Studies on the Cārvāka/Lokāyata / Ramkrishna Bhattacharya.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bhaṭṭācārya, Rāmakr̥shṇa.

Series:

Cultural, historical and textual studies of religions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lokāyata.

Physical Description:

251 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Anthem Press, 2011.

Summary:

Studies on the Carvaka/Lokayata is the first attempt at a scientific study of the Carvaka/Lokayata, the materialist system of philosophy that flourished in ancient India between the eighth and twelfth centuries CE, and which has since disappeared. Despite the paucity of material relating to the Carvaka, a reconstruction of its basic tenets reveals it to be the lone contender standing against the perceived binary of pro-Vedic Brahminical schools on the one hand, and the non-Vedic Buddhist and Jain schools on the other.

This study seeks to disprove certain notions about the Carvaka/Lokayata, particularly that the Carvaka-s did not approve of any instrument of cognition other than perception, and that they advocated unalloyed sensualism and hedonism. In contrast, this volume offers evidence to show that the Carvaka-s, despite their difference of opinion in other areas, did admit inference in so far as it was grounded on perception. Furthermore, the author argues that the common belief that 'all materialists are nothing but sensualists' is a misconception, as no authentic Carvaka aphorisms have been cited by the movement's opponents to support this view.

This study also seeks to establish the fact that a pre-Carvaka school of materialism existed in India, although there is no way to prove that the Carvaka system grew out of it. Yet if the evidence provided by the Manimekalai - and indirectly supported by the Mahabharata - is admitted, it could be suggested that the two schools existed simultaneously. Book jacket.

Contents:

I Origin of Materialism in India: Royal or Popular? 21

II Jain Sources for the Study of Pre-Carvaka Materialist Ideas in India 33

III Ajita Kesakambala: Nihilist or Materialist? 45

IV Perception and Inference in the Carvaka Philosophy 55

V Commentators of the Carvakasutra 65

VI Carvaka Fragments: A New Collection 69

VII On the Authenticity of an Alleged Carvaka Aphorism 105

VIII Paurandarasutra Revisited 109

IX WhatDidthe Carvakas Mean by sukham jiyet? 123

X Samkhya, Yoga and Lokayata in the Kautiliya Arthasastra: A Re-View 131

XI Yogacara against the Carvaka: A Critical Survey of Tattvasarigraha, Chapter 22 137

XII Jayantabhatta's Representation of the Carvaka: A Critique 147

XIII What does Udayana Mean by lokavyavaharasiddha iti carvakah? 159

XIV Hemacandra on the Carvaka: A Survey 163

XV Haribhadra's Saddarsanasamuccaya, Verses 81-84: A Study 175

XVI The Significance of Xokayata in Pali 187

XVII On Lokayata and Lokayatana in Buddhist Sanskrit 193

XVIII Lokayata and Lokayatana in Sanskrit Dictionaries 197

XIX rnam krtva ghrtam pibet: Who Said This? 201

XX jivika dhatrnirmita orjiviketi brhaspatih? 207

XXI mrtanamapijantunam 213

XXII Carvaka/Lokayata Philosophy: Perso-Arabic Sources 219

XXIII What is Meant by nastika in the Nyayasutra Commentary? 227.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [233]-251).

ISBN:

9780857284334

0857284339

OCLC:

759175223