History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c10.s1.5

c10.s1.5

In the Pāli scriptures the lengthiest and most detailed passage on these men and their doctrines is contained in the Sāmaññaphala Sutta of the Dīgha Nikāya.¹ The philosophies there ascribed to them contain much that was included in later Ājīvika teaching, and the passage in which the heretical ascetic Makkhali Gosāla propounds his determinist view of the universe ² has been taken by both Hoernle and Barua as a basis for their studies on the Ājīvikas. The philosophical implications of the Sutta will be considered in the second part of this work ³; meanwhile it merits careful consideration from the historical viewpoint.