Brihaspati

From Philosopedia

Brihaspati (c. 600 B.C.E.)

Brihaspati (also, Brhaspati) is thought by some to have been "the preceptor of the Vedic gods," the one who founded and preached the Lokayata thought, which is atheistic.

The following verse is attributed to him:

Yavajjivet sukham jivet

Rinam kritvaa ghritam pibet

Bhasmibhutasya dehasya

Punaraagamanam kutah

As long as you live, live happily,

take a loan and drink ghee.

After a body is reduced to ashes

where will it come back from?)

Those who cite Brihaspati as a link to the Carvakas believe that they took to the idea that good-living, symbolized by ghee, was the route to self-fulfillment. Critics of the Carvaka school see this cleaving to only artha and kama, without regard of dharma (and ultimate moksha) as an extreme of self-centred hedonism.

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Carvaka, who was a friend of Duryodhana, was burned alive. This Charvaka was one of the few descendants of the then ancient Charvakas as per Krishna, the avatar of the Hindu god of preservation, Vishnu.