How Do the Cārvākas/Lokāyatas Fit into Udayana’s Statement of Universal Worship? On Nyāya-kusumâñjali 17,3: loka-vyavahāra-siddha iti cārvākāḥ

Abstract

In his influential work concerned with rational argumentation in defence of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika theism, the Nyāya-kusumâñjali, Udayana (10th–11th cent.) makes a puzzling claim that all seekers of puruṣârtha, theist or not, worship God, albeit under a different form or name. Included in the provided enumeration of different traditions of Indian thought is the irreligious school of the Cārvākas (also known as the Lokāyatas), declared by Udayana to be worshipping God as loka-vyavahāra-siddha (lit. ‘(the) established by common usage’). In this paper, I attempt to shed light on the meaning behind both loka-vyavahāra-siddha and the statement of universal worship as a whole. Specifically, I argue that Udayana imposes on non-theists and atheists the need to resort to (broadly understood) belief, and in the case of the Cārvākas/Lokāyatas this is manifested in their acceptance of everyday inference warranted by mere common usage. I reject the interpretations by Udayana’s commentators and by the modern scholar of Indian materialism, Ramkrishna Bhattacharya.