Cārvāka Vadha

Cārvāka Vadha, the killing of Cārvāka, comes at the very start of Yudhishṭhira’s rule. Soon after Yudhishṭhira entered Hastināpura as king, a rākshasa named Cārvāka stood among thousands of brāhmaṇas in the palace courtyard, dressed as a sannyāsī. He spoke against Yudhishṭhira for killing his own kinsmen. The real brāhmaṇas saw through the disguise and destroyed him with a huṃkāra, a great shout charged with their tapas.

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa then told Yudhishṭhira who Cārvāka was: his tapas in the Kṛtayuga, the vara (boon) Brahmā gave him, and the death that had been set for him.

Yudhishṭhira enters Hastināpura

When the Pāṇḍavas entered Hastināpura after the war, the city had been richly decorated. The royal road was hung with garlands and banners and scented with fragrant substances, and there were pūrṇakumbhas (full water-pots) at the gates. Thousands of citizens came to see the procession. The women of the city spoke praise of Draupadī from the upper floors, calling her blessed for holding so firmly to such worthy husbands. The brāhmaṇas chanted Vedic hymns, and dundubhis (drums) and śaṅkhas (conch shells) sounded. (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 37)

Yudhishṭhira rode in a chariot drawn by sixteen white bulls, dressed in blankets and gold ornaments. Bhīma held the reins. Arjuna carried the white royal parasol, hung with strings of pearls. Nakula and Sahadeva carried white cāmaras (fly-whisks). Kṛshṇa and Sātyaki followed in Kṛshṇa’s chariot, drawn by the great horses Śaibya and Sugrīva. Dhṛtarāshṭra and Gāndhārī rode in a nara-yāna, a carriage carried by men. Kuntī, Draupadī and the other women of the palace followed in separate carriages. (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 37)

At the palace Yudhishṭhira went in, bowed before the mūrtis, and came out to meet the brāhmaṇas who had gathered, holding auspicious things in their hands. Thousands of Vedic scholars had come to bless him. The scene looked like the clear moon among the stars.

The accusation

In the middle of this gathering of true brāhmaṇas stood one who was not what he seemed. This was Cārvāka, a rākshasa who had dressed as a tri-daṇḍa sannyāsī, with rudrāksha beads, a śikhā (tuft of hair) and every outer sign of a renunciant. He was the close friend of Duryodhana (prāṇa-mitra, a friend dear as life). Bold and without shame, he stepped forward and, claiming to speak for all the brāhmaṇas present, called out to Yudhishṭhira:

“Shame on you! You have ruined everything. You have killed all your kinsmen and destroyed your gurus. What good is this wretched life of yours? Life without your dear relatives is worse than death.”

Yudhishṭhira and the true brāhmaṇas were silent for a moment, stunned. Yudhishṭhira, whose grief after the war was already very great, folded his hands toward the brāhmaṇas and said: “Do not blame me. I did not act out of desire. I acted out of duty to the people around me who were suffering.” (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 38)

The brāhmaṇas unmask the rākshasa

The brāhmaṇas were purified by tapas and had the eye of jñāna (knowledge). They knew the truth at once. With one voice they said:

“This is not our word, O king! Do not fear. This *brahmarākshasa named Cārvāka is a rākshasa and Duryodhana’s dearest friend. He has taken the form of a sannyāsī to do harm for that king. May good come to you and your brothers.”*

Full of righteous anger, all the brāhmaṇas together let out one huṃkāra. It was the sound of a thundering breath charged with the power of all their tapas. Cārvāka was burned by the radiance of that power (brahma-tejas) and fell dead on the spot, like a tree struck by lightning. The brāhmaṇas took their formal blessings from Yudhishṭhira and left. Yudhishṭhira, reassured, rejoiced with his brothers. (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 38)

Where Cārvāka came from: Kṛshṇa’s account

Later Bhagavān Kṛshṇa explained to Yudhishṭhira how this had come about. In the Kṛtayuga the rākshasa Cārvāka did hard tapas at Badarī for thousands of years. Brahmā came to him again and again and urged him to ask for a vara. At last Cārvāka asked for safety from all beings.

Brahmā gave a vara with one limit: “You shall be safe from all beings, except when you insult brāhmaṇas.” With this vara the rākshasa grew mighty and began to terrify the devas. The devas appealed to Brahmā, who reassured them: “His death is already arranged. In time a king named Duryodhana will become his closest friend. In that friendship he will insult brāhmaṇas, and the brāhmaṇas, enraged, will destroy him with the power of their *vāk (speech used as a weapon).”* (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 39)

Kṛshṇa ended with these words:

“He was your enemy, not you his. He died by Brahmā’s *daṇḍa (rod of punishment), not by any wrong of yours. Your kinsmen who fell were great warriors and kshatriyas who died by the dharma of their order. They have gone to svarga. Do not grieve.”* (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 39)

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva (Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva), Chapter 37: the entry into Hastināpura
• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva (Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva), Chapter 38: the accusation and the death of Cārvāka
• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva (Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva), Chapter 39: Kṛshṇa’s account of Cārvāka’s vara and death