Irreligion in India

According to the 2011 Census of India, around 2.9 million people in India did not state their religion in the 2001 census and were counted in the "religion not stated". They were 0.24% of India's population. Their number have significantly increased 4 times from 0.7 million in 2001 census at an average annual rate of 15%. Percentages are calculated from population figures for individual religions in this word document by dividing them from total population of India. According to the 2012 WIN-Gallup Global Index of Religion and Atheism report, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were non-religious, 3% were convinced atheists, and 3% were unsure or did not respond. While a demographic study by Cambridge University Press in 2004, have found that there are 102.87 million atheists and agnostics living in India, thus constituting
9.1% of the total population, out of total 1.1296 billion people respectively.

Atheism and agnosticism have a long history in India and flourished within the Śramaṇa movement. Indian religions like Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism consider atheism to be acceptable.

India has produced some notable atheist politicians and social reformers.

History

Ancient India

Several ''śramaṇa'' movements are known to have existed in India before the 6th century BCE (pre-Buddha, pre-Mahavira), and these influenced both the āstika and nāstika traditions of Indian philosophy. Martin Wiltshire states that the Śramaṇa tradition evolved in India over two phases, namely Paccekabuddha and Savaka phases, the former being the tradition of individual ascetic and latter of disciples, and that Buddhism and Jainism ultimately emerged from these as sectarian manifestations. These traditions drew upon already established Brahmanical concepts, states Wiltshire, to formulate their own doctrines. Reginald Ray concurs that Śramaṇa movements already existed and were established traditions in pre-6th century BCE India, but disagrees with Wiltshire that they were nonsectarian before the arrival of Buddha.

Schools of Philosophy

In Indian philosophy, there are six major orthodox ('' astika'') schools of Hindu philosophy—Nyaya, Samkhya, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā and Vedanta, and five major heterodox ( nāstika) schools of Śramaṇa —Jain, Buddhist, Ajivika, Ajñana, and Cārvāka. The four most studied Nāstika schools, those rejecting the doctrine of Vedas, are Jainism, Buddhism, Cārvāka, and Ājīvika.

=Charvaka

=

The ''Cārvāka'' school originated in India around the 6th century BCE. It is classified as a '' nāstika'' school. It is noteworthy as evidence of a materialistic movement in ancient India. Followers of this school only accepted ''pratyakşa'' (perception) as a valid ''pramāna'' (evidence). They considered other ''pramāna'' like ''sabda'' (testimony), ''upamāna'' (analogy), and ''anumāna'' (inference) as unreliable. Thus, the existence of a soul (''ātman'') and God were rejected, because they could not be proved by perception. They also considered everything to be made of four elements: earth, water, air and fire. The Cārvāka pursued enjoyment of life and elimination of physical pain. So, they can be considered hedonistic. All of the original Cārvāka texts are considered lost. A much quoted ''sūtra'' (Barhaspatya sutras) by Brhaspati, who is considered the founder of the school, is thought to be lost. The ''Tattvopaplavasimha'' by Jayarāśi Bhaṭṭa (8th century CE) and the ''Sarvadarśanasaṅ̇graha'' by Madhavacarya (13th century) are considered important secondary Cārvāka texts.

=Samkhya

=

''Sāṃkhya'' is an ''āstika'' school, but has some atheistic elements. Sāṃkhya is a radically dualist philosophy. They believed that the two ontological principles, ''puruṣa'' (consciousness) and ''prakriti'' (matter), to be the underlying foundation of the universe. The objective of life is considered the achievement of separation of pure consciousness from matter ('' kaivalya''). The reasoning within this system led to the ''Nir-isvara Sāṃkhya'' (''Sāṃkhya'' without God) philosophy, which deemed the existence of God as unnecessary. There is the opposing reasoning which accepts God, called ''Sesvara Sankhya'' (''Sāṃkhya'' with God). ''Samkhya Karika'' (c. 350 CE) is the earliest known systematic text of this philosophy.

