In Avalokitavrata’s (fl. 700 CE ca.) Ṭīkā we find a quote of a well-known Cārvāka stanza (see D, dBu-ma, Źa, 334b7-335a1): ma śi’i bar du bde bar ’tsho | | śi zin phan chad spyod yul med | | lus ni thal bar gyur pa la | | phyir yaṅ ’oṅ ba ga la yod… Continue reading ♦ Avalokitavrata and a Cārvāka stanza: some textual consideration
One of the works that happens to me to deal with from time to time is the Skhalita-pramathana-yuktā-hetu-siddhi, attributed to Āryadeva. Today I’d like to put forward few considerations on the svabhāvavāda section (pūrvapakṣa only) contained in this writing. In what follows I provide the critical edition, the translation and an explanation of the section:… Continue reading ♦ The svabhāvavāda as expounded in the Skhalita-pramathana-yuktā-hetu-siddhi
As is well-known, according to Indian Cārvāka/Lokāyata materialism (on account of which see here) cognition (jñāna, but also caitanya) emerges only where and when the material elements (earth, water, fire and air) are mixed up to constitute a physical living body. This perspective has been, of course, criticized by lots of non-Cārvaka philosophers in lots… Continue reading ♦ Vātsyāyana’s critique of the materialistic theory of cognition
In what follows, I provide the English translation of some passages from Avalokitavrata’s Ṭīkā on Bhāviveka’s Prajñāpradīpa on Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakarika, from which some apparently discordant perspectives on the theory of causation of *Lokākṣa (’Jig rten mig), a mahārṣi among the Lokāyatas, are outlined. This is only a preliminary and incomplete collection (based only on the… Continue reading ♦ Lokākṣa on causation: Avalokitavrata’s apparently discordant perspectives
For commemorating the 50 years of D. Chattopadhyaya’s Lokāyata, the Asiatic Society of Bengal organized a seminar in Calcutta, November 24-25, 2010. The following was the programme (one click on each image to enlarge):
Recently I was checking some passages of Avalokitavrata‘s Ṭīkā on Bhāviveka‘s Prajñāpradīpa on Nāgārjuna‘s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā 1. There, I have found several references to a master of Lokāyata called ‘Jig rten mig, which could be the Tibetan rendering of Lokākṣa or Lokacakṣu. In every occurrence, Lokākṣa is said to be a mahārṣi,and it appears that Avalokitavrata… Continue reading ♦ Lokākṣa on previous and futur lives: a passage from Avalokitavrata’s Prajñāpradīpa-Ṭīkā
The following is an article that my dear friend and master, Mr. Ramkrishna Bhattacharya, has written with the purpose of popularizing Cārvāka/Lokāyata philosophy through on-line media. Everyone is allowed to reproduce it in blogs, web-sites, etc. Materialism in India: A Synoptic View Ramkrishna Bhattacharya 0. Many, if not most, people nowadays go straight to the… Continue reading ♦ Materialism in India: A Synoptic View (by Ramkrishna Bhattacharya)
During these last days I was reading Malcolm D. Eckel’s recent publication Bhāviveka and His Buddhist Opponents, which is an edition and translation of Chaperts 4 and 5 of the Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā and of Tarkajvālā commentary. In Chapter 5 of Tarkajvālā, ad Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā 5.83ab we find a reference to lokāyatikas which is, to my knowledge, the… Continue reading ♦ Where does the reference to lokāyatikas in Bhāviveka’s Tarkajvālā lead us?
In the first chapter of Sāyaṇa-Mādhava’s Sarva-darśana-saṃgraha (on Cārvāka/Lokāyata) we meet with the following half-verse: lokasiddho bhaved rājā pareśo nāparaḥ smṛtaḥ |1 That is: The king (rājā), celebrated by the people (lokasiddho; also: powerful in the world, established in/by the world, etc.), is considered (bhaved smṛtaḥ; also: is declared, is admitted) [according to Cārvākas] the… Continue reading ♦ The king as God: Cārvākas’ usage of a quite common expression
Recently I had the opportunity to read with accuracy the fragments referring to Udbhaṭa Bhaṭṭa’s (or Bhaṭṭodbhaṭa’s) theory of consciousness, collected by Ramkrishna Bhattacharya in his Studies on the Cārvāka/Lokāyata (Ch. 6: Cārvāka Fragments: A New Collection). According to Udbhaṭa, who is a Materialist, consciousness (caitanya, a term which, for Cārvākas, means also «self») is… Continue reading ♦ The Cārvāka Udbhaṭa Bhaṭṭa’s use of Vaiśeṣika vocabulary: the case of caitanya («self», «consciousness»)
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