Within the Charvaka or Lokayata tradition, the very notion of God is categorically denied. This school maintains that no gods, deities, or divine beings exist, and that the universe is not the creation or domain of any supernatural controller. Reality is understood as nothing more than the interplay of material elements—typically described as earth, water, fire, and air—whose combinations give rise to the world and to living beings. The cosmos is thus seen as a natural phenomenon, operating through its own inherent processes rather than through divine will or intervention.

This radical stance is grounded in Charvaka’s strict epistemology, which grants full authority only to direct perception (pratyakṣa) as a reliable means of knowledge. Because God cannot be directly perceived, any claim about a divine being is judged to be without solid foundation. Inference and testimony, especially when they concern unseen, supernatural entities, are treated with deep suspicion and are not accepted as sufficient grounds for belief. From this perspective, theistic doctrines are viewed as speculative at best and deceptive at worst.

Charvaka thinkers extend this critique to religious institutions and scriptures. Texts revered as sacred, such as the Vedas, are regarded not as revelations from a transcendent source but as human compositions lacking divine authority. Religious rituals, ceremonies, and priestly functions are interpreted as instruments of social control, often serving the interests of those who perform and regulate them. The idea of God, along with related notions of heaven, karma, and an afterlife, is thus seen as a fabrication that can be used to extract resources and obedience from the credulous.

In keeping with this materialist outlook, Charvaka explains all aspects of existence, including consciousness, in terms of material combinations and natural processes. There is no appeal to a soul sustained by God, no ultimate divine ground of being, and no moral law ordained by a higher power. Ethical norms are understood as human conventions rather than commands issued by a deity. Charvaka therefore represents a thoroughgoing atheistic and naturalistic current within Indian thought, insisting that attention be directed to the tangible, perceptible world rather than to an imagined divine realm.