Encyclopedia > Carvaka

  Article Content

Carvaka

Carvaka, also frequently transliterated as Charvaka, and also known as lokayata, is a thoroughly materialist and atheist school of thought with ancient roots in India. It appears to have died out sometime after 1000. Its principal works are known only from fragments cited by its Hindu and Buddhist opponents. Those quotes which survive indicate a strong anti-clerical bias, accusing brahmins of fostering religious beliefs only so they could obtain a livelihood. The proper aim of a Charvakan, according to these sources, was to live a prosperous, happy, and productive life in this world.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Sanskrit language

... has an elaborate set of phonological rules called sandhi and samaas which are expressed in its writing (except in so-called pada texts). Sandhi reflects the ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 35.8 ms