Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c14.s1.12

c14.s1.12

Another characteristic of the *Ājīvika Sramanas* was that they practised severe penance. The *Ṭhāṇāṅga*¹⁰⁸ mentions four kinds of austerities practised by them such as severe austerities, fierce austerities, abstention from ghee and other delicacies and indifference to pleasant and unpleasant food. The *Ovāiya*¹⁰⁹ describes the following classes of the *Ājīvikas* those who begged food at every second house, third house, fourth house, sixth house, seventh house, those who accepted lotus-stalk only those who begged in every house, those who did not beg if there was a flash of lightning, and those who practised penance by entering big earthen vessels (*uttiyāsamana*). The *Ājīvika Sramanas* lived alone, used cold water, lived on seeds, accepted things prepared for them, had intercourse with women,¹¹⁰ and wandered about naked (*nāgnyadhānam*)¹¹¹