Carvakas were ancient supporters of philosophy that assumed religious indifference and disbelief in contemporary philosophical theories, ideas and suggestions. The term Carvakas was used to denote the philosophical school of ‘Indian Materialism’.

In its most basic sense, “Indian Materialism” refers to the school of thought within Indian philosophy that rejects anything surrealistic or supernatural. It rejects the existence spiritual, non worldly entities such an soul or god and the after-life. Their primary philosophical import comes from science and naturalism, thus they rejects ethical systems that are grounded in super naturalistic beliefs. The good, for the Indian materialist, is strictly associated with pleasure and the only ethical obligation forwarded by the system is the maximization of one’s own pleasure.

The Carvakas were condemned and critized as this philosophical entity did not believe in contemporary view of ethics.

The Cārvākas denied metaphysical concepts like reincarnation, soul, religious rites, other world (heaven and hell), fate and accumulation of merit or demerit through the performance of certain actions.
The rejected the use of supernatural causes to describe natural phenomena. To them all natural phenomena was produced spontaneously from the inherent nature of things.[21]
Carvakas thought that body was formed out of four elements (and that consciousness was an outcome of the mixture of these elements. Therefore, Carvakas did not believe in an afterlife. To them, all attributes that represented a person, such a thinness, fatness etc, resided in the body. To support the proposition of non-existence of any soul or consciousness
Cārvāka believed there was nothing wrong with sensual pleasures and that it was the only objective worth pursuing. Since it is impossible to have pleasure without pain, Cārvāka believed, wisdom lay in enjoying pleasure and avoiding pain as far as possible. Unlike many of the Indian philosophies of the time, Cārvāka did not believe in hardships or rejecting pleasure out of fear of pain and held such reasoning to be foolish.[18] [edit]Religion
Cārvākas rejected religious conceptions and ceremonies as well.
The most significant influence that Materialism has had on Indian thought is in the field of science. The spread of Indian Materialism led to the mindset that matter can be of value in itself. Rather than a burden to our minds or souls, the Materialist view promoted the notion that the body itself can be regarded as wondrous and full of potential. Evidence in this shift in perspective can be seen by the progress of science over the course of India’s history. Materialist thought dignified the physical world and elevated the sciences to a respectable level. Moreover, the Materialist emphasis on empirical validation of truth became the golden rule of the Scientific Method. Indian Materialism pre-dated the British Empiricist movement by over a millennium. Whereas the authority of empirical evidence carried little weight in Ancient India, modern thought began to value the systematic and cautious epistemology that first appeared in the thought of the Lokāyata.
b. Materialism as Heresy
Regardless of its positive influence on Indian thought, the fact remains that Indian Materialism is often regarded as blatant violation against the Spiritualistic schools. It rejects the theism of Hinduism as well as the moralism of Buddhist and Jain thought. The anti-orthodox claims of the Materialists are seen as heretical by the religious masses and fly in the face of the piety promoted by most religious sects. However, it is questionable whether the formal ethics of Materialism are truly practiced to their logical extent by those who claim to belong to the school. It is suspected by many scholars that Indian Materialism today stands for an atheistic view that values science in place of supernaturalism. More than anything, Materialists have historically expressed a view that has not found favor among the established religious and social authorities.