the worship of the deities, the magic practices and the mortifications and other ascetic practices — have their counterpart in the views of Lokayata. It is perhaps for the reason that Buddhism was greatly influenced by the Lokayata School that we find in later accounts of Lokayata the doctrines of Buddha and Charvaka almost amalgamated .and the name Charvaka sometimes applied to Buddha. India had been seething with free thinking and Buddha was the product of this freedom. No man ever lived so godless yet so god-like a life. But the people were not satis- fied merely with social and religious freedom. Their aspiration was for political freedom also. This aspiration was realised in the rise of Politics. Chandra Gupta and his grand-son Asoka who 28 INDIAN MATERIALISM Fine arts. brought the jarring states of India under one rule and set up the Mouryya Empire. Politics became incorporated with the Lokayata School, which ignored AnvikBik\ and Trayl, the sciences dealing with the supersensuous, and appreciated Dax^dan\ii and Var^a Coercion and Economics, as the only branches of knowledge deserving special cultivation. The earthly king became the only god. So long, Kama or pleasure was considered to be the only good of human life. Now Artha or material advantage, was added to it. As the Lokayatikas captured the hearts of the cultured and the common people, they became earnest in working out their immediate earthly welfare. The result of this movement was the generation and pro- pagation of different arts and sciences. Vatsyayana keeps records of some sixty-four names of Indian fine arts which Qourished probably in this period of Indian materialism. Kambalas'vatara, Ajitakes'akam- balin and many other materialists flourished and wrote their works on Indian materialism in this period. The Samanna phalasutta keeps the following records of Ajita^s view. There is no such duty as the giving of alms or sacrifice or offering. There is neither fruit nor result of good and evil deeds. There is no such thing as this world or the next. There is neither father nor mother nor beings springing into life without them. There are, in the world, no recluses or Brahmans who having under- stood, and realised by themselves alone both this world and the next make their wisdom INDIAN MATERIALISM 29 known to others. A human being is built up of four elements. When he dies the earthy in him returns and relapses to the earth, the fluid to the water, the heat to the fire and the Ajita s windy to the air. The four bearers take his dead body away ; till they reach the burning ground men utter forth eulogies but there his bones are bleached and his offerings end in ashes. It is a doctrine of fools, the talk of gifts. It is an empty lie, mere idle talk when men say there is prophet therein. Fools and the wise, alike, on the dissolution of the body are cut off, annihilated and after death they are not. This Ajita flourished during the life-time of Buddha. Up to that time Polities was not incorporated with the Ijokayatika. kSo there is no trace of politics noticeable in the teachings of Ajita. In later accounts, specially in the record pre- served by Kristia Mis'ra, it is mentioned very distinctly. Kilsiia Mis'ra gives almost a perfect account of the doctrines of the Lokayata School, formed in that period. liis account contains almost all the elements belonging to the teachings of this School. “Lokayata is always the only s'astra. In it, only perceptual evidence is authority. The elements are earth, water, fire and air. Wealth and enjoyment are the objects of human existence. Matter can think. There is no other world. Death is the end of all.’’*' 30 INDIAN MATERIALISM Pleasure, tlie only good. The Third Stage. This prosperity and success of the Lokayata system ended in corruption and misunderstand- ing. Extreme form of freedom gave birth to licentiousness. Supreme bliss was transformed into sensual pleasure. Enjoyment of pleasure — gross sensual pleasure — became the only end of human life. Licentiousness became predomi- nant in the country. India lost its previous supremacy — freedom of society, freedom of religion and freedom of polity. People became slaves of their senses. Elevated teachings of Brhaspati became absorbed into the eroticism of his wicked followers. Gratification of the senses became the only good of this SchooL Let us enjoy pleasure and pleasure alone. Pleasure is the only thing which is true and good. The only reasonable end of man is enjoyment. We know pleasure is never pure, never free from pain. How then can pleasure be the highest end of life ? But because there is pain and because pleasure is mixed with pain should we therefore reject our life f Should we fling away sheaves of paddy rich with the finest white grains because they are covered with husk and dust f Should we refrain from plucking lotuses as there are thorns in them ? Shall we not take fish because there are bones and scales ? Should we exclude rice from our meal only for the trouble it will give in hus- king ? Who will not soothe his mind and body in ambrosial moonlight though there are spots in the moon ? Shall we not enjoy the pleasant breeze of summer, because, there is slight dust INDIAN MATERIALISM 31 in it ? Shall we abstain from sowing in a ploughed land watered by rain, lest the water on its surface should become muddy 1 Should we not prepare food for fear of beggars Unmixed happiness is not available in this world ; yet we cannot overlook the least bit of it. In wordly lil*e we smile on the weal of our dear ones and weep in their woes. If the laughing face of a son or the lustre of a delight- ful