Unorthodox Schools: Ajivika and Charvaka Schools

Ajivika Sect

By and large, the six systems of philosophical teaching promoted an idealistic view of life, and all of them became paths for attaining salvation. Among these, the Samkhya and Vaisheshika systems advanced certain materialistic ideas. Kapila, the earliest exponent of the Samkhya, taught that a man’s life is shaped by the forces of nature and not by any divine agency.

Materialistic ideas also figured in the doctrines of the Ajivikas, a heterodox sect in the time of the Buddha. Charvaka, however, was the main expounder of materialistic philosophy known as Lokayata, meaning the ideas derived from the common people.

• The Ajivika sect seems to have been quite old, as there are allusions to predecessors of Makkhali Gosala, its most important leader, in the 5th century BCE.
• Apart from Gosala, Buddhist tradition connects Ajivika doctrines with Purana Kassapa and Pakudha Kachchayana.
• Ajivika was one of the nastika (heterodox) schools of Indian philosophy.
• It was a shramana movement and a major rival of early Buddhism and Jainism.
• There are many scattered references to this sect.
• Jaina and Buddhist traditions give accounts of the birth and parentage of Makkhali Gosala, but these accounts seem aimed at providing an etymology for his name and assigning him a low social origin, and therefore may have no historical basis.

Ajivika Philosophy of Niyati

• A central idea of Ajivika philosophy was that of niyati (fate), the principle that ultimately determined and controlled everything.
• Human effort was of no consequence in this strictly deterministic doctrine.
• According to the Ajivikas, there was no free will, and everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen is entirely preordained and governed by cosmic principles.
• The Ajivikas considered the karma doctrine as a fallacy.
• Karma and transmigration existed, but human effort played no role in it, as the paths of souls over thousands of years had already been mapped out.
• While other groups believed that an individual could improve his or her condition through transmigration, the Ajivikas held that the entire universe was ordered by the cosmic force of Niyati, which determined all events and individual destiny to the last detail, and barred personal effort from altering spiritual progress.
• As a result of this static and melancholy view of human life, the Ajivikas practised austerities rather than pursue any purposeful goal.

Metaphysics, Beliefs, and Organization

• The Ajivikas rejected the authority of the Vedas, but they believed that every living being possessed an atman, a central idea of Hinduism and Jainism.
• Ajivika metaphysics included a theory of atoms similar to the Vaisheshika school, where:
  • Everything was composed of atoms.
  • Qualities emerged from aggregates of atoms.
  • The aggregation and nature of atoms were predetermined by cosmic forces.
• The Ajivikas had regular meeting places called sabhas, where meetings were held and important ceremonies performed.
• This suggests that they had a corporate organization.
• They had canonical texts, and Buddhist and Jaina texts contain quotations or paraphrases from these works.

Ascetic Practices and Discipline

• The Ajivikas practised severe asceticism, often eating very little food (although Buddhists accused them of eating secretly).
• They practised ahimsa (non-violence), but not as strictly as the Jainas, since the Bhagavati Sutra states that they were allowed to eat meat.
• They practised complete nudity.
• Jaina texts criticize them for not strictly observing celibacy.

Social Composition

• The Ajivika sect did not practise discrimination on the basis of caste or class.
• Its ascetics and followers came from different sections of society.
• Some members, such as a relative of King Bimbisara, were Kshatriyas.
• The ascetic Panduputta was the son of a wagon-maker, a profession considered low in the social hierarchy.
• Makkhali Gosala used the workshop of a woman potter named Halahala as his headquarters at Shravasti.

Patronage

• Prasenajit, the king of Kosala, appears to have been a patron of the Ajivika order.
• In the Nagarjuni Hills, inscriptions record the dedication of three caves to the Ajivikas by Dasharatha, the successor of Ashoka.
• Apart from royalty, urban and trading groups formed prominent sections of Ajivika followers.

Criticism by Buddhist and Jaina Traditions

• The severe criticism of the Ajivikas in Buddhist and Jaina texts indicates that they were considered serious rivals.
• In the Anguttara Nikaya, the Buddha describes Makkhali Gosala as a foolish man who had brought grief and sorrow to gods and men, showing that the Buddhists regarded his doctrine as the most dangerous of all shramana doctrines.
• Jaina texts also reflect bitter rivalry and conflict.
• The Bhagavati Sutra describes a violent quarrel between Makkhali Gosala and Mahavira.

