Read the passage and answer the question :

"Though the wise should hope, by this virtue... by this penance I will gain karma... and the fool should by the same means hope to gradually rid himself of his karma, neither of them can do it. Pleasure and pain measured out as it were, cannot be altered in the course of samsant (transmigration). It can neither be lessened or increased... just as a ball of string will when thrown unwind to its full length, so fool and wise alike will take their course and make and end of sorrow".

Who amongst the following are described as 'materialists'?

Lokayatas

The correct answer is Option (1) → Lokayatas

Makkhali Gosala belonged to the Ajivika tradition, characterized by their belief in fatalism, the notion that everything in life is predetermined. King Ajatasattu met him and described the conversation he had with Gosala to Buddha.
Ajita Kesakambalin belonged to the Lokayata tradition, often described as materialist.
Unfortunately, we have limited information about these traditions as their original texts did not survive, and our knowledge of them is derived solely from the writings of other traditions.

The Lokayatas, also known as Carvaka or Charvaka, were a school of thought in ancient India that is often associated with materialism. They rejected the idea of an afterlife, denied the existence of the soul, and emphasized the importance of the physical world and sensory experiences. The passage's description of the deterministic and fatalistic nature of life aligns with the views of materialists like the Lokayatas, who believed in the primacy of the material and physical world.