daughter can impart to us celestial happi- ness why will not their death or their atta(‘k with some Fatal disease find us overwhelmed with grief f IF the presence of a beloved wiFe makes a heaven oF this earth, her departuie will surely leave us in eternal darkness. Thus what gives you pleasure now will cause your pain another time. We cannot totally get rid of troubles even when we have no tie of affec- tion in this wide world. The heart of a man who has none to call his own in this populous world, is but dej^ressed, full of misery and dry as a desert. He must not be a common man, who even in such conditions can maintain peace of mind. But even a man who is quite alooF from all social ties cannot escape occasional mishaps, viz., disease and accidents. The sudden attack of an ailment can make a total change in our hajjpy state of affairs. And, when health goes, it takes away pleasure with it. The loveliness of a moonlit night, the cool breeze at day break, the beauty and scent of flowers, the melodious songs of sweet bird^; — none of these can please a man when he is not in health. You may remain jolly even without 32 INDIAN MATERULISM .a friend. But bodily pain is sure to render you feeble and restless. Besides, we are in terrible distress by occasional appearance of cyclone and thunderstorm, sudden attack of a ferocious animal, or, the undesirable occurrence of famine, drought or deluge. Still we must say that this world of ours is not full of troubles. True, there is sorrow everywhere ; in kings’ palaces and beggars’ huts, in the high souls of the learned and the superstitious minds of the illiterate, in the beautiful mansions of the luxurious and the dark caves of the sages. Sleep in your house or walk outside, enter the temple or hide in the forest, run to the burial place or wherever you like, — no where can you escape misery and pain. Still we must say that tlie amount of pleasure in this world is greater than that of pain. If such be not the case, why do people so earnestly desire to live and become frightened at the name of death f Tell them to renounce this world, and they will at once exhibit utter reluctance. For, how is it possible to bid adieu to this pleasant world which is the abode of joys and luxuries ? How delicate are the green leaves of the springy and how lovely is the rose ! Is not the sunshine a glorious thing ? If sorrows were more frequent than delight, men would have escaped misery by suicide. Most men are unwilling to die ; and hence it is evident that in human affairs pleasure has a larger sphere of influence than pain. It is also to be remembered that happiness is at its best -only when experienced by contrast with misery ; INDIAN MATERIAUSM 83 a,iid hence, it may be said that existence of troubles in the world has a certain necessity. Blessings of rest can be fully enjoyed only after hard labour. The ever healthy man cannot •comprehend the ease and comfort of having a sound body and a sound mind. If you are to receive full satisfaction in your diet, suffer from hunger first. The more you sustain the agony of thirst, the greater will be your delight in drinking cool water. You fear a dreadful night with heavy rainfall and terrific thunder- storm when dark and dense clouds have covered the whole sky, and all the trees and houses have been blown away by the furious wind. But after such tedious hours, when the sun with celestial beauty appears for the first time on the eastern horizon of the bright sky dispersing the lingering darkness and unfolding all the lotuses of the earth will you not look more pleasant than ever ? The same thing happens when two lovers meet after long separation. They have long been tormented by the heart- rending affliction, and they have shed constant tears and breathed out many a long sigh. Now, their re-union will produce a heavenly bliss which an ever-happy couple cannot have any idea of. Perpetual happiness may be desirable, but it is practically unbearable. What pleases you now, will be disgusting after constant use. Even a palatable dish cannot but bring satiety if we are to take it daily. Variety of taste is needed, pungent, astringent, and bitter flavours should be interchanged with sweets. So, it is foolishness, no doubt, to overlook pleasure only 3 84 INDIAN MATERIALISM on the ground that it is not constant owing to the intervention of pain. Therefore, a man should do that which yields pleasure in the end^ Even sages like Vyasa tell you that one should fulfil the desire of a woman who is overcome with passion. The moon-god, the lord of the twice-born, enjoyed very eagerly the wife of his preceptor Brhaspati, the founder of our School. Everybody knows the story of Indra^ the god of gods, and Ahalya the wife of Gotama. Hence, there is no need of restraining sexual appetite. Enjoy all sorts of pleasure, according, to your own desire. Where is unanimity among, the great men in accepting the interpretations of the S'ruti and the Smy tis ? An intelligent interpretation should not be rejected if it favours the enjoyment of pleasure. The sago Panini who says in ^ Ti^tlyh apavarge/ that the third sex will be engaged in finding out means of salvation is necessarily of opinion that the other two sexes should enjoy sensual pleasures. Carry out the commands of Kama which even gods like Brahma could not trans-- gress. The Vedas, too, are nothing but the commands of the gods. Then why do you show more respect to the latter ? Forbear from all disparaging and contemptuous remarks about women in order that you may hope to have the company of the most excellent of the deer-eyed beauties in heaven. Exert