Barhaspatya sutras

The Bārhaspatya-sūtras (a patronymic of Brhaspati), also Lokāyata ("materialistic", "atheistic") sutras were the foundational text of the Cārvāka school of "materialist" (nastika) philosophy.

Probably dating to the final centuries BC (the Mauryan period), these texts have been lost, and is known only from fragmentary quotations. Dakshinaranjan Shastri in 1928 published 60 such verses. In 1959, he published 54 selected verses as "Barhaspatya sutram". Shastri was of the opinion that many more fragments could be recovered. Bhattacharya (2002) attempts a new reconstruction, with the caveat that the more verses are listed, the greater the incertainty will be whether mis-quoted or foreign material was included.

Most of the fragments are found in works dated to the Middle Ages, between roughly the 8th and 12th centuries. The extensive 14th century treatise on Indian philosophy by Sayana, the "Sarvadarshanasamgraha", gives a detailed account of Cārvāka, but it doesn't quote Cārvāka texts directly, instead paraphrasing the doctrine according to the understanding of a learned 14th century Vedantin. Bhattacharya lists 68 items on 9 pages.

A text known as "Bārhaspatyasūtram arthāt Bārhaspatya Arthaśāstram" is a transparent forgery (ed. F.W. Thomas 1921, c.f. Bhattacharya 2002 p. 6).

References

*Dakshinaranjan Shastri, Charvaka philosophy, Purogami Prakashani (1967)
*R. Bhattacharya, "Carvaka Fragments: A New Collection", Journal of Indian Philosophy, Volume 30, Number 6, December 2002, pp. 597-640.