Later Influence and Decline

• The Ajivika sect continued to remain influential during later centuries.
• The Mahavamsa suggests that its influence had spread as far as Sri Lanka.
• The Divyavadana refers to an Ajivika fortune-teller in the court of the Mauryan king Bindusara, who prophesied the future greatness of Ashoka.
• Barabar Hill inscriptions record Ashoka’s dedication of caves to Ajivika ascetics.
• In the Nagarjuni Hills, Dasharatha dedicated three caves to the Ajivikas.
• Ashoka’s Seventh Pillar Edict instructs officials known as the dhammamahamatas to attend to the affairs of sects including the Ajivikas.
• The Maurya period appears to have been the heyday of the Ajivika sect, though references to it continue till the early medieval period.
• The Ajivika sect reached the height of its popularity during the reign of Bindusara in the 4th century BCE.
• Though it later declined, it survived for nearly 2,000 years, till the 14th century CE in the southern regions of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
• The Ajivika philosophy, along with Charvaka philosophy, appealed most to the warrior, industrial, and mercantile classes of ancient Indian society.

Charvaka Philosophy of Materialism (Lokayata)

The Charvaka school was a philosophical movement in India that rejected the traditional religious order by directly challenging the authority of the Vedas as well as the hegemony of the Brahmana priests.
This school is considered a part of the heterodox (nastika) systems of Indian philosophy. It is also known as Lokayata, which literally means “worldly”.

• The Charvakas underlined the importance of intimate contact with the world (loka).
• They showed a complete lack of belief in the other world.
• Many teachings are traditionally attributed to the Charvaka tradition.

Origin and Development

• The Charvaka school began to develop around the 7th century BCE, during the period when the culture of world renunciation emerged in India.
• Buddhist scriptures occasionally refer to the Charvakas as part of the wandering religious groups known as sramanas.
• Even before the emergence of the Charvaka school, other materialistic traditions existed in India, but none succeeded in systematizing their teachings as effectively as the Charvakas did.
• The most prominent Charvaka figure during the time of the Buddha was Ajita Kesakambali.
• His ideas are summarized in the Buddhist Pali text Samannaphala Sutta, where he categorically denies the doctrine of transmigration of the soul.

Texts and Sources

• The earliest texts of the Charvaka philosophy were composed around the 6th century BCE, but unfortunately all of these original texts have been lost.
• Whatever we know about the Charvaka philosophy today has been reconstructed mainly from later Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Jaina writings.

Core Philosophical Ideas

• From available references, it is clear that the Charvakas believed in a strictly materialistic worldview.
• They held that only those things which could be perceived directly by the senses truly existed.
• The members of this school rejected the existence of:
  • the soul,
  • reincarnation,
  • spirits, and
  • gods.
• According to the Charvakas, religion was nothing but a fraud devised by clever people who wished to exploit others.
• They argued that soul or consciousness could be explained in purely natural terms, as a by-product of a healthy physical body.
• When the body dies, consciousness also disappears, and therefore no existence apart from the physical body survives.

Charvaka View on Ethics and Human Conduct

• The Charvaka attitude towards human conduct was highly flexible.
• They believed that right and wrong were merely human conventions, not divinely ordained principles.
• According to them, the cosmos was completely indifferent to human behaviour.
• Thus, moral rules, religious duties, and ethical codes had no cosmic or spiritual sanction.

The Charvaka or Lokayata philosophy represents the most systematic and radical materialist tradition in ancient India. By rejecting the Vedas, soul, karma, rebirth, gods, and ritualism, it stood in sharp opposition to Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Jaina traditions, and emphasized a this-worldly, sense-based understanding of reality and human life.

Key Principles of the Charvaka Doctrine of Materialism

The Charvaka philosophy represents the most systematic materialist tradition in ancient India. Its core principles are based on the absolute primacy of matter, sense perception, and the rejection of all transcendental realities.

Charvaka Theory of Knowledge (Epistemology)

• The Charvakas accepted sensory perception (pratyaksha) as the only valid source of knowledge.
• They recognized as real only those objects and phenomena which could be directly experienced through the human senses and sense organs.
• This position implied a complete lack of faith in the existence of Brahma, God, or any invisible metaphysical entity.
• They rejected the validity of other sources of knowledge, such as:
  • Inference (anumana),
  • Verbal testimony (shabda),
  • Comparison (upamana), and
  • Other indirect means of knowing.
• According to the Charvakas, the guiding philosophical principle was that only what is perceptible to the senses can be regarded as true and real. Everything beyond sense perception was dismissed as imaginary or deceptive.

