Charvaka, the advocates of Materialism tell “Bhasmi-bhutasya dehasya punaragamanam kutah rnam krtva ghrtam pibet yavad jivet sukham jivet”
meaning- once this present body is burnt to ashes after death there is no question of having a next life. So long as you live, live happily, make a loan and relish ghee.
According to Sanatana Dharma, the purpose of life is not only mere enjoyment of materialistic comforts but to live a life of purity, goodness, self control. Sanatana Dharma emphasizes that in pursuit of materialism one is ever struggling and cannot have everlasting happiness though one may have an illusion of the same. However, it is not easy to follow what is preached in this contemporary world as one is surrounded by materialistic ideas. There is one section of people, interestingly, who take refuge in the sayings of Charvaka to justify their craving for the materialistic welfare.
Charvaka opposes the philosophy of Sanatana Dharma and put forth their theory of happiness being closely related to materialism and that the concept of self and consciousness are related to inert matter and there is nothing beyond that which exists. It signifies that the yearning for happiness and hunt for it and the quest for materialistic welfare are paired. These people who feel materialism is the only basis of happiness say that to know, think, study about Absolute is utter waste of time and energy. According to them life is to live at the fullest undetered about the consequences and to enjoy the physical comforts and discover happiness in it. Whereas in Santhana Dharma we are told that the only source of eternal happiness is and will be the quest for realizing the self. For us happiness is related to emotions like peace and harmony but for Charvakas it is joy and enthusiasm. It’s no secret that happiness means different things to different people. And it also means different things to different people in different countries.
Though the teachings of Charvakas are acceptable in terms of enjoying comforts in this materialistic world, it has not got any limitations. Hence we are seeing more and more corruption and misappropriation of public money. With the Charvaka attitude we have no mercy and are not concerned of what would happen to our brethrens and are not hesitant to loot our own house. This is the first step to be self-centered and selfish. The real disaster of a self-centered life is that in centering on ourselves we ultimately wind up alone; isolated from others. Even if we have much possession, status, and prestige, by lauding ourselves to the highest point possible we have no one else to look to for help, because we have not let others in out vicinity. No one is beside us even worse, is that we would have forgotten to pray to Absolute above us in whom we find our deliverance, purpose, and identity.
If this attitude is nurtured then there would be no difference between the wild life of Serengeti or Maasai Mara or Kalahari and our civilization. It would go on to become the “Survival of the Fittest” and the gap between “haves and have-nots” will increase. At last we will be in the world of “A big fish eat the little fish”.
Those who concur with the thoughts of Charvaka have to excuse the act of a cheat, thief, robber, dacoit and outlaw............What Say????.
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