Charvaka - A Philosophical School of Dissent

Charvaka - A Philosophical School of Dissent

Author Name : Prof. Dr. G N Sharma, Mrs. Madhavi Arvind Sharma

ABSTRACT From Ages, an unending debate over the very existence of God is going on. Impartially speaking it is quite an easy argument to be presented, for or against the almighty. When an argument is filled with emotive words and subsequently the upsurging sentimental feelings thereof, there is no challenge. To the contrary when a rational outlook thoroughly is based on scientific temperament and proofs, many of our nurtured feelings easily collapse. It is but natural for a common man who is not prejudiced, to ask certain questions regarding the existence as well as functioning of the supreme agency called ‘God’. It is very clear that our knowledge is drawn from the scriptures and the self claimed private experiences of the saints, seers or genuine godmen. Somehow this knowledge acknowledged by the society as the ultimate one does not tally with the happenings in day today life, globally. It is a miserable failure particularly when it comes to the extravagant language used with a deliberate hype on the age-old characteristics ascribed. The most common adjectives circulated as omnipotent omniscient and omnipresent at any rate do not stand in a convincing manner in human affairs. This is the major problem with naive minds which expect transformation of the bookish promises into a visible reality or display. Therefore, everything ultimately distils down to the very existence itself. In fact this approach of not getting convinced from the effects has every moral right to suspect the cause itself. In other words, there had been an excessive impetus on the adjectives, when the presence of the noun itself is doubtful. When we peep into history, it is clear that for centuries, the existence and workings of God had been accepted by the majority. Only a few schools of thought like Charvaka, Buddhism, Jainism could dare to question the religious authorities about the fallacies represented by all religions unanimously. This paper would look into the Charvaka school of thought to understand its basic tenets in the present date contest