There is a tremendous ignorance about Charvaka today among the masses. The Philosophy of Charvaka is neglected and the most hated ideology. And there are people deliberately creating hostility against this ideology. This is because the rationalistic attitude of Charvaka has caused heart-burn to upper castes and jeopardized their bread and butter in the past and also is threatening in the present days.
What constitutes knowledge: There have been debates in India on what constitutes the knowledge and what is a scripture among the elites – read Brahmins. Because the idea was spread that all knowledge was stored in the Vedas and Vedas alone. Because the right to read the Vedas was kept by the Brahmins to themselves, the illiteracy spread among the society, which at one time, during Ashoka’s times was quite literate. This has been amply shown by Dr. Ambedkar long back.
Contradictions among Brahmins & Buddhists: That the history of India is nothing but the history of struggle between the Brahmins and the Buddhists for centuries has also been explained by Babasaheb.
No answers to the “Riddles”: After the publication of the “Riddles”, a storm was created against it. So many lives were lost. But the questions raised by Dr. Ambedkar still remain unanswered. And to the best of our knowledge, no books have been written by the elites. Today’s Brahmin elites do not wish to reply to the question how the Vedas became infallible and written by non-humans, the question asked by Dr. Ambedkar therein.
Percutions of rationalists: When same and similar questions were asked by Charvaka and his followers, centuries ago, they became unpopular and were persecuted. What happened to the dignitaries like Socrates, Galileo, Bruno etc. in the West, it happened to Charvaka in India.
WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE
Vain knowledge: The verses whose meaning was not understood, or perhaps it was intended that their meaning is not meant to be understood, even such verses were learnt byheart, and not reduced to writing even after the art of writing was developed. And to learn such verses byheart was considered to be a great knowledge. Or they gave thousand names to one personality and make the scholars to learn byheart such names and it was considered to be knowledge.
But to skin a dead animal and create footwear from the hide was not considered knowledge.
The people who mastered such science and art were boycotted and treated as lowly and even made Untouchables as a religious persecution. The tillers of the land knew the science of land, soil, seeds, water and irrigation, the cycle of seasons and times of sowing and harvesting. But their knowledge was not considered as knowledge. On the contrary, those who put the calculation of the passage of imaginary planets and zodiac and declared the auspicious times for sowing or harvesting were considered knowledgeable, and their gimmicks as science.
Even now there are people who condemn such zodiac knowledge as no science, whereas there are elites who consider such knowledge as great science and insists that it be taught in colleges at state expense. So, under these circumstances, Charvaka considered only the arts and sciences useful to the society as real sciences and real knowledge and considered vedic knowledge as no knowledge, then it is great achievement of Charvaka.
Even today TV serials are praising practices like Agnihotri but thousands of years ago Charvaka condemned the practice of Agnihotri as useless and meant only for the bread and butter of the Brahmins. Then is Charvaka relevant today? He definitely is.
MANTRAS ARE USELESS
Do not waste ghee in havan: The Supreme Court ordered sealing of illegal shops. The remedy by the shopkeepers was to perform public havan in the market and destroy the scarce and expensive commodities like edible oil and ghee. Such great people exist even today in the 21th century. But centuries ago, Charvaka said: “Drink ghee yourself, take loan if necessary for that and be capable of repaying the loan, but never waste ghee putting in fire”. Thus he, who tried to set right the economics of the Bahujan masses is still relevant in today’s world.
No power in mantras:
“Whole world is under control of gods, the gods are under the control of mantras, and the mantras are under the control of the Brahmins; therefore, the whole world should remain under the control of Brahmins”.
The author who pronounced this Sanskrit verse was termed by Maharashtra elites as the Shivaji of Marathi language. And these elites were searching for grammatical mistakes in the writings of Mahatma Jotirao Phule and denigrate Phule as a foul- smelling dirt. This happens in 20th century. So, hundreds of years ago, Charvaka, who was the one who declared that mantras are useless and have no power or effects. So, Charvaka is still relevant in today’s world.
