Barhaspatya sutras
Encyclopedia
The Bārhaspatya-sūtras also Lokāyata ("materialistic", "atheistic") sutras were the foundational text of the Cārvāka
school of "materialist" (nastika
) philosophy.
Probably dating to the final centuries BC (the Mauryan period), these texts have been lost, and are known only from fragmentary quotations. Dakshinaranjan Shastri in 1928 published 60 such verses. In 1959, he published 54 selected verses as Barhaspatya sutram. Shastri was of the opinion that many more fragments could be recovered. Bhattacharya (2002) attempts a new reconstruction, with the caveat that the more verses are listed, the greater the uncertainty that it will be either misquoted or foreign materials included as a part of the text.
Most of the fragments are found in works dated to the Indian Middle Ages, between roughly the 8th and 12th centuries. The extensive 14th century treatise on Indian philosophy
by Sayana
, the Sarvadarshanasamgraha, gives a detailed account of Cārvāka, but it doesn't quote Cārvāka texts directly, instead paraphrasing the doctrine according to the understanding of a learned 14th century Vedantin. Bhattacharya lists 68 items on 9 pages.
A text known as Bārhaspatyasūtram arthāt Bārhaspatya Arthaśāstram is a transparent forgery (ed. F.W. Thomas 1921, c.f. Bhattacharya 2002 p. 6).
Carvaka
' , also known as ', is a system of Indian philosophy that assumes various forms of philosophical skepticism and religious indifference. It seems named after , the probable author of the and probably a follower of Brihaspati, who founded the ' philosophy.In overviews of Indian philosophy, Cārvāka...
school of "materialist" (nastika
Nastika
Āstika exists") and Nāstika are technical terms in Hinduism used to classify philosophical schools and persons, according to whether they accept the authority of the Vedas as supreme revealed scriptures, or not, respectively...
) philosophy.
Probably dating to the final centuries BC (the Mauryan period), these texts have been lost, and are known only from fragmentary quotations. Dakshinaranjan Shastri in 1928 published 60 such verses. In 1959, he published 54 selected verses as Barhaspatya sutram. Shastri was of the opinion that many more fragments could be recovered. Bhattacharya (2002) attempts a new reconstruction, with the caveat that the more verses are listed, the greater the uncertainty that it will be either misquoted or foreign materials included as a part of the text.
Most of the fragments are found in works dated to the Indian Middle Ages, between roughly the 8th and 12th centuries. The extensive 14th century treatise on Indian philosophy
Indian philosophy
India has a rich and diverse philosophical tradition dating back to ancient times. According to Radhakrishnan, the earlier Upanisads constitute "...the earliest philosophical compositions of the world."...
by Sayana
Sayana
' was an important commentator on the Vedas. He flourished under King Bukka I and his successor Harihara II, in the Vijayanagar Empire of South India...
, the Sarvadarshanasamgraha, gives a detailed account of Cārvāka, but it doesn't quote Cārvāka texts directly, instead paraphrasing the doctrine according to the understanding of a learned 14th century Vedantin. Bhattacharya lists 68 items on 9 pages.
A text known as Bārhaspatyasūtram arthāt Bārhaspatya Arthaśāstram is a transparent forgery (ed. F.W. Thomas 1921, c.f. Bhattacharya 2002 p. 6).