India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c11.s3.34

c11.s3.34

LOKĀYATA—The name of this school which was identical with the theory of elements as the prime cause (*Bhūtavāda* and *Uchchhedavāda*) is not found in any *sūtra*, but occupies the second place in the *Ukthādi-gaṇa* (IV.2.60). A teacher and a student of this doctrine were both known as Lokāyatika. There is a strong possibility that the Lokāyata School was known to Pāṇini. Kauṭilya refers to the *Lokāyatas* (*Arth.* p. 6). The antiquity of the school is also suggested by a reference in the *Dīghanikāya*, and by the mention of a Brāhmaṇa well-versed in the Lokāyata doctrine asking the Buddha a series of questions (*Saṁyuttanikāya*; *Dict. Pali Proper Names*, II.787). A *Jātaka* passage refers to Lokāyatika doctrine (*na seve Lokā-yatikam*, VI.286). The *Kāmasūtra* has preserved an intensely worldly-wise saying of the Lokāyatikas, *Varaṁ sāṁśayik-ānnishkād-asāṁśayikaḥ kārshāpaṇa iti Laukāyatikāḥ* (*Kām.*, I.2.30). 'A silver Kārshāpaṇa in hand is worth more than a gold Nishka in the offing', with which may be compared the modern saying 'A bird in hand is worth two in the bush'. There is an interesting reference in Patañjali, *Varṇikā Bhāgurī Lokayatasya*, 'the view-point of Bhāgurī is a specimen of the Lokāyata doctrine (III.325; VII.3.45), which shows that Bhāguri was an exponent of the Lokāyata school. (Cf. also *varttikā Bhāgurī Lokāyatasya*, i.e., the way of life preached by Bhāguri is that of Lokāyata, III.326). The Chārvākas of the Lokāyata school are mentioned in an old grammatical illustration as models of dialectical proficiency (*jñāna*, I.3.46) and convincing exposition of their doctrines (*saṁmānana*, I.3.36, *Kāśikā* and *Chāndra*, I.4.82).¹ Chārvī or Chārvāka was not a proper name but an epithet derived from their brilliant discourses. A Lokāyatika appears as a friend of Duryodhana. Jābāli, a counsellor of Daśaratha, was also a follower of Lokāyata. The antiquity of the Lokāyata School being thus indicated, it must be one of those comprised in the *Nāstika mati* of Pāṇini.