11.1 Chaaravaaka (Materialistic) Opinion : The Body Is The Self

The body characterized by awareness alone is the self - this is the opinion of the common people and of Lokaayats. These are Chaaravaaka followers. The majority opinion is in their camp. That is why they are "Lokaayats". By taking only visible means as the means of knowledge, they take the help of assertion and negation in order to contemplate.
 
These Chaaravaakaas speak sweet words. They say - "My brother, your body alone is the self. Neither have you come from anywhere, nor will you go after your die. Till the body is alive, the game remains! Who knows his prior or future births? That is why enjoyment of life is the sole goal to be achieved. When one dies, that is liberation."
 
If you ask - "There is awareness in the body, what is that?" Then they say - "It is one of the attributes of the four elements (earth, water, fire and air). For instance, say you put a seed of a lotus in water. It sprouted, a flower came out which was blue in colour. This blueness is an attribute of the lotus. Similarly, a lotus-like human body sprung up from the four elements and the awareness in that body is just like the blueness of the lotus. That attribute expresses as "I am, I am". The attribute will exist so long as the body exists, and it will end when the body dies. There is no separate thing called awareness, it is only an evolute of inertness. The self is the body alone, nothing else."
 
Then what is the body? The body is a "heap" (dhera). It is a heap of bones, skin, hair, excreta, urine, an agglomeration of these. This is the gross bosy. But then, no human says "I am the body". All say that "I am a human", "I am a brahmana", "I am a householder and so on". It means that all mistake their identity as either the form or the activity. I am the body - this mistaken identity does not happen. The gross body is the seen where I am the seer. It is known, there is a "mine" notion towards it - then how can this body be "I"? If this body is an agglomeration then it is meant for somebody else, for the enjoyer. The body is for me, therefore I am not the body.