yourself for pleasing your beloved and indulge your own inclina- tions. These are the only roots of the tree of happiness. ^Pleasure is the good’ — ^is the cry of nature. The animals know no other principle- INDIAN MATERIAUSM 35 of action than pleasure. Children are sensitive to pleasure only. The grown up man, the apparently grave and sober, all seek and pursue pleasure ; the virtuous man enjoys pleasure in the cultivation of virtue and even those who refute the statement that pleasure is the object of desire, find pleasure in such refutation. ‘‘Whatever the motive, pleasure is the mark ; For her the black assassin draws his sword ; For her dark statesmen trim their midnight lamps ; For her the saint abstains, the miser starves ; The stoic proud for pleasure, pleasure scorns ; For her affliction’s daughter grief indulge ; And find, or, hope, a luxury in tears ; For her, guilt, shame, toil, danger we defy Therefore, pleasure is the highest good of human life. The only good of life is the human life. The only good of life is the individual’s own pleasure. We should fully enjoy the present. To sacrifice the present to the future, is unwarranted and perilous. The present is ours. The past is dead and gone. The future is doubtful. The present is all that we have. Let us make the most of it. With this credo the Lokayatikas of that remote period of Indian history preached and practised the theory of the extreme form of hedonism, according to which sensual pleasure is the only end of human life. Here, in this stage of Indian Charvaka. Materialism, the School of the Lokayatikas in addition to its old names Barhaspatya and Lokayata got the designation Charvaka. The word means entertaining speech. It is derived 36 INDIAN MATERIAUSM The Buddhists and the Jains. from charva, chewing, grinding with the teeth, eating, swallowing virtue and vice. ‘‘While you live drink, for once dead you never shall return.” “As long as he lives let a man live happily ; after borrowing money, let him drink ghee.” The propagation of this eroticism was the first step towards downfall of the elevated system of Lokayata which was considered so long as the only system of Philosophy in India. In this stage of Indian Materialism the Buddhists and the Jainas came to the field of philosophy to preach spiritualism. In their first appearance they pretended to be the successors of the old heretics, i,e,, the followers of Bvhaspati, by directing their attacks mainly against the doctrines of sacrifice as actually preached and practised in the Vedic School. They became, like the Lokayatikas, very popular for the time being, as the minds of the people were still then captured by Materialistic doctrines. But as time went on the state of things began to change. The Charvakas came to know what these new comers really were. They led their opposition against the orthodox Buddhists and Jains as they previously did against the Vedicists. The result of this oppo- sition was that the Lokayatikas met with opposition from the side of the Vedicists as well as from the side of the Buddhists and the Jains. By this simultaneous attack from various sides they were for the first time pushed to the corner. The philosophers of the Vedic Schools now became very strong being aided by the spiritualistic doctrines of the new heretics — INDIAN MATERIALISM 37 the Buddhists and the Jains, and took the field as successors of the sages of old and repelled the attacks on the permanent principles of spirituality. As time passed, these Vedicists appeared on the field one after another in order to oppose the heretics in general — both old and new — the Lokayatikas, the Buddhists and the Jainas. They opposed the materialistic The six views of the old heretics and the anti-vedic orthodox doctrines of the new heretics. The pioneer of these advocates of the orthodox Vedic Schools was perhaps the sage Gotama, who adduced very strong arguments against the theory of Dehktma vkda or the theory, which preaches that the body is the Self, of the old heretics and established the theory that the body is different from the soul. Then came Kai^ada who made an endeavour to refute the theory of Svabhava- vada or Naturalism of the old heretics and propagated the theory that the diversity of creation is not possible for svabhava which is unconscious. The diversity, according to Kap-ada is produced from the atoms, which are unconscious, through the will of God in agree- ment with the doings of the previous births. After him Kapila, who is regarded by some as representing the oldest tendency of philosophy, came to the field and formulated his arguments in favour of Dualism for which the field had already been prepared by his predecessors. Then came Patanjali who propagated the theory ’of Yoga and tried to establish the theory of the existence of God. When, through the influence of these teachers the mass mind was almost 38 INDIAN MATERIALISM Lokayata leaned towards spiri- tualism. inclined towards sipiritualism and belief in the transmigration and spiritual nature of soul took almost complete possession of the mass mind of India, Jaimini apppeared and made an attempt to establish by argumentative discussions that the Vedas are infallible and authoritative, that Karma or action is more powerful than even God, if there be any, that for the sake of the purification of mind the performance of Karma is indispensable. When through the influence of Jaimini, the minds of the people became pre- pared, by performing duties, sanctioned by the Vedas, for conceiving the spiritualistic soul, and the influence of anti-Vedic doctrines and tendencies was, for the