Charvak

Maharshi Charvak ( 6th century BC) was an atheist scholar in ancient India known for his philosophy called Charvak Darshan named after him. Tenets of Charvak or Lokayats were contemporaries to early Buddhism and Jainism. He was a disciple of Brihaspati. The philosophy he founded is know as Charvak Darshan. Much of his writings or sayings could not survive except about a hundred shlokas, and that too because they were referred to in writings of other scholars. It is said that he was a sage and preached even in front of the temples of his time. His name and the shlokas attributed to him are mainly found in the Mahabharata, Buddha and Jain literature.

Wisdom & Quotes

• As long as he lives a man should live happily

and drink ghee, though he run into into debt,
for when the body is turned to ashes,
how can there be any return to life?

• A man must not turn back from pleasure for fear of concomitant sorrow. He must accept occasional sorrow gladly, for the sake of the joy which he finds in the world, as he accepts the bones with the fish or the husk with the corn.
• Whoever turns in fear from the joy that he sees before him is a fool, no better than an animal.
• If a man really left his body,

and passed on to the other world,
would he not come back once more,
drawn by his love for his kin?

Gautam Buddha