BRAHMIN WILY TRICKS
Chaturvarna & untouchability: This earth is given to us Brahmins by Parshuram and we are its sole masters and hence the Chandalas (Untouchables) have no right to walk on the street. This is what was told to Gandhi by the Nambudiri Brahmins during the Vaikom Satyagraha. When such Brahmins exist in 20th century, Charvaka who centuries earlier, struggled against practice of untouchability is still relevant in today’s world.
No jajnya, no havan, no shraddha, no pind daan: When Saint Kabir was late in bringing milk for offering to dead ancestors, he told his guru that he thought dead cow’s milk would be more suitable. Saint Gadge Baba, similarly, said he was watering the fields hundreds of miles away to ridicule Brahmins offering pind-daan to dead ancestors. These thoughts of saints have the basis of the ideology of Charvaka. Even then we find today a queue in Gaya and other pilgrimage center’s for doing shraddha paksha and offering tarpan and pind daan. Not only this, but the Brahmins advertise their services of making available the facility of offering pind daan via internet without physical presence. Under such circumstances, Charvaka who, hundreds of years ago, declared uselessness of pind daan and allied activities is still relevant in today’s world.
Gender equality: The extreme atrocities committed on Indian women because of the ideas of pativratya (chastity) have no parallel in the world history. Therefore, Periyar E.V. Ramaswami asked in the last century, why only the women should observe chastity, who not men too. Charvaka, who asked the same question centuries earlier and sowed the seeds of gender equality, is he not relevant even in today’s world?
Bahujan aesthetics: Ayoung Black teenager lady declares proudly that she is Black and she is British and she is proud to be such. The moral courage to pronounce such proud declaration has come to the Blacks of all continents because they have been successful in creating their own aesthetics.
NASTIK THREATENS BRAHMIN INTERESTS
Similar aesthetics have to be created for Bahujan’s. Today, no Bahujan considers Ramadas as the guru of Shivaji. The Bahujan Samaj does not believe in the fable that a viman (plane) had come to take Saint Tukaram of 17th century to vaikuntha (heaven). No Bahujan believes that Saint Ravidas had cut his chest to show the golden janeu (sacred thread) inside. No Bahujan believes in the legends that Saint Meera of Rajputana or female Alwar saint Goda aka Andal got immersed in the feet of the image of God. No Bahujan believes in the story that south Indian Naynar Dalit saint Nandnar entered into the fire to show his purity. No Bahujan believes that the organs of Saint Chakradhara Swami got restored after they were severed by the order of Brahmin minister Hemadri Pundit, or that the Swami after being beheaded got his head restored and he proceeded to the north.
All the Bahujan’s have known these stories are the wily tricks of the Brahmins to hide their sins of violence committed by them against the Bahujan’s. These are all the signs of creation of Bahujan aesthetics founded by the ideology of Charvaka. Charvaka has not only laid the aesthetics of Bahujan’s but he has laid the foundation of the theology of Bahujan’s, religion of Bahujan’s, economics of Bahujan’s, eschatology of Bahujan.
ANTI-BRAMIN LITERATURE DESTROYED
Charvaka as Nastik Shiromani: Brahmins have denigrated Charvaka as Nastik Shiromani (jewel in the crown of Nastiks). As there is no unanimity about who should be called a Hindu, similarly there is no unanimity about who should be called a nastik.
Dr. Ambedkar beautifully said, setting aside all definitions, that Hindu is one who follows caste.
Similarly, the definition of nastik is simple. There have been definitions like: Nastik is one who denies the Vedas, or nastik is one who denies the god. These are all secondary definitions. But the real definition is one who causes harm to the vested interests of Brahmins is a nastik.