time being, almost removed from the mass mind, Vyasa came to the field and preached Spiritualistic or idealistic philosophy. Lokayata, being thus opposed by these strong enemies, grew impatient and leaned towards spiritualism. This stage may be called the second or the middle stage of its downfall. In this stage it admits, gradually, the identi- fication of self with the sense-organs, the principle of life and with mind shaking off its old doctrine of Dehatmavada or the doctrine of the identification of Self with the body. The first view or the doctrine of the identification of Self with the sense organs, is based on the facts that consciousness and bodily movements, follow from the initiation of the senses and that the judgments expressed in T am blind^ showing the identity of the self with the sense-organs are universally accepted as valid. Still opposed by the spiritualists it maintains that the vital INDIAN MATERIALISM 39 principle itself is really the source of intelli- gence as the senses depend for existence and operation on it. When this view too was attacked its sponsors came to maintain that consciousness is a quality of the mind. The other organs are only the means of indetermi- nate sense-knowledge. It is mind alone that introduces the element of determinateness. More over, mind controls by its power of voli- tion the outer-organs and may persist and function singly even wlien the latter happen to be absent. Therefore the mind is the true self. All these have been recorded by Sadananda in his Advaita Brahma Siddhi. ‘Sadananda speaks of four different materialistic Schools. The chief point of dispute is about the conception of the soul. One School regards the soul as identical with the gross body, another of the senses, a third with breath, and the fourth with the organ of thought.’ On the other hand, the Liokayatikas had so long maintained that per- ception is the only source of knowledge. Now being severely attacked by its opponents, who maintained the authority of inference, it showed for the first time its leaning towards admitting inference as a source of knowledge. In the first step it said that for practical purposes prohahility was sufficient. At the sight of smoke rising from a certain place there arises in the mind a sense of the probability of fire and not of its certainty. This is enough for all practical purposes. For this end there is no need to assume the existence of a distinct kind of evidence, called Inference. When further 40 INDIAN MATERIALISM pushed to the corner this school said that the followers of this school were prepared to accept inference as a means of right knowldege as it was useful in our daily life. But the mechanical form of inference as proposed by the Buddhists and others can by no means be considered a medium of right knowledge as it is thoroughly impracticable for daily use. In other words, there are two classes of In- ference — one class inferring something restored in future and the other class inferring what has already taken place. The inference about what is past is accepted and the inference about what has not been perceived such as Paraloka, God, Soul is rejected. Purandara flourished, in this period, as an advocate of the Charvaka school. S'ankara Kamalas'ila,. Abhayadeva, Jayanta and the unknown author of Sarvamata Sangraha record his^ views. Being pushed, further, to the corner^ this school accepted, in this stage, even ether as an element. Gu^aratna keeps its record. Fourth Stage. But every action has its reaction. The- opposition of the Vedicists against the Materialists was not without its re-action. As they were supported by the Buddhists and the Jains in their attack on the Vedic sacrifices,, the old heretic oppositionists became ver^ powerful. They got their general name- l^astika. Nastika, in this period. Vedic rites proper were gradually more or less pushed to the back- ground. New scriptures were then in course of preparation, fully adapted to the needi^^ INDIAN MATERIALISM 41 tastes and tendencies of the changing times but not entirely divorced from all connection with the Vedas. Voluminious Tantric and PauriijLic works grew up in this period and The satisfied the needs of the times. As these Schools were originated for satisfying the ruraij.as. needs of the people of different mentalities elements of different nature were expressly visible in them. As representatives of the old heretic School, whose influence was still then predominant in the country, they included and adopted the popular doctrines regarding indulgence of the senses, and as successors of the spiritualistic schools, they gave them an esoteric purpose and thus modified them to some extent. Since then, the period of the great Hindu revival after the fall of Buddhism, India has been popularly Vedic ix, Paura^ic and Tantric in her broad outlook. For this reason, perhaps, in the centuries after Christ we meet with very few names of Lokayata Philosophers, though the system must have been in existence even so late as the time of Haribhadra; GuQ-aratna; S'antaraksita; Kama- las'ila; Siddhasena; Abhayadeva ; Kris^amis'ra; Sriharsa; Jayanta; Sadananda; Madhava- charyya etc. who have recorded and criti- cised its theories in their works. It was S'ankara and his school who did not even consider the Charvaka school as a system of philosophy, although, in Sarva Siddhanta Sangraha he maintains that by adopting only those means which are seen such as agricul- ture, the tending of cattle, trade, politics and 42 INDIAN MATERIALISM administration etc. a wise man should always endeavour to enjoy pleasures, here, in this world. It was