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schools in India: pre-Cārvāka and Cārvāka / Lokāyata. The basic difference lies not so much in the doctrine itself but in the number of elements to be admitted. The earlier school noted in the SKS was bhūtapañcakavādin, who professed their belief in five gross elements, viz. earth, water, fire, air, and space. The Vasu. and the Ska too refer to this proto-materialist school." The existence of such a school is corroborated by the Mbh, and Manimekalai. The Cārvākas, on the other hand, were bhūtacatustayavādin-s, who did not consider space as a separate element, presumably because space was not susceptible to any sense-organ.
Thus, in the task of reconstructing the history of materialism in India the service rendered by the Jain authors and commentators is invaluable. Earlier scholars like D.R. Shastri and Mamom Namai utilized several Jain sources, but many more Jain works have been published in the recent past. Farther exploration will certainly yield fruit.7
6. For sources etc., see R. Bhattacharya, 2004 7. I have tried to incorporate some sources in my articles, 2002 and 2007.
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