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Atheism in Hinduism
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Atheism (Sanskrit: , lit. "statement of no Lord", "doctrine of godlessness") or disbelief in God or gods has been a historically propounded viewpoint in many of the ‘heterodox’ and astika streams of Hindu philosophies.
Sanskrit term ("pious, orthodox") is sometimes translated as "theist" and as "atheist". Sanskrit means "there is", and per Panini 4.2.60 is derived from the verb, meaning "one who says , one who believes in the existence [of God, of another world, &c.]" When used as a technical term in Hindu philosophy the term refers to belief in the Vedas, not belief in the existence of God.
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.
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Atheism (Sanskrit: , lit. "statement of no Lord", "doctrine of godlessness") or disbelief in God or gods has been a historically propounded viewpoint in many of the ‘heterodox’ and astika streams of Hindu philosophies.
Astika atheism
The Sanskrit term ("pious, orthodox") is sometimes translated as "theist" and as "atheist". Sanskrit means "there is", and per Panini 4.2.60 is derived from the verb, meaning "one who says , one who believes in the existence [of God, of another world, &c.]" When used as a technical term in Hindu philosophy the term refers to belief in the Vedas, not belief in the existence of God.
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.
Nastika atheism
In Hindu philosophy, three schools of thought are commonly referred to as nastika: Jainism, Buddhism and Carvaka for rejecting the doctrine of Vedas. In this usage, nastika refers to the non-belief of Vedas rather than non-belief of God. However, all these schools also rejected a notion of a creationist god and so the word nastika became strongly associated with them.
, an atheistic school of Indian philosophy, traces its origins to 600 BCE, while some claim earlier references to such positions. It was a hedonistic school of thought, advocating that there is no afterlife. philosophy appears to have died out some time after 1400 CE. Dharmakirti, a 7th century philosopher deeply influenced by philosophy, wrote in Pramanvartik:
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Believing that the Veda are standard (holy or divine), believing in a Creator for the world,
Bathing in holy waters for gaining punya, having pride (vanity) about one's caste,
Performing penance to absolve sins,
Are the five symptoms of having lost ones sanity.
Buddhism and Jainism have their origins in pre-historic sramana tradition and are not hedonistic. Also worth mentioning are the Ajivikas (now an extinct religion), whose founder, Makkhali Gosala, was a contemporary of Mahavira and Gautama Buddha (the central figures of Jainism and Buddhism, respectively). Gosala and his followers also denied the existence of a creator god.
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:
Prominent atheists
- Amartya Sen, Economist and 1998 Nobel laureate.
- Jawaharlal Nehru
- Veer Savarkar, who was president of Hindu Mahasabha. He is credited for developing a Hindu nationalist political ideology he termed as Hindutva (Hinduness).
- Amol Palekar - a notable Hindi and Marathi Filmmaker, openly claims to be agnostic and atheist, even though brought up in a Hindu background.
- Shreela Flather, Baroness Flather of Windsor and Maidenhead, the first Hindu woman in British politics was 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.
- 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.
- Manabendra Nath Roy, Bengali Indian revolutionary, political theorist and activist, founder of the Communist parties in Mexico and India.
- A. N. Murthy Rao - Prominent Kannada writer who wrote acclaimed book Devaru(God) rejecting the concept of god.
- K. Shivaram Karanth- Jnanapita award winner was an atheist. He reflects his beliefs in his novel Mookajjiya Kanasugalu.
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See also
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