=Mīmāṃsā

=

''Mīmāṃsā'' (meaning exegesis) is also an ''astika'' school. They believed the Vedas to be author-less and self-authenticating. They did not accept the Vedas as being composed by any '' ṛishi'' (saint), they considered them to not be authored by anyone (''apauruṣeya''). They accepted the minor deities of the Vedas but resisted any notion of a Supreme Creator. They only concentrated on upholding the ''ṛta'' (order) by following the duties of the Vedas. The foundational text of this school is the ''Mīmāṃsā Sutra'' by Jaimini (c. 200 BCE - 200 CE).

=Ājīvika

=

''Ājīvika'' is yet another ''nastika'' school with an atheistic outlook. None of their scriptures survive and there is some question as to whether or not the accounts of them in secondary sources (often hostile) are accurate. They believed in a naturalistic atomic theory and held that the consequence of natural laws led to a deterministic universe. They denied karma, but upheld the atman. They lived in ascetic communities and existed in southern India until at least the 14th century.

=Buddhism and Jainism

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Jainism rejects the idea of a creator deity responsible for the manifestation, creation, or maintenance of this universe. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents (soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion) have always existed. All the constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws and an immaterial entity like God cannot create a material entity like the universe. Jainism offers an elaborate cosmology, including heavenly beings (devas), but these beings are not viewed as creators; they are subject to suffering and change like all other living beings, and must eventually die. Jains define godliness as the inherent quality of any soul characterising infinite bliss, infinite power, Kevala Jnana (pure infinite knowledge) and Perfect peace. However, these qualities of a soul are subdued due to karmas of the soul. One who achieves this state of soul through right belief, right knowledge and right conduct can be termed a god. This perfection of soul is called kevalin. A soul thus becomes a liberated soul – liberated of miseries, cycles of rebirth, world, karmas and finally liberated of body as well. This is called moksha.

Gautama Buddha rejected the existence of a creator deity, refused to endorse many views on creation and stated that questions on the origin of the world are not ultimately useful for ending suffering. Buddhism instead emphasises the system of causal relationships underlying the universe, pratītyasamutpāda, which constitute the dhamma and source of enlightenment. No dependence of phenomena on a supernatural reality is asserted in order to explain the behaviour of matter.

Philosophers and ancient texts

Ajita Kesakambali was a materialist philosopher. He is mentioned in the '' Samaññaphala Sutta''. He rejected gods, an afterlife and karma. Payasi is a character, referred to as a prince, who appears in the Buddhist text ''Digha Nikaya'' in the ''Payasi Sutta''. He didn't believe in rebirth or karma. He debated Kassapa, a disciple of Buddha, and lost according to Buddhist sources.

=Jabali's speech from the Ramayana

=

In the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' (''Ayodhya Khanda''), when Bharata goes to the forest to convince Rama to return home, he was accompanied by a sophist called Jabali (""). Jabali uses nihilistic reasoning to convince Rama. He also says that rituals are a waste of food and scriptures were written by smart men so that people will give alms. But Rama calls him a deviant from the path of ''dharma'' (""), refuses to accept his "''nastika''" views and blame his own father for taking Jabali into service. He also equates the Buddha to a thief. On hearing Rama's retort, Jabali retracts his statements, saying that he was merely arguing like a nihilist. However, these verses referring to the Buddha are considered a later interpolation, as those verses use a different metre.

=The Carvaka incident in the Mahabharata

=
A character described as a Carvaka briefly appears in the ''Mahabharata'' (in the ''Shanti Parva''). As Yudhishthira enters the city of Hastinapur, a brahmin, referred to as Carvaka, accuses him of killing his own kinsmen and says that he would suffer for it. The accuser is revealed to a ''rakshasa'' in disguise, who was a friend of Duryodhana. He had existed since the Satya Yuga by virtue of a boon from the god Brahma, that he could only be killed when he is showing contempt towards brahmins. He was killed by other brahmins by the chanting of sacred hymns and Yudhishthira was assured that his actions were within the kshatriya code. This event may be a possible denigration of the Carvaka philosophy.

Medieval India

In the 9th century CE, Jain philosopher Jinasena

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