Atheism in Hinduism
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Atheism (Sanskrit: nir-īśvara-vāda, lit. "statement of no Lord", "doctrine of godlessness") or disbelief in God has been a historically propounded viewpoint in many of the Hindu philosophies.[1][2]
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[edit] Astika atheism
Āstika is Sanskrit for "pious, orthodox", a technical term used in Hinduism to refer to a person or philosophical school that believes in the existence of God. The term Āstika is sometimes loosely translated as "theist" and Nāstika as "atheist". Sanskrit asti means "there is", and Āstika per Panini 4.2.60 is derived from the verb, meaning "one who says 'asti', one who believes in the existence [of God, of another world, &c.]"[3]
There are six schools of thought within Hinduism addressed as the Shat (Astik) Darshana (darshana meaning "viewpoint.") Within the Astika schools of Hindu philosophy, the Samkhya and the early Mimamsa school did not accept a God in their respective systems.
The atheistic viewpoint as present in the Samkhya and Mimamsa schools of Hindu philosophy takes the form of rejecting a creator-God. The Samkhya school believed in a dual existence of Prakriti ("nature") and Purusha ("spirit") and had no place for an Ishvara ("God") in its system. The early Mimamsakas believed in a adrishta ("unseen") that was the result of performing karmas ("works") and saw no need for an Ishvara in their system. Mimamsa, as a philosophy, deals exclusively with karma and thus is sometimes called Karma-Mimamsa. The karmas dealt with in Mimamsa concern the performance of Yajnas ("sacrifices to gods") enjoined in the Vedas.
The Vedanta philosophy had its practitioners advocating a Nirguna Brahman of which a few examples are Adi Shankara.
[edit] Nastika Atheism
In Indian philosophy, three schools of thought are commonly referred to as Nastikas: Jainism, Buddhism and Carvaka for rejecting the doctrine of Vedas. Nastika refers to the non-belief of Vedas rather than non-belief of God. However, all these schools also rejected a notion of creationist god and so the word Nastik became strongly associated with them. Carvaka, an atheistic school of Indian philosophy, traces its origins to 600 BCE. It was a hedonistic school of thought, advocating that there is no afterlife. Carvaka philosophy appears to have died out some time after 1400 CE. Buddhism and Jainism also have their origins before 300 BCE but are opposite of Carvaka because they are not hedonistic. It is debated whether the ancient followers of the Jain and Buddha paths were Hindu or non-Hindu because they, like Hinduism, discussed the Arya Sangh, karma, brahman and Moksha.
[edit] Atheism as a Way of life?
Many notable personalities have described Hinduism as a way of life rather than a religion. Those who consider Hinduism as a way of life find a strong argument to be an Atheist and a Hindu.
It is also called Chaarvaaka Matham, as it was first initiated by a Yogi called Chaarvaakan. Atheism in India was at its maximum when the emperor was Ashoka.[citation needed]
[edit] Hindu atheists in recent times
The Indian Nobel Prize-winner Amartya Sen, in an interview with Pranab Bardhan for the California Magazine published in the July-August 2006 edition by the University of California, Berkeley states:[4]
| “ | In some ways people had got used to the idea that India was spiritual and religion-oriented. That gave a leg up to the religious interpretation of India, despite the fact that Sanskrit had a larger atheistic literature than exists in any other classical language. Even within the Hindu tradition, there are many people who were atheist. Madhava Acharya, the remarkable 14th century philosopher, wrote this rather great book called Sarvadarshansamgraha, which discussed all the religious schools of thought within the Hindu structure. The first chapter is "Atheism" - a very strong presentation of the argument in favor of atheism and materialism. | ” |
[edit] Prominent Hindu atheist personalities
There have been some prominent personalities who espoused atheism and Hinduism at the same time.
- Well-known personality, Veer Savarkar, who was president of Hindu Mahasabha, was an atheist.[5] He is credited for developing a Hindu nationalist political ideology he termed as Hindutva (Hinduness).
- The first Hindu woman in British politics was Baroness Shreela Flather of Windsor and Maidenhead. She described herself as a "Hindu atheist". Broadly, she is an atheist with affinity to secular aspects of Hindu culture such as dress and diet.[6]
- Bal Thackeray, the founder and president of the Shiv Sena, has publicly proclaimed himself an atheist after the death of his wife.[7]
- G. A. Kulkarni - a famous Marathi writer has expressed his atheist views through his correspondence with other famous literary figures like Sunitabai Deshpande, Jayawant Dalvi, Shri.Na. Pendse, et. al.[8]
- Dr. Shriram Lagoo - a famous film and theatre actor and Vijay Tendulkar[9] - a famous Marathi writer and dramatist are also known to be Atheist.
[edit] Fictional Hindu atheists
- Sudhamoy Dutta from Taslima Nasreen's Bangla novel Lajja.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/690490.cms
- ^ http://www.ece.mtu.edu/faculty/jeffc/students/sskaramp/second/atheism.html
- ^ Monier-Williams (1899)
- ^ http://www.alumni.berkeley.edu/calmag/200607/sen.asp
- ^ * Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Savarkar Samagra: Complete Works of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 10 volumes, ISBN 81-7315-331-0
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/features/hindu_lives/script1.shtml
- ^ The Rebirth of Shiv Sena: The Symbiosis of Discursive and Organizational Power, 'Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, Uday Singh Mehta, Usha Thakkar','The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 56, No. 2 (May, 1997), pp. 371-390', http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-9118(199705)56%3A2%3C371%3ATROSST%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C
- ^ G.A.-chi Nivadak Patre: Khand 1 & 2 (Selected Letters of G.A. : Part 1 & 2), Mauj Prakashan
- ^ http://maharashtratimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/756176.cms
- ^ http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Lajja_-_Taslima_Nasreen-86205-1.html
