SECTION THE NINTH: ON THE CREED OF THE CHA RVAK.*—This sect call rupa skandha* whatever is per­ceived and understood by means of the senses. What is ascertained by the perception of the senses is named vidyá* skandha. Personality, conscious­ness, egotism, have the denomination of jnaná skan­dha.* The knowledge of animal nature is termed jnapti skandha.* Whatever enters the interior part, that is, the mind, is entitled sanskára skandha.* They say, out of these five skandhas just mentioned, there is no other living principle, neither in man nor brutes;* the world and its inhabitants have no creator, and there is no maker: this is clear: because whatever has not entered into the field of manifestation, and has not broken into daylight, cannot have the color of reality, and to be high or low, proceeds from the nature of the universe; whatever is written in the Vedas is not made public, and besides may be a lie which rests upon no founda­tion; and a lie certainly proceeds from the Vedas, inasmuch as they perform hóm, which is a ceremony in which they throw rice and like matters into the fire, and recite prescribed prayers, saying that this goes to the gods: now, whatever we throw into the fire, after cremation, becomes ashes—how do these go to the gods? It is also written in the Vedas, that they are to make an offering of cooked meal to a dead man—who is to enjoy it? For instance, when a person is gone from village to village, from one town to another, and in his absence a meal destined for him is presented to another person, the stomach of the former will not be filled. In the same manner, when any thing is offered to a dead person, who, according to the assumption of the followers of the Vedas, has been translated to another world, what honor and profit will accrue from it to him?

Thus is it also among the revelations of the Vedas, that the depraved and criminal will be punished, and the virtuous and holy associated to quietness and satiated with prosperity: the one and the other is a lie: because the vicious man is freed and alle­viated from the hardship of fasting, of bathing in cold water, of subjection to pious practices, and other inconveniences; whilst the virtuous, according to the Vedas, is bound to all these troubles; further, the wise ought to take his share of all the pleasures and cultivate his happiness, because, once reunited with earth, he will no more return.

“There is no return for thee; once gone, thou art gone.”

However, nobody is to hurt living beings, as by it he is liable to cause some harm to himself. It is agreed by the wise that no injury is to be done to another; by the observance of which men may be set at ease, their numbers increased, and cultivation be promoted. This is the substance of the belief of the Charvák.

We will explain it more clearly; their creed is as follows: As the creator is not manifest, and the comprehension of mankind cannot attain to any certain knowledge about him, why should we submit to the bondage of an object doubtful, imaginary, if even wished for, yet not found; and why should we, in temples and monasteries, rub our foreheads on the ground, and present offerings to deities whose reality, as all agree, will not stand trial? And why, for the promise of heaven and of future beatitude should we, like blockheads, abstain from the abundance of desirable things, from conveniences and blandishments? A wise man will not give ready money for an adjourned good, and deliver up place and power upon the lying accounts of books, which eloquent men call Vedas, or heavenly books; it is upon their authority that they extinguish all desires in themselves, and press the necks of men, like those of animals, in halters. We ought not to be deceived; we ought not to believe what is not evident. The frame of the body is composed of four elements, which by the necessity of nature are united harmoniously together; as long as the con­stitution is firm and health flourishing, it is proper to enjoy whatever is desirable by its nature, provided no harm to living creatures arises from it; when the frame falls asunder, the state to which the element returns can only be the element; after the disjunc­tion of the bodily structure, there is no ascent to a higher mansion, no beatitude or quietness, no descent, or fire, or hell. These sectaries, when they hear the Vedas recited, say jokingly: “These are sick persons in a painful fit, or hired journeymen in an uproar.” When they behold the zunar (sacred thread) upon the neck of a Brahman, they say: “A cow will not be without a rope.” When they find a pious person watching by night, they say: “He aspires to the dignity of an owl.” When they encounter a hermit upon a mountain, they remark: “He strives to outdo a bear.” When a person prac­tises the restraining of breath, they observe: “He wishes to imitate a snake,” Of a person in a bath, they say: “He chooses the dwelling of a fish or a frog.” Moreover, when the Hindus relate that Brahma, Vichnu, and Mahadéo, their three great divinities, are the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer of the world, they reply: “They repre­sent nothing else than the sexual organs.”* Upon Vichnu's having four arms, they gloss: “At the time of sexual intercourse, each man and woman has as many.” To the praise of Mahadéo, from whose head the river Ganges flowed, they subjoin the inter­pretation, that “this means the virile organ in its natural functions.”* They meet the statement of Brahma's being the creator of things, with the reply: “That this is an emblem of the birth of children:” and they proffer many other speeches of a similar import.