with S'ankara and his school, that the ^eat reaction proceeded against Indian Materialism which in Madhavacharyya, who considered the Lokayata system as the lowest system of philosophy, secured the most -decided victory. Conclusion. Just as Plato, one of the spiritualistic thinkers of the west, in his fanatical zeal would have liked to buy up and burn all the works of Demokritos the father of western material- ism, so it is probable that these advocates of the vedic orthodoxy, in their fanatical zeal collected and destroyed the original works of JS^haspati School of Philosphy, the extreme materialistic system of India. As the Buddhistic -and the Jaina Schools were spiritualistic in essence they did not meet with total annihila- tion. Or, it may be, that for a considerable time, the views of this school became feeble and unpopular after which they lost their indepen- dent existence and became absorbed into other .schools of spiritualistic philosophy. Although the works of Bfhaspati were destroyed, the con- tinuity of the influence of his school was at no period completely broken. We have already seen that the Lokayatikas got tlie designation Nastika as they became at one with the Buddhists. Some of the sects of the degenerated Buddhists, in which laxity in sexual morals was one of the features, became gradually affiliated to the Lokayata school. One INDIAN MATERIALISM 43 of these sects was the Kapalika sect. The Xapalikas are a very ancient sect. They drink wine, offer human sacrifices and enjoy women. They strive to attain their religious goal with the help of human corpses, wine and women. They are dreaded by all for inhuman cruelties. Bhavabhuti, Krisija Mis'ra and Kavikar^apura refer to such KapMikas in their respective works the Malatimadhavam, the Probodha- •chandrodayam and the Chaitanyachandro- dayam. Brhaspati of Arthas'astra fame says that the Kapalika is alone to be followed for the purpose of attaining pleasure. Formerly, this Kapalika sect flourished in .an independent form. In course of time it became weak and lost its independence. Probably the inhuman cruelties or the dreadful- ness of the sect brought about its ruin. As Kama or the enjoyment of sensual pleasure was the goal of this sect it came gradually to be .affiliated to the Nastika form of the Lokayata school according to which the summumbonum ^of human life is, as shown before, the enjoyment of gross sensual pleasure. Thus the Kapalikas, like the Assassins, became the solitary historical example of a combination of materialistic philosophy with cruelty, lust of supernatural power and systematic crime. Or, it may be that the followers of orthodox schools, through bitter contempt, identified the Lokayatikas with the fierce Kapalikas, as in previous cases the Vedicists used freely the terms of abuse like ‘Bastard’ ‘incest’ and ‘monster’ with regard to the Lokayatikas. At the time of Banaspati, the 44 INDIAN MATEMAUSM author of Arthas'astra, these Kapalikas were a distinct sect. In Gu i*:aratna’s time we find theni^ identified with the Lokayatika school which had already become a hated name in the country. The Lokayatikas were a creed of joy, all sunny. Through their influence, at that period of Indian history, the temple and the court, poetry and art, delighted in sensuousness. Eroticism prevailed all over the country. The Brahmin and the Chapdala, the king and the beggar, took part with equal enthusiasm in Madanotsava, in which Madana or Kama was worshipped. References to this festival are not rare in works of poets like Kalidasa, Bis'akha. Datta and Sreeharsa. ‘Dance and song, flower and the red powder faq, swinging and playing, all these created an atmosphere of light amuse- ments from which all sterner laws of sexual ethics were dismissed for the time being and' men and women mixed indiscriminately, the green trees wearing red apparel, as it were,, owing to profuse fag that filled the whole ^ atmosphere over which the April sun threw its gaudy purple rays.^ They assimilated the element of sexual romance from the KapMikas. The essential feature of this romance is — love • for one, with whom one is not bound in wedlock.. As a reaction against this practice of sexual romance, Vaisnavism made its appearance and the Madanotsava, the doctrine relating to sense- indulgence must have been favourably received by a large number of people. To counteract this evil, the orthodox school of the Vaisnavas- INDIAN MATERIALISM 45 included and adopted the popular doctrines regarding indulgence, but gave them an esoteric purpose and thus qjiodified them to some extent. For this reason Wfe l^nd that the Dolotsava has retained the light pleasures and gay amuse- ments of Madonotsava in many respects, and the Vaisnavas have given these festivals a far more sober character in respect of sexual freedom. But the ever flowing current of the Lokayatikas did never remain suspended for a <}onsiderable period of time in Indian cultural history. It made its way in the teeth of all obstacles. After the great Brahmanic renais- sance the Lokayata sect took shelter under different forms in different parts of India. In Bengal, an old sect of the Buddhist Mahayana school chiefly concerned with sexual romance gave up its independent existence and like the Svabhavavadins and the Kapalikas became at one with the Nastika Lokayatikas and the Lokayatikas on their part incorporated them- selves with that community. The old element of sensualism of the festival Madonotsava of the Nastikas, a sanction for the gratification of josser pleasures, is still found to linger in this sect. The name of this sect is the Sahajia sect. The