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A NOTE ON THE NOMENCLATURE FOR
MATERIALISTS IN ANCIENT INDIA
Arvind Sharma
I
Not only does there not exist a complete and comprehensive account of Indian materialism1 by an Indian materialist,2 even the names by which the Indian materialists are known are far from being completely understood. It is the purpose of this paper to present the spectrum of conjecture on their nomenclature.
II
One gets the general impression from the writings on Indian materialism that materialistic philosophy was indistinguishably called Lokayata, Cārvāka or Barhaspatya. However, from some sources one gains the impression that these represented three distinct brands of materialism, so that the materialists were identified as :
(a) Carvakas (difficult to interpret; Cärvaka is said to be the founder of the sect; he is undoubtedly the demoniac ogre spoken of in the Mahabharata);
(b) Lokayatas, "worldly', 'spread throughout the world' (a term which, according to T. W. Rhys Davids, denotes primarily the knowledge of nature-lore, and whose adherents are said to be the explainers of the genesis of the world"); and
(c) Barhaspatyas, 'disciples of Brhaspati (the chaplain of the Vedic gods and the lord of wisdom).
There do not seem to be sufficient grounds for distinguishing among these, it appears, on the whole and it has even been suggested that "Perhaps the two names, Lokayata and Carvaka, were his (Brhaspati's) title and Brhaspati his original name".7
Jain Education International
III
The name Carvaka has been explained in several ways. It is sometimes regarded as the name of a person. About the identity of the person, however, different opinions seem to exist. On one view, "Carvaka is the name of the founder of this school". On another view "it was originally
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