History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c10.s2.50

c10.s2.50

Of the doctrines here considered those most characteristic of the later Ājīvikas are Makkhali’s determinism and Pakudha’s theory of unchanging elemental substances. It will be seen from the above table that determinism is in five places attributed to Makkhali, in four to Pūraṇa, and in two to Pakudha. The theory of the elements occurs only once in its isolated form, and is there ascribed to Pakudha, but it is twice found combined with determinism. In the Tibetan version, where the ascriptions are most confused, these two theories together are ascribed to Ajita. It may be suggested that the Tibetan version is based not on the *Dīgha* but on the *Majjhima* reference, where the two doctrines are also combined in the same manner. The debt of the Tibetan version to the *Majjhima* is also indicated by the new doctrine devised for Nigaṇṭha, which is perhaps based on direct knowledge of Jaina practice; the doctrine of fourfold restraint, which is ascribed to him in the *Dīgha*, is omitted in the *Majjhima* passage. The remarkable confusion of the Tibetan version may also be accounted for on the assumption that it is derived from the *Majjhima*, for in the latter the names of the teachers are not explicitly stated, and misattribution might thus easily have arisen. The ascription of determinism and the theory of the seven elemental substances to Ajita in the Tibetan version seems certainly erroneous, and may be ignored.