very name Sahajia reminds us of the doctrine of Svabhava of the old heretics. The three chief physical appetites of man are eating and drinking where by his body is sustained and sexual intercourse whereby human life is ijropagated. Considered in themselves they are natural and harmless. So the Sahajias say 46 INDUN MATERIALISM The Sahajias. ‘there is no wrong in the eating of meat and drinldng of wine nor in sexual intercourse for these are natural inclinatiouil of men/ In the meetings of the Sahajias men and women take their seats indiscriminately with- out any scruple and with full freedom. The Chaijdala cooks the food and the Brahmins take it without hesitation. Unless hunger ia appeased the Sahajias can not pray. Large plates full of eatables are brought on the bed spread before the members. Men and women S)it there and eat them freely. In their joy women put food into the mouth of men and the; latter are not slow in returning the attentiony and the house rings with merry laughter. They consider the Vedas and other holy scriptures, to have been manufactured by worldly men for- their own selfish ends. They have no regard for the Brahmins. They entertain no respect for either the priestly class or for their elders. Women care nothing for their husbands. They revolt openly against the Brahmins, the Vedas’ and the Hindu society. Most of the ^songs of the Sahajias are about boats, trades, mortgages, farming and a hundred other topics of rustic interest of Lokayatra. They set forth cannons^ and theories with a boldness which is really amazing. Caste, rank in society or orthodoxy of views are out of the question in their society.. They entertain the utmost freedom in thought, in religious and social matters. They are absolutely beyond the prejudices and conven- tions of the ordinary people. The Sahajias allow the indiscriminate mixing of men and INDIAN MATERIALISM 4T women. The motto of a Sahajia woman is — ‘he who will capture our heart, we will belong to him.’ If the man of her love wants her body she must give it. She must give her all with- out reserve. The Sahajias do not believe in the established ideals of womanhood represented by Sita, Savitri and the Suttees who burnt themselves with their dead husband in days gone by, as living examples of absolute devo- tion. These wives of Hindu scriptures and epics were actuated by hopes of getting rewards in the next life and praises from society in this for their chaste life. To the Sahajias love is religion. They believe that Deha or material human body is all that should be cared for and their religious practices are concerned with the union of men and women. The famous Bengali poet Chandidas was a follower of this cult. But Chaitanya apprehending its corruption and misuse declared himself in clear language against all sexual romance. The Sahajias did not believe in human soul and in anything beyond the pleasures of the present moment. They believed in Deha and in nothing else. On one occasion some Brahmins of the ot*thodox community were performing tarpai^a in the river Ganges. This was the custom of taking handfuls of water from the river and throwing them down, by which acts they believed the thirst of their departed ancestors would be allayed. One of the founders of the Sahajia cult saw this and taking handfuls of water like them threw them on the bank. This act attracted the attention of the Brahmins who* 48 INDIAN MATERIAUSM -asked him the reason for doing so. The Sahajia replied — Tf your water will go to your departed forefathers who are far away mine ought to go to my vegetable garden which is only a mile from here and certainly not so remote as the land of the dead.^ This sect raised objec- tions against the superstitions and conventions of the orthodox schools. Extreme lawlessness characterised this sect. All these views of the Sahajia Lokayatikas remind us of the old heretics. Most of the views of the Nastika Charvaka or Lokayatika of this form are recorded by Chiranjib Bhattacharyya of Bengal in his famous work VidwanmodatarangiJjtL In his account of the Nastika school we find a blending of several independent doctrines like Barhaspatya, Svabhava, Bauddha, Jaina and Kapalika. The orthodox community amongst the Buddhists the Jains and the Hindus were bitterly hostile to the supporters of these views of the Sahajia Lokayatikas in every stage of their develop- ment. This is perhaps why its followers tried by all means to hide their societies from the public view. For this reason perhaps the Sahajias hold their meetings in secret. All their old books being destroyed by their opponents, the orthodox schools, they now have a particular language in circulation -amongst themselves named the Sandhyabhasa, a language which is not understood by people outside the pale of their own society. But thus hidden like owls at daylight, the Lokayatikas INDIAN MATERIALISM 49 of the Sahajia sect of Bengal could not fight long with the orthodox communities. After the Brahmanic revival, in the age of Chaitanya they were seeking shelter, and, in Bengal, Birabhadra, son of Nityananda gave them a shelter and converted them to Vais- jjLava faith. This conversion, however, does not mean much. They merely cried aloud the names of Chaitanya and Nityananda and there ended all their connection with Vaisnavism. They adopted the VaisijLiva creed merely for expediency’s sake, in order to have some status in the society which had rejected them altogether. Although, with the revival of the Brahmanic form of Vaisi^iavism, Vaishna- the Loyayatikas became very weak and identi- vism. fied themselves with the Vaisi^avas, yet the school of free-thinking did not die out in India. It lives not amongst a few but amongst thousands to-day. They are not guided by the spirit of Hindu Renaissance. They have now included the Bible, the Koran and even the Grantha Saheb of Guru Nanak. A movement of absolute freedom is visible in every depart- ment of Indian life — social, political and religious. The advocates of free-thinking of this age are no doubt the successors of the old heretics — the Barhaspatyas. They have now taken complete possession of the mass mind of India. They constitute the bulk of the cultured. 