Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus c5.46

c5.46

The *Chárvákas* were so named from one of their teachers, the MUNI CHA'RVA'KA. From VRIHASPATI—some of whose dogmas have been quoted from the work of MA'DHAVA, they are termed also *Várhaspatyás*. The appellation *Súnya Vádi*, implies the asserter of the unreality and emptiness of the universe, and another designation, *Lokáyata*, expresses their adoption of the tenet, that this being is the *Be-all* of existence: they were, in short, the advocates of materialism and atheism, and have existed from a very remote period, and still exist, as we shall hereafter see.