Cārvāka
Cārvāka was a brahmarākshasa, a rākshasa who lives in the body of a brāhmaṇa. He had been a friend of Duryodhana. After the Kurukshetra war, when Yudhishṭhira entered Hastināpura in triumph, Cārvāka took the form of a sannyāsī (a renunciant) with the triple staff (tridaṇḍa) and sacred marks. He slipped in among the gathered brāhmaṇas and spoke against Yudhishṭhira as if for all of them.
The true brāhmaṇas knew him for a rākshasa. Together they gave a roar of “hum” (huṃkāra), and it destroyed him at once. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa then explained how Cārvāka had come to be and why he had to die in this way. The Mahābhārata tells this in the Śānti Parva (the Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva), chapters 38–40.
Origin
In an earlier life, in the Kṛtayuga, Cārvāka did hard tapas (austerity) at Badarikāśrama. Through that tapas he received from Brahmā a vara (a boon) of great power. But the form of the vara made him a rākshasa by nature, and his death was set to come at the hands of the whole community of brāhmaṇas.
In the present life he became the close friend of Duryodhana. The friendship went across births, and he gave himself to Duryodhana’s cause.
The infiltration
The Kurukshetra war ended with the victory of the Pāṇḍavas and the death of all the Kaurava commanders. Yudhishṭhira’s triumphal procession then entered Hastināpura. The streets were full of subjects welcoming their new king. Priests, brāhmaṇas and scholars had come in great numbers to honour the day.
Cārvāka disguised himself as a sannyāsī. He took the outer marks of renunciation and stood among the gathered brāhmaṇas. At the right moment he raised his voice and spoke in the name of all the brāhmaṇas present. He denounced Yudhishṭhira:
“What kind of king are you? You have killed all your own kinsmen, your teachers, uncles, grandfathers and cousins, for the sake of a kingdom. The brāhmaṇas gathered here condemn you. You are not fit to be called a king. You are a killer of your own people.”
The crowd was stunned. Yudhishṭhira was already crushed by grief over the slaughter of the war. He was deeply shaken to hear such words from what seemed to be the whole community of brāhmaṇas.
Unmasking and destruction
The true brāhmaṇas in the assembly at once grew suspicious. No one had given this person the right to speak for them, and they did not know him. They looked at him closely and saw, through their spiritual insight, that under the form of a sannyāsī there was no brāhmaṇa. He was a brahmarākshasa who had taken the outer look of a brāhmaṇa in order to do harm.
The brāhmaṇas together raised a sound of shared, righteous anger, the huṃkāra. That joint sound destroyed Cārvāka in an instant. In the same way, in an earlier age, the ṛshis had destroyed Vena with their huṃkāras.
Kṛshṇa’s explanation
After Cārvāka was destroyed, Yudhishṭhira and the court were bewildered. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa explained the whole matter.
- Cārvāka had been a rākshasa. His tapas in a former life had earned him power and a vara given by Brahmā.
- His close friendship with Duryodhana went across births. He had come in this birth in order to serve Duryodhana’s cause, even after Duryodhana’s death.
- His destined death at the hands of brāhmaṇas was fixed by Brahmā’s own vara. The same vara that gave him power also set the manner of his end.
- The brāhmaṇas of Hastināpura were not to be blamed for his words. They were innocent. Cārvāka spoke for no one but himself.
This explanation brought back Yudhishṭhira’s calm. It also cleared away any doubt about the support of the brāhmaṇa community for the new king.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva (Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva), chapters 38–40