Nastik is a big abuse in Hindu society. Once one is declared nastik, one is deemed fit to be bashed up, to be banished, to be boycotted, to be persecuted, to be killed or to be treated as an Untouchable. That is the permit that Brahminess’s got to persecute the fellow, once one is dubbed nastik. This was the general assumption then, and is the same even today, to some extent. And Charvaka was declared by the Brahmins to be the greatest nastik – the nastik Shiromani.
There exists no god. no soul: The motivation behind the ideology of
Mahatma Phule is that of Charvaka, who did not believe in the existence of God. The concept of Phule’s nirmik is entirely different from the concept of God.
Charvaka literature: No Budhist literature was found, when the British tried to search for with the exception of Manjushri Mul Kalp found hidden in Kerala. Not one scholar was born among the Bhadralok of India, who could read the Edicts of Ashoka, present here for more than 2,000 years. The literature of the Siddhas had to be brought from Tibet. Same is the case of literature of the Nath’s. Not only this but except for the ones present in the Guru Granth of the Sikhs the songs of Saint Ravidas are scarce.
CHARVAKA & REBIRTH
When all the literature of these great saints was destroyed by the Brahminist, was it possible that they would leave the literature of Charvaka intact?
Whatever literature of Charvaka is available, it is available in the Brahminic books, as purva paksha that is the “side of opponents to be condemned”. Along with the contrary strong denunciation the verses of Charvaka are quoted in such Brahminical books.
But even then, whatever is available from it the image of Brahminism that emerges, is not very glorious for Brahminism. If the original Charvaka books presenting the positive aspect of their ideology were available his name and fame would have been spread all over the world. Delicate nuances between atma (soul) and parmatma (God) have been exhaustively described in Brahminical “spiritual” books for centuries. The practical discernible use of all the ideological discourses is the concept of rebirth. According to this concept it is believed that whatever position you got in this birth is the result of the deeds (karma) of the previous birth/s.
At the time of Vaikom Satyagraha, the Nambudiri Brahmins argued that the present-day Untouchables have done some sin in previous births.
Therefore, they got the birth of Untouchable in this birth. Rebirth is also recognized by Budhists and Jains but with some different concepts. Brahminical concept described above is not present there.
Charvaka, however, has not accepted any form of rebirth and has very strongly condemned all the concepts of rebirth in no uncertain terms.
COUNTRY OF CASTES
India is a country of innumerable castes and creeds. The upper castes already know their way in life. After Dr. Ambedkar, the Dalits and Adivasis also got their path. But there exists a vast mass called Bahujan Samaj, which was along with lower castes during the times of Mahatma Phule, now seems to be upper castes. In religious terms, that group is called Shudra’s and in today’s terminology it is called OBCs. That group seems to be in quest of their own identity. In that group are the various castes like Telis (oilmen), Malis (Gardner’s), Kunti’s (tillers), Sutars (carpenters), Lohars (blacksmiths), Kumbha’s (potters), Kolis (fishermen), Kosti’s (weavers), etc. and many more laboring castes.
The caste conflict is getting more and more intense and sharp. And it is predicted by the expert scholars that there are signs visible that it would be still more severe in days to come. Under such circumstances, everybody is after preserving one’s own identity and search one’s own roots.
LEGACY OF CHARVAKA
The philosophy of Charvaka claims descent from the Harappan culture, it is also believed that this philosophy belongs to the Shudra Bahujan Samaj. After the Budha’s revolution, Manusmriti brought in counter-revolution. Charvaka philosophy was the greatest opponent of Manusmriti. On the other hand, Kautilya defended Charvaka. The result was Kautilya’s Arthashastra was banished from India for centuries till it was discovered by Shama Shastri in the 19th century. For thousands of years, it was destroyed just like the Budhists and Charvaka literature. May be the future of Bahujan’s lies in the philosophy of Charvaka. And let us hope the leaders of Bahujan’s get the sagacity to discover for themselves what their ancestor Charvaka kept for them as their legacy.
