Editing Carvaka School of Thought in Indian Philosophy (section)

=== '''Ethics''' ===
Ethics is the science of morality which tends to contemplate questions and problems such as: What is the highest goal or ''Summum bonum'' man can achieve? What is the standard of moral judgement? 

As explained by Madhava in his ''Sarvadarshansamgraha''-


“The only end of man is enjoyment produced by sensual pleasure. Nor may you say that such cannot be called the end of man as they are always mixed with some kind of pain, because it is our wisdom to enjoy the pure pleasure as far as we can, and to avoid the pain which inevitably accompanies it; just as the man who desires fish takes the fish with their scales and bones, and having taken as many as he wants, desists; or just as the man who desires, rice takes the rice, straw and all, and having taken as much as he wants, desists. If anyone so timid as to forsake a visible pleasure, he would indeed be foolish like a beast, as has been said by the poet- 

The pleasure which arises to men from contact with sensible objects, 

Is it to be relinquished as accompanied by pain, such is the reasoning of fools;

The berries of paddy, rich with the finest white grains

What man, seeking his true interest, would fling away because covered with husk and dust?” <sup>(''Review of the Different Systems of Hindu Philosophy'', 1882, p. 4)</sup>

And thus is the well-known verse attributed to the Lokayatas - 

''jāvajjīvetsukhaṃjīvedṛṇaṃkṛtvāghṛtaṃpibet |''

''bhasmībhūtasyadehasyapunarāgamanaṃkutaḥ. |''


''While life remains, let a man live happily''

''Let him feed on ghee, even though he runs on debt.''


Some Indian philosophers, such as the Mimamsakas, hold that paradise, a state of unadulterated happiness that can be obtained after fulfilling the Vedic rites, is the highest aim of human life. Because it is predicated on the unproven existence of a life beyond death, Carvakas rejects it. The priests' creations of "heaven" and "hell" were motivated by their desire to coerce, intimidate, and force people into performing rituals. Men of wisdom will never fall for such tricks. 

==== '''Final Liberation''' ====
Liberation is seen by many thinkers as the ultimate aim of human existence. Again, liberation is seen as the complete eradication of all suffering. Some believe it can only be gained after death when the soul is liberated from the body; others think it can be attained while one is still alive. However, the Carvaka system contends that these opinions are illogical and unreasonable. Because there is no such thing as a soul, it is ridiculous to say that liberation is the soul's release from its shackles to physical life. But if achieving a state free from all sorrow in this particular life is what emancipation entails, then that is likewise an unachievable ideal. Both pleasure and pain are a part of existence in this body. Liberation in the sense of complete cessation of suffering can only mean death (Chatterjee & Datta, 1948, 74)<sup>3</sup>.

==== '''Summum Bonum''' ====
The Carvaka believes that sensuous pleasure is the ultimate good in ethics. Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself since there is no chance of returning once the body has been converted to ashes. No other world exists. No soul can live on after death. Religion is the means of livelihood of the priests. All values are essentially false illusions created by a sick mind. The Carvaka Ethics is a rudimentary form of individual hedonism; the individual's enjoyment of their pleasures in this life is their only goal (Sharma, 1962, 34)<sup>11</sup>. Of the four ends of human life (purusarthas) namely ''artha, kama, dharma and moksha'', the materialist recognises and commends the first two and regards the last two as illusory and hence unworthy of man’s attention (Pulingandla, 1975, 34-35)<sup>8</sup>. Pleasure is regarded as mixed up with pain, but that is no reason why it should not be acquired. ‘Nobody casts away the grain because of the husk? Should nobody cook because of beggars? Should nobody sow seeds because of animals? (Hiriyanna, 1993)<sup>7</sup> Carvaka ethics is considered totally hedonistic because it openly encourages the fulfilment of desires and the pursuit of pleasure as the only values to be pursued in life. If we recall that our existence is limited to our body's existence and so to this life, we must see the joys that arise in the body as the only nice things we may attain. So, the purpose of human life is to experience as much pleasure as possible while minimising suffering. A life of maximum enjoyment is a good existence. Vedic ethics had advocated four ''purusarthas''or the ends of life for the integrated development of the individual as well as the society. At the time Carvaka came into existence, many heretic and revolutionary schools of philosophy led by such figures as Asuri Pippalda, Purana Kasyapaa, KakudaKatyayana and AjitaKesakambalin were flourishing, and all of them opposed the traditional Vedic philosophy in one way or the other. But Carvaka was the first and only system in India to advocate hedonistic ethics (Heera, 2011, 76-84)<sup>6</sup>.

==== '''Rejection of the Authority of Vedas''' ====
According to the Carvakas the Vedas are tainted by the three faults of untruth, self-contradictions and tautology (needless repetition of an idea, statement, or word), then again the imposters who call themselves Vedic pandits are mutually destructive, as the authority of the jnana-kanda is overthrown by those who maintain that of karma-kanda, while those who maintain the authority of the jnana-kanda reject that of the karma-kanda; and lastly, the three Vedas are themselves are only the incoherent rhapsodies of knaves, and to this effect runs the popular saying-

“The Agnihotra, the three Vedas, the ascetics’ three staves, and smearing oneself with ashes” (''Review of the Different Systems of Hindu Philosophy'', 1882, 9).

Having rejected the authority of the Vedas and texts, the concepts of virtue and vice, and belief in life after death, the Carvakas are naturally hostile to religious ceremonies performed with the goal of achieving paradise, avoiding hell, or propitiating departed spirits. If the priests truly believe, as they claim, that animals sacrificed are guaranteed to enter paradise, why don't they sacrifice their elderly parents instead of animals, ensuring their place in heaven?

That the Lokayatikas were opposed to the Brahmanical rituals does not necessarily mean that they were opposed to rituals as such; the conflict could have been because they wanted to stick to their own rituals and these rituals were rooted in a set of beliefs with which orthodox Vedic authority was in direct conflict. At the same time, Loakayata were essentially materialistic in the sense of acknowledging the reality of nothing but the material human body and the material universe around us. If therefore, the Lokayatikas or Carvakas had at all practised any rituals, such rituals could have little to do with otherworldliness (Chattopadhyaya, 1959, 36-37)<sup>3</sup>.