Atheism in Hinduism: help needed

[mrabe at artic.edu]

Partha Banerjee said:

I am trying to find references dealing with the subject of atheism in
>Hinduism. Its historical background, dialectics, the present place of the
>atheist in Hindu religion compared to some other major religions, and all
>that.
>
>Any help is appreciated.
>
>-Partha Banerjee
>
>Dept. of Biology
>University at Albany
>Albany, New York
>
Here's a humorous epic reference I happened across this morning:

Ravana's brother, KumbhakarNa, also performed tapas, but misspoke when he
asked for the boon of *nirdevata* (Absence of devas), and ended up instead
with *nidraavatvam* (sleep). cf. Vettam Mani, _Puranic Encyclopaedia_, p.
645.

Michael Rabe
Saint Xavier University
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago