Ajivika

AJIVIKA & THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER
SECTS ( JAINISM & BUDDHISM )

ANKITA SALIAN
INTRODUCTION
One of the important sect which arose in Indian subcontinent around 6th century BCE was
AJIVIKA . According to Goyal, it was probably founded by Nanda Vachchha but gained
strength under Makkhali Goshala , who is said to be a disciple of Mahavira. In a Jain canonical
text the Ajivikas or followers of Gosāla are represented as a class of recluses ( samaņas ) who
begged alms as a means of livelihood and were no better than householders in as much as they
used to eat seeds, drink cold water and have an undesirable intimacy with the women. According
to Prof. Rhys Davids and Dr. Hoernle Ajivika refers to right means of livelihood ( samma
ajiva). ' It flourished during the reign of Mauryan Emperor Bindusara. Thereafter it declined but
was still in practice in some parts of South India.
Sources : By combining data found in the Jaina and in the Buddhist canon, scholars have tried
reconstitute the history of Ajivikas.
10 Purvas of Ajivikas,Onpatu Katir, Buddhist texts (Samannaphalasutta), Jain texts

(Bhagawati Sutra) & Barabar Caves.
PHILOSOPHY
It believes in the doctrine of NIYATI(FATE) which means everything in life is pre-
determined & there’s no free will , according to Samannaphalasutta. All souls have to pass
through 84,00,000great kalpas, 7 births as deities, 7 as insensibles beings, 7 as sensible beings &
7 with changes of body through re-animation. It denied the doctrine of KARMA ( DEEDS ) &
VIRYA (ENERGY) .It did not belive in God & developed a theory of elements as well as atoms.
It also propounded the theory of MANDALA-MOKSHA which means jivas that have
attained salvation may come to Earth in order to keep the world moving. It encouraged extreme
asceticism ,solitude, disdain of comfort & love for all kinds of austerities.
However it was criticized in the mainstream of the society. According to VAYU

PURANA the Ajivikas are unrightous people & confuser of varna & asrama. It also dscribes
them as a sort of secret society using wine meat in the religious ceremony.
AJIVIKA & JAINISM
The reference about Ajivikas is found in Bagavati Sutra of Jains.The Jains nick-named him
Ājīvika ,as one who turned an ascetic for the sake of earning a living (ajiva ).Tamil epic
Manimekalai (c.5th-7th century CE) refers to the Ajivikas as Ajivika-Jainas and Jainas as the
Niganda-Jainas (Nirgranthas). It seems that the ideas of the Ājīvikas were close to (yet
fundamentally different from) the ideas of the early Jain. Asceticism in early Jainism had the
double function of “the annihilation of former actions and the non-performing of new actions.”
According to the Ājīvikas, the annihilation of former actions as practiced by the Jainas is not
possible.
Like the Jainas, Ājīvikas also believed that those who had reached their final existence lived
ascetic lives.According to Ajivikas, activities are carried out by the body without involvement of
the self. Hence, there is no moral dimension to human activity,even if the body engages in vile or
highly virtuous acts, the actual situation do not change.
Two independent sources – the Jaina Tamil poem Nīlakēci and the Pali Petavatthu – tell us
that the Ājīvikas believed that the soul ( jīva) can extend to five hundred yojanas.This expansion
of the soul just before liberation is similar to what in Jainism is known by the name samudghāta
“bursting forth,” a process that affects the kevalin.This signifies the concept of atoms &
elements in the nature.
Also, at the time of Mahâvïra, there were two groups of Jainas . This evidence comes from
the Jaina canon, which describes a few encounters between followers of Pàrsvanath and those of
Mahâvira. Followers of Parsvanath wore clothes whereas that of Mahavira did not .
Another similarity is the determinism.The similarity between the six "colours of the soul"
(lesyà) of the Jainas and the six abhijatis of the Àjïvikas has often been commented upon. It does
not really matter here whether Jainism borrowed these notions from Àjïvikism or vice-versa, or
both from a common source.
AJIVIKA & BUDDHISM
The reference about Ajivikas is also found in Samannaphalasutta of Buddhist texts.The
Suttanipâta has called Ajivika as ‘ARGUMENTATIVE SECT’ . Their feature of nakedness is
repeatedly mentioned in Buddhist text. In the Suttavibhañga Buddha forbids giving food to
naked ascetics.
The important personalities of Ajivika sect are categorized into ‘white class’. The description
given about them is that they go naked, rejecting invitation & not accepting food which is
brought to them or specially made for them. According to Bronkhorst ,the term Ajivika may have
been used for more than just one religious movement, and may have included the followers of
Mahàvïra along with "real" Àjïvikas and various other religious wanderers.
In the Samannaphala Sutta we are told that Makkhali Gosala was born of a slave confined
to a cowshed by his master. His doctrine was the denial of Karma and its defects. Buddha could
not stand an Ājīvik. In the Anguttara Nikaya he declares that Makkhali is a stupid man (mogha-
puriso),and that he knows of no other person born to the detriment grief and disadvantage of so
many people, or to such disadvantage and sorrow of gods and men.According to him, Makkhali
is like a fisherman casting his net at the mouth of a river, for the destruction of many fish.
Another Buddhist source Silänka proposes that 'the Äjivikas and the others who are the
followers of Gosäla's doctrines are a product of ajnänaväda',however weather to consider it as
'ignorance' or 'scepticism' is the main problem in the opinion of Dr.Jayatilleke.
Thus,Ghosala & Ajivikas were greatly criticized by the Buddhist texts.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Barua , B M (1926) . Ajivikas- What it Means.

 Basham , A L (1951). History and Doctrines of the Àjïvikas. A Vanished Indian Religion.
 Bronkhorst , J (2000).The Riddle of the Jainas & Ajivikas in Early Buddhist Literature.
 Jayatilleke , K N (1960). Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge.
 Satyaprakash (1946). The Ajivikas & their Place in Ancient Indian History.

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AJIVIKA & THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER

SECTS ( JAINISM & BUDDHISM )

10 Purvas of Ajivikas,Onpatu Katir, Buddhist texts (Samannaphalasutta), Jain texts

However it was criticized in the mainstream of the society. According to VAYU

Thus,Ghosala & Ajivikas were greatly criticized by the Buddhist texts.

 Barua , B M (1926) . Ajivikas- What it Means.

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