Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s7.t18.9

v1.c7.s7.t18.9

Generally, the theories of these early thinkers of the Ajivaka school are distinctly different from the mainstream philosophy then. For instance, the dominant Brahmanism and Buddhism both believe in reincarnation and karma, while the Ajivaka school rejected such beliefs. The mainstream Brahmanist thoughts popular at the time held that there is a Brahman or God, a being the Ajivaka thinkers claimed doesn’t exist. Buddhism espouses the concept of “emptiness”, claiming that things are “empty” and impermanent, while some Ajivaka thinkers upheld pluralistic realism of element-based theory. Still other schools of thought in ancient India advocated specific moral and ethical ideas, what they claimed were also linked to the theory of reincarnation or karma, while the Ajivaka school generally repudiated such ideas or thoughts.