Nāstika
Nāstika, “one who says ‘it is not'”
Grammar: masculine noun, from na asti (“it is not”): “one who says ‘it is not'”.
Meaning: one who denies the authority of the Vedas and the worlds beyond this one; the opposite of an āstika.
In the scriptures: at Daksha‘s yajña, when Vīrabhadra came with the lion-faced gaṇas, Bhagavān Vishṇu took up his divine bow Śārṅga and rained on him fire arrows that could tear even unbreakable armour. Those unfailing arrows struck Vīrabhadra’s body and fell useless to the ground, like beggars who ask alms of nāstikas and go away with their hopes dashed (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 4).
At the close of the Purāṇa, Pulastya Maharshi tells Nārada that it is very secret and is to be told only to the bhaktas of Hari. It is not to be told to those who speak ill of others, to those who hate brāhmaṇas, to the nāstikas who defend their own bad conduct with false reasoning, or to the hetuvādīs (those who argue from reason alone). They are not adhikārīs (fit to hear it) (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 69).
Related terms: Āstika · Hetuvāda · Adhikārī · Bhakta · Veda
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 4, 69