Abstract: Cärväka otherwise called ‘Lokäyata’ also emerged as one of the earliest materialist schools of thought. ‘Lokäyata’ as the name infers is the philosophy of the real world. It has been categorised among the atheist philosophies of India. Cärväka is an ancient Indian philosophical school of hedonistic materialism having a belief in material pleasures. They have considered material pleasures as the only true purpose of human existence and denied any obligation for an after life. The major doctrines of the Cärväka including hedonism have been criticized and condemned. Yet, desire of having pleasures is not unjustified at all. The culture to enjoy the material and material pleasures had been universal. The natural human tendency towards the means of pleasure and pleasure itself is described in Vedas, Puräëas, Rämäyaëa, Mahäbhärata, etc. Some of the western thinkers as well as the Indian thinkers have supported altruistic headonism against egoistic hedonism. Vätsyäyana has described hedonism in a balanced way. There are so many proofs that oppose that Cärväkas are absolute and self-centered in their thoughts. This study aims to establish that Cärväka philosophy is not commendable, with the help of a comparative study between western and Indian schools of thought on hedonism.