4 APPENDIX. Some relevant notes : Nastika (1) The word is as old as the Maitrl Upanisad III 5 Nastikyam VII 10. (2) PaQ.ini gives its derivative meaning. Pacini IV. 4. 6. According to Pacini a Nastika is one who maintains the view that there is no other world. (3) According to Manu a Nastika is one who condemns the veda. II 11. It is mainly the veda which establishes ‘next world.^ If the authority of the veda is rejected ‘next world^ cannot stand. So, one who condemns the veda discards also the ‘next world^ (4) The word has been used in the Maha- bharata in the same sense as suggested by Manu. (5) According to Gita the Nastikas are Godless people. XVI. 8. Kumarila in his sloka Vartika maintains the same view. (Pratijna- Sutra, tenth verse). (6) In the later works, the word has been used for vilification. The Madhvas vilify the S'aivas and vice versa by using this term. Lokayata (1) Old as Pamayana. The word means ‘dry arguments’ or ‘vita 13 . da’ or ‘causistry’. (2) It is often used in old Pali text in the same sense. INDIAN MATERIALISM &1 (3) The word is available in Patanjali’s Mahabha sya. Mahabhasya VII. 3. 45. (4) The name Lokayata occurs inPa mini’s ukthadigaija. Pai^Lini Ahstadhyayi Sutra IV. 2. 60. (5) Lokayata has been recognised by kautilya as Dars'ana. Kautilya Artha S'astra 1 . 1 . Charvaka Charvaka is met with in the Mahabharata. Later on, this is the only term by which Indian materialism is designated. The word charvaka is often taken as charu (beautiful) and baka (speech). And it is interesting to find that charu is also a synonym for Brhaspati. Thus it may be suggested that charvaka stands for ‘the word of Brhaspati’. Pa sal?, da is also a term which is used in the same sense. Materialists, Sceptics and Agnostics Vis'vakarman speaks of a class of thinkers who are enwrapt in misty cloud (niharena pravrtah) and with lips that stammer (jalpya). The subsequent thinkers speak of avidya or ignorance and vicikitsa or perplexity. Sams'aya or doubt is another term which is met with in this connection in subsequent literature.^ The Mui^dikas and the vajasaneyas use the term avidya in the sense of anything which is not transcendental knowledge (para vidya) or the ^ Mu. Upanisad II. 2 — 8, 52 INDIAN MATERIALISM knowledge of Brahman (Brahma vidya) and anything which is not conducive to ideal self- realization. The word vicikitsa, according to Asuri, means a mental state^. In the katha Upanisad (1. 20) the word has been used in the sense of philosophic doubt as to man^s exist- ence after death : ‘some say he exists ; others, he does not.’ These latter are no doubt the sceptics and agnostics of ancient India. Vis'vakarman had evidently in mind (1) those hymnchanters who doubted the existences of Indra^. (2) Pararnesthin, who saw no possi- bility of knowing any cause or reality beyond the original matter^ and (3) Dirghatamas, who* was ignorant of the nature of a first cause®. In subsequent literature we find that the kelyas were of opinion that the know-all does not know at all, while the know-nothing knows every- thing.® And as stated above, some sages according to the kafha upanisad, doubt the existence of man after death (1. 20.). Scepticism and agonisticism are the expressions of a free mind that refuses to accept traditional wisdom with- out thorough criticism. In this respect the materialists of ancient India are very closely related to the present-day sceptics and agonistics. However minor their position may be in the field of philosophy, they are, no doubt,. ^ Br. Upanisad I. 6.3. 3R.V., VIII. 89. 3. 4 R.V., X. 129. 6—7. ® R.V., I. 164. 6. «Ke. Upan9«d II. 3. INDIAN MATERIALISM 53 the fathers of free and independent thinking in India. Bfhaspati Laukya or Brahman aspati, who may be termed the founder of Indian materialism, first embodied his views about the origin of the world in the hypothesis that in the beginning being came out of non-being — astah Sadajayata, that matter is the ultimate reality. Pararnesthin treated matter as the ultimate reality as Brhaspati did, but disavowed all possibility of knowledge of the ultra-material substratum, if there were any. He refused to extent his meta- physical inquiry beyond matter. Byhaspati was a materialist. Paramesthin was a sceptic. But they were inter-related. Subsequently Mahavira speaks of the Ann.xniyas, who pre- tend to be intelligent but are infact unfamiliar with truth and have got rid of perplexty or puzzlement. These Aij-ijaviyas are ignorant teachers who teach ignorant pupils and speak untruth without proper investigation of know- ledge (Sutrakrtanga, 1. 12. 2). These ignorant teachers seem to be the agnostics of ancient India. Subsequently Brhaspati of the Char- vaka School is pictured as an agnostic of this type. The close relation between the agnostics of the SutrakrtaijLga and the materialists of the Puraijias cannot be ignored. In the Buddhist records'^ Safijaya, who maintains a sort of indifferent or neutral atti- tude towards such problems of metaphysical Mahavagga^ I. 23. 