History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c11.s4.16

c11.s4.16

Mahāvīra is reported to have told this story with the avowed intention of bringing Gosāla’s reputation into disrepute. This being the case it is improbable that the legend represents an authentic Ājīvika tradition about the birth of their leader. Both Buddhist and Jaina hagiologists provided exalted origins for the founders of their respective sects, and it is likely that the Ājīvikas did the same for Gosāla. The one feature in the story which may be authentic is the name of the village of Gosāla’s birth, Saravaṇa. In this connection it is to be noted that he is not the only figure in Indian legend to have been born in a śaravaṇa, or thicket of reeds. Gosāla shares that honour with the god Kārttikeya, who is sometimes referred to by the epithets śaravaṇa-bhava,¹ and śaravan’-ôdbhava.² Is it possible that the Ājīvikas taught that their teacher was born or found, not in a village called Saravaṇa, which as a place-name is not to be found elsewhere, but in a thicket of reeds? The Moses-in-the-bullrushes theme is to be found elsewhere in Indian legend, notably in the story of the hero Karṇa.³