History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c10.s2.33

c10.s2.33

In the *Aṅguttara Nikāya*⁷ the six *abhijātis*, or classes of humanity, ascribed in the *Sāmañña-phala Sutta* to Makkhali, are stated by the monk Ānanda to be a distinctive part of Pūraṇa's teaching. Here the six classes are described in detail, and, significantly, Pūraṇa is said to include in his highest category (*paramasukk’-abhijāti*) none other than the three shining lights of the *Majjhima* passage,⁸ Nanda Vaccha, Kisa Saṅkicca, and Makkhali Gosāla. Thus we have no less than three passages in which parts of Makkhali's doctrine are ascribed to Pūraṇa, and one in which the latter is purported to proclaim the former to be in the highest rank of spiritual attainment.