24 54 INDIAN MATERIALISM speculation as those which are concerned with the first cause, the final cause, future life, retribution, and so forth is best known as a sceptic. According to Safijaya, the same philosopher tends to be an agnostic and a sceptic. When he freely confesses his inability to know the ultimate beginning and end of things, which is virtually the same as admitting that these are unknown and unknowable, he is an agnostic. When he doubts or hesitates to admit the correctness of all bold assertions about matters beyond human cognition, he is a sceptic. What we find in the teachings of Dirghatamas, Paramesfhin, the kenlyas and the kajhas is represented by the agnostics and sceptics. Jayaras'i and Tattvopaplava simha The work of Jayaras'i is an important new chapter in the history of Indian philosophy. No work of the charvaka school itself was known before. Jayaras'i^s treatment is clear from the very tittle of the book ‘tattvopaplava^ means ‘upsetting of all principles.^ There were different classes of Charvakas. A particular division of school engaged themselves in rejecting all sorts of pramaijias, Jayaras'i belonged to that group. This is in adition of what has been discussed in this book regarding the first stage of Indian materialism. Jayaras'i has accepted Bphaspati as his Ouru and with his permission demolishes the doctrines of other schools. INDIAN MATERIALISM 65 The method adopted by him may well be called as critical. To him there are no valid means of knowledge and to establish his thesis he with the help of surgical instruments has examined different schools of Indian philo- sophy. The probable date of Jayaras'i Bhaffa is the first half of Seventh Century A.D. Some of the genuine Lokayata Sutras rescued from obscurity. The following Sutras are attributed to Byhaspati, the founder of the Lokayata School, and in them we find the statements of the Charvakas quoted verbatim. ( % ) (^) (») (J() ^ 3^^: (v*) (5!:fq ?T?5rR ( ? 0 3^ ?n«nfVrj^?uit’qq:: sRsray^^ q»noi The first six Sutras are ascribed by Vatsayana in his Kainasutra to the Lokayata school.* The seventh Sutra is a quotation by Madhusudana in his Commentary on the Gita, and it is stated to belong to the Lokayata school.t The eighth Sutra is found as a quota- tion by S'ankaracharyya in his Commentary on the Gita. There it is referred to as an extract from the work of the Lokayata school. f The ninth Sutra is quoted in the Commentary on * Vide Kainasutra I., 2. 25 — 30. t ffir 60 INDIAN MATERIAUSM the Tattvasangraha as belonging to the Lokayata school. § This Sutra is also quoted in the Commentary on the Sammati Tarkapra- kar8ij.a in the same form and as belonging to the same Lokayata school.tf The next two Sutras are found quoted in the Commentary on the Tattvasangraha as an extract from the work of the Lokayata school.* The last Sutra stated above ivS quoted in the Commentary on the Sammati Tarkaprakaraijia as belonging to the work of the Charvaka school.! We are tempted to add here another Sutra in S'loka form of the Svabhavavadins who are later on indentified with the Lokayatikas and the Charvakas. This verse originally belonged to the standard work of the Lokayata school. The verse is this : — In addition to the above, we find some other Sutras of the Lokayata school which are directly attributed to persons other than Brhaspati. This proves that Brhaspati was not the only worker of this school. After him there must have been many workers in the § From the context it is evident that the pronoun cT?! refers to the Lokayata school. ^ Gujrat Puratattva series, p. 71. * Gaekwad's Oriental series, p. 523. t Gujrat Puratattva series, p. 73. INDIAN MATERIALISM 61 field. There is, therefore, no strong evidence for the supposition that these Sutras are not equally genuine. These Sutras are — ( 5 ) ^ 15 ^ Of these three Sutras the first is quoted in the Commentary on the Sammati Tarkapra- karana as belonging to a work of the Lokayata shcool and is attributed to a philosopher of the name of Purandara.§ Perhaps, this Purandara was the author of a later siitra work of the Lokayata school in which the views of Brhas- pati were expounded. The next sutra is quoted in the Tattvasangraha — as belonging to Kam- balasvatara, one of the earliest writers of the Lokayata system.* Perhaps, this Kambalas'- vatara was another expounder of the system like Purandara. The last sutra is quoted in t Bhattotpala’s commentary on Br hatsamhita^ Saddars'ana Samuclichaya Vritti of Gunaratna, Dalla- na's commentary on Sus'ruta, Chapt. I. § Vide The Sammati Tarkaprakarana of the Giijrat Puratattva series Vol. I., p. 70 — Most probably this Purandara is identical with Piiran- dara mentioned in the Commentary of Kamalas'ila and referred to in the Tattvasangraha of Santarakshita. From the foot note of the page we know that this Purandara is mentioned also in the Syadbhadaratnakara. * Vide p. 621 — I 62 INIHAN MATBRIAUSM the Commentary on the Sammati Tarkapra- karao-a — as a saying of the Charvakas.t Jayaras'i in his Tattvopaplava simha has quoted the following Shtras : (^) i ( \) qmf^garT 5*i: (.») 5WI srtr»i« ^raigsn q?:ra ^ mcr^ « 4 - 6-3 LIBRARY LAL BAHADUR 8HA8TRI National Academy of Administration MUSSOORIE Accession jVa. I &Ci2.jS~' 1. Books are issued for 15 days only but may have to be recalled earlier If urgen- tly required. 2. An over-due charge of 25 Raise per day per volume will be charged. 3. Books may be renewed on request, at the discretion of the Librarian. 4. 5. Periodicals! Rare and Refrence books issued and may be con- sulted only in the Library. Books lost, defaced or injured In any way shall have to be replaced or its the