Atheism (Sanskrit: , nir-vara-vda, lit. "statement of no Lord", "doctrine of godlessness") or disbelief in God or gods has been a historically propounded viewpoint in many of the orthodox and heterodox streams of Hindu philosophies.[1] Generally, atheism is valid in Hinduism, but some schools view the path of an atheist to be difficult to follow in matters of spirituality.[2]

Hinduism is a religion, but also a philosophy.[3]Klaus Klostermaier, a prominent scholar of Hinduism, says that Hinduism is more than myth, ritual, doctrine, as it affects other aspects of existence such as economics, politics, and law.[4] Among the various schools of Hindu philosophy, Mimamsa, and Samkhya while not rejecting Brahman, typically rejects a personal God, creator God, or a God with attributes. While Samkhya rejected the idea of an eternal, self-caused, creator God, Mimamsa argued that the Vedas could not have been authored by a deity.

Hindu atheists accept Hinduism more as a "way of life" than a religion. They are unlike other Hindus in their religious outlook, but they share the same cultural and moral values.[5]

The Sanskrit term stika ("pious, orthodox") refers to the systems of thought which admit the validity of the Vedas.[6] Sanskrit asti means "there is", and stika (per Pini 4.2.60) derives from the verb, meaning "one who says 'asti'". Technically, in Hindu philosophy the term stika refers only to acceptance of authority of Vedas, not belief in the existence of God.[7] However, though not accepted universally, stika is sometimes translated as "theist" and Nstika as "atheist", assuming the rejection of Vedas to be synonymous to the rejection of God.[8] In Indian philosophy, three schools of thought are commonly referred to as nastika for rejecting the doctrine of Vedas: Jainism, Buddhism and Crvka. In this usage, nastika refers to the non-belief of Vedas rather than non-belief of God.[6] However, all these schools also rejected a notion of a creationist god and so the word nastika became strongly associated with them.

The Rig Veda, the oldest of the Vedas, deals with a lot of skepticism when dealing with the fundamental question of a creator God and the creation of the universe. It does not, at many instances, categorically accept the existence of a creator God. Nasadiya Sukta (Creation Hymn) in the tenth chapter of the Rig Veda states:[9][10]

Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation? The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.

The Brihadaranyaka, Isha, Mundaka (in which Brahman is everything and "no-thing") and especially Chandogya Upanishads have also been interpreted as atheistic because of their stress on the subjective self.[11]

Mimamsa was a realistic, pluralistic school of philosophy which was concerned with the exegesis of the Vedas.[12] The core text of the school was the Purva Mimamsa Sutras of Jaimini (c. 200 BCE200 CE). Mimamsa philosophers believed that the revelation of the Vedas was sacred, authorless (apaurusheyatva) and infallible, and that it was essential to preserve the sanctity of the Vedic ritual to maintain dharma (cosmic order).[13][14]:5253 As a consequence of the belief in sanctity of the ritual, Mimamsas rejected the notion of God in any form.[12] Later commentators of the Mimamsa sutras such as Prabhkara (c. 7th century CE) advanced arguments against idea of God.[15][16] The early Mimamsa not only did not accept God but said that human action itself was enough to create the necessary circumstances for the enjoyment of its fruits.[17]

Samkhya is an atheistic[18] and strongly dualistic[19][20] orthodox (Astika) school of Indian philosophy. The earliest surviving authoritative text on classical Samkhya philosophy is the Samkhyakarika (c. 350450 CE) of Ivaraka.[14]:63 The Samkhyakarika accepts the notion of higher selves or perfected beings but rejects the notion of God.[21]

Crvka, a materialistic and atheistic school of Indian philosophy, had developed a systematic philosophy by 6th century CE. Crvkas rejected metaphysical concepts like reincarnation, afterlife, extracorporeal soul, efficacy of religious rites, other world (heaven and hell), fate, and accumulation of merit or demerit through the performance of certain actions. Crvkas also refused to ascribe supernatural causes to describe natural phenomena. Crvka philosophy appears to have died out some time after 1200 CE.[22]

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Atheism in Hinduism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia