Within the Charvaka or Lokayata perspective, the cosmos is understood as a purely material process, without appeal to any supernatural agency. Reality is composed of four fundamental elements—earth, water, fire, and air—which are taken to be eternal. These elements, through their own inherent properties, combine and separate in countless ways, giving rise to the entire range of objects and phenomena. The universe, in this view, is not the product of a divine will or a cosmic mind, but of the natural interaction of these basic constituents.

Charvaka thought emphasizes that there is no need to posit a creator-god to account for the world’s existence or order. The formation of the universe is explained as a spontaneous, mechanical unfolding of material processes, governed by the nature of matter itself rather than by any transcendent purpose. Just as complex properties can emerge from the combination of simpler ingredients, so too do living beings and even consciousness arise from particular configurations of these elements. When those configurations break apart, beings and objects simply dissolve back into their elemental basis.

This materialist outlook leads Charvaka to reject creation myths and metaphysical speculations that go beyond what can be grounded in direct sensory perception. The origin and functioning of the world are to be understood through what is observable: the ceaseless cycle of aggregation and disintegration of material elements. In this manner, the universe is seen as an ongoing, beginningless play of matter, requiring no supernatural explanation and no appeal to realities beyond the reach of the senses.