Payasi was a materialist philosopher in ancient India and was possibly a contemporary of Buddha. He was possibly a prince, if early Buddhist and Jaina sources could be believed.

The only source of information that survives today about this philosopher is in the form of purvapaksa - material available in the works of others, which are cited for refutation.

Payasi-suttanta (a Buddhist work) and Rayapasenaijja (a Jaina work) were devoted to the refutation of Payasi's views.These works claim that he eventually converted to Buddhism or Jainism.

According to Payasi-suttanta , as quoted by Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, "Neither is there any other world, nor are there beings reborn otherwise than from parents, nor is there fruit or result of deed well-done or ill-done."^[1]

In the Payasi Sutta, it states "Once everyone was seated, Prince Payasi said, "Reverend Kumara, I maintain that kamma does not have effects. I believe that there is no life after death, no world beyond our own. I think that angels and demons are things from a child’s dream." (Payasi Sutta ^[2])

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Indian Philosophy- Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya: People's Publishing House, New Delhi. (First Published: 1964, 7th Edition: 1993)