Charvaka Metaphysics

• The Charvakas rejected the existence of all transcendental and metaphysical entities, including:
  • Soul (atman),
  • God (Ishvara),
  • Incarnation,
  • Law of karma, and
  • Rebirth.
• This rejection followed directly from their strict doctrine of sense perception.
• They were fundamentally opposed to the quest for spiritual salvation (moksha).
• They denied the existence of any divine or supernatural agency governing the universe or human life.

Rejection of God

• The existence of God was rejected because God could not be perceived by the senses.
• The major philosophical dilemma arising here was: If there is no God, then who created the universe?
• The Charvakas answered this by holding that the universe is composed of four basic elements, namely:
  • Earth,
  • Water,
  • Fire, and
  • Air.
• According to them, the world came into existence through the natural combination of these elements, and hence the existence of the universe is purely mechanical and not divine.

Rejection of the Soul

• Just like God, the soul was also rejected because it cannot be perceived by the senses.
• This led to the question: If the soul does not exist, how is consciousness explained?
• The Charvaka answer was that consciousness is a property of the physical body, and it arises due to the proper combination of the four elements in a fixed proportion.
• They used a famous analogy to justify this view:
  • Just as the mixture of areca nut, lime, and betel produces a red colour when chewed, similarly the combination of material elements gives rise to consciousness.
• When the body dies, consciousness simply disappears.
• Therefore, no existence other than the physical body survives after death.

Rejection of Religion

• For the Charvakas, religion was nothing but a fraud devised by clever men to exploit others.
• They argued that providing a comfortable livelihood for priests was a sufficient explanation for the origin and continuation of religion.
• According to them, the Brahmanas deliberately manufactured rituals in order to extract gifts (dakshina) from the common people.
• Thus, religion was seen as an instrument of economic and social exploitation rather than a spiritual path.

Charvaka Ethics

• Since the soul does not exist, the very idea of liberation (moksha) becomes meaningless.
• The Charvakas believed exclusively in the present life, and their guiding principle was to live this life fully.
• They promoted egoistic hedonism, that is, the pursuit of pleasure for one’s own self.
• Out of the four purusharthas of Indian philosophy—
  • Dharma,
  • Artha,
  • Kama, and
  • Moksha,
    the Charvakas accepted only Artha (material prosperity) and Kama (pleasure), and rejected Dharma and Moksha.
• According to them, heaven and hell were nothing but imaginary inventions.
• The only real goal of human life was to attain pleasure and avoid pain.

Popular Criticism and Real Contribution

• In order to discredit the Charvakas, their opponents often highlighted only one distorted teaching:
  • A person should enjoy himself as long as he lives; he should even borrow to eat well (that is, take ghee).
• However, the real philosophical contribution of the Charvaka school lies in its uncompromising materialistic and rational outlook.
• It denied the operation of divine and supernatural forces and placed human beings at the centre of all activities and explanations.
• The Charvaka attitude towards human conduct was highly flexible:
  • Right and wrong were treated as merely human conventions, and
  • The cosmos was believed to be completely indifferent to human moral behaviour.

Conclusion

• The schools of philosophy emphasizing materialism developed during a phase of rapid economic and social expansion between 500 BCE and 300 CE.
• This period witnessed an intense struggle against nature in the process of:
  • Establishing permanent settlements,
  • Expanding agriculture in the Gangetic plains, and
  • Managing the challenges of day-to-day material life.
• These material conditions led to the origin and growth of iron-based agricultural technology, along with:
  • The use of metal money,
  • The expansion of trade, and
  • The thriving of handicrafts and urban crafts production.
• The new economic and social environment generated a scientific and materialistic outlook, which found its most direct philosophical expression in the Charvaka system, and also appeared in a limited form within some orthodox philosophical traditions.
• However, by the fifth century CE, materialistic philosophy was gradually overshadowed by idealistic philosophical systems.
• The exponents of idealism continuously criticized materialism and instead:
  • Advocated ritualism,
  • Encouraged spiritual discipline, and
  • Promoted salvation (moksha) as the supreme goal of human life.
• These idealistic schools attributed worldly phenomena to supernatural forces, thereby downplaying material causation and rational inquiry.
• This intellectual shift hindered the progress of scientific inquiry and rational thinking in the long run.
• Even the enlightened sections of society found it difficult to challenge the entrenched privileges of the priests and the warrior class.
• Being deeply immersed in idealistic and salvation-oriented philosophies, the masses gradually resigned themselves to:
  • The inequities of the varna-based social order, and
  • The strong authority of the centralized state represented by the king.

Thus, while materialistic philosophy like Charvaka represented a bold assertion of rationalism, empiricism, and human-centered thought, its decline under the dominance of ritualistic and idealistic traditions limited the long-term growth of scientific temper and critical reasoning in ancient Indian society.