Charvaka / Lokayata: Analytic & Hermeneutic Study

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The present book is a part of a bigger, more comprehensive and ambitiosas work, planned years back, consisting of several volumes, which could not see the light of the day, for seen or unseen, predictable or unpredictable circumstances, circumstances beyond human control. On the one side, there was my strong will to write something, which instinct I imbibed from my scholar parents, but on the other side, there was some hidden agencies which were disturbing me, compelling me, to stop all plans. After long years of combat which went within my own being, I started to write, but very soon, I became so much afflicted with eye troubles, (due to cataract) that hardly I had written about a hundred page or so, (though within a very short period), I found myself in semi-blind state and I could not read or write, except only some important things and that too, with great difficulty. These periods were very hard periods, which deferred all my constructive imagination, and went far too much for developing a sort of pessimism, unknown to me in the previous years of my life. During this period, I had to undergo three operations, two for my two eyes, and one for prostrate ailment. Though the doctors who were attending me were not very much sure, if I shall be able to regain my vision, I had a hope and my hope came true, I regained eye sight in one eye, and then later on, partial vision in the other eye, which made me to proceed further towards my ambitious goals, which had faded due to long periods of difficulty in vision. But this course of tribulation turned the very direction of my proposed work. Instead of completing a proposed book on Materialism, Naturalism and Atheism in philosophy (West and East) which topic was allotted to me by my Late Prof. B.K. Lal of Magadh University (Bihar), the present work is only a collection essays on Charvaka-Lokayata philosophy, which is but a part of that scheme. The reason for opting to write on Charvaka/Lokayata System arose due to the fact, that for want of definite source-materials on this system, it is very difficult to write on it, comprehensively, hence the challenge to accept to write on it. Secondly, there has not been much research made in this direction. Thirdly, it is a most misunderstood and most misinterpreted philosophy. Fourthly, it has been taken to be a debased philosophy of extreme licence, vulgarism, rusticity, unrealistic, sensualistic and sexualistic philosophy. Fifthly, that this system can hardly be reconstructed, due to a pessimistic frame of mind and it would require a lot of mental exercise to write on conjectures, possibilities. The very dictum that has marred the scope of any study on this system was the opt-quoted dictum-"Yavat Jivet Sukham Jivet, Rnam Kriva Ghrtam Pivet, Bhasmi Bhutasya Deharya Punarāgaman Kutah." I took this aspect as a great challenge, and undertook to start writing on this system. Out of the two parts in the above dictum of Charvaka, I had left the second part of the above i.e. "bhasmi- bhutasya punaragaman kutah", for the second volume of my work and I have concentrated only on the first part of the dictum "yävat jivet sukham jivet, Rnam krtva ghrtam pivet" and all the papers contained in this volume hovers round this part of the dictum, though an independent chapter on the topic 'Yavat Jivet Sukham Jivet' also could not be included in this volume. But I have really shifted from the conservative approach and have tried to make this system more broad-based, by making comparisons from the field of literary giants, philosophers and others, and not restricting to a conservative philosophical approach of metaphysics, ethics, epistemology, logic etc. I have postponed these three i.e. ethics, epistemology and metaphysics for the forthcoming books. I accept, I have no academic accomplishment to claim as an expert in any particular area of philosophy, my observations are only my feelings. Whatever I have written in course of those papers are only directed towards research point of view, and I don't intend to injure any one's sentiments, if my views do not tally his/her /their thought. So the reader would kindly excuse me, if anything written here, leads to touching his/her/their sentiments. I have no such intentions for any sort of ill-will towards anyone. While writing these papers, the first thing which confronted me is that, whether it is possible to reconstruct this system in the back-log of little or no material at our disposal. I have tried to express my views in chapter III of this book, showing that there is enough scope for restructuring the system of Charvaka/Lokayata. Allied to this subject is the question, why is it that in spite all the so-called criticisms levelled against this system, people have continued to speak about the materialism of this system time and again. The possible reply to this question can be seen in chapter-II, wherein I have said that there are two main factors which compel one toward this system, which are that life is short, and there are miseries in life coupled with the inevitability of death, as such, it is essential as well as sane and rational to enjoy this small span of life, than to die before death comes at the door steps. I intended to include these two topics, in two separate papers, i.e. misery and death in this very book but for unavoidable circumstances, I could not complete these two topics and have left these topics for the next volume. In every text-book of Indian Philosophy attempts have been made to relate the word Charvaka to Charu Vaka or sweet-tongued, or Charv, eat, in the sense.

Written in fine racy and simple style, the present Book, the first out of the author's several other forthcoming books on Charvaka/Lokayata Philosophy, is a collection of his research papers. The Book is unique in more senses than one. The Charvaka/Lokayata is one of the lost systems of India with no authentic record available. The author has attempted to repeat history by recreating history. To reconstruct a lost system like Charvaka, with no authentic evidence, is a stupendous task, but the author has taken it up in joyful zeal, to raise this system from its deep burial ground, starting from scratch. The versatility of the author and his intense zeal, painstakingness, can be judged from the fact that in spite of no source-materials of the system, he has written several chapters on the very name 'Charvaka', two chapters have been given to the topic 'mam krtva' he has stretched Charvaka's thought to Urdu poetry, Hindi poetry to novelist like D.H. Lawrence etc. and examining from the point of view of 'familiarity/unfamiliarity, semi-familiarity, he pleads for a sanser look of this system and deducing that it is as an inevitable, invincible thought current, deep-seated in the psyche of all. The papers included here will seem thought-provoking for those who have a thoughtful bend of mind but at the same time pleasing, amusing, interesting even to the common man having a little bit of literary taste. The first book entitled 'Phenomenology: A Methodological Introduction' edited with Dr. V.T. Sebastian, of Punjab University has already been widely appreciated. The present book "An analytic and Hermeneutic study of Charvaka Lokayata Philosophy" is one among the several books soon to be published by the author. This book is an attempt to Reconstruct the almost lost Vanished as well as the most despised and misinterpreted systems of India on which system, very scant atention is paid and for want of records or original leterature of the system, it is most difficult to write and a very few dare to attempt. The author has accepted the challenge of all the vilifiers of this system taken jointly and has undertaken the hardest onerous responsibility of defending this system from all anslaughts down the ages and centuries created, nurtured by its antogonistis to cook their delicious end. The author through his present book, (being a collection of papers), has tried to dig deep down the earth to find out the fossils left in the form of cut and criptic remarks. He has left no stone unturned to prove this system's rich ancestry coming from the hoary past to immortalige the fossils to continue as remnants to unknown future, to make history to repeat history. The ways in which the topics have been selected and the ways in which he has tried to silence the antagonists for ever, proves unique in the history of philosophy. It is a rare attempt. Apart from the philosophic aspects, the papers of this collection are grand piece of literature, pleasant to suit persons of every taste. His further four volums, on the same subject, both independent work as all edited work would go a long way to enrich this system and to immortalise this system as a rare Philosophic-literary enterprise for all future times.