History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c11.s4.23

c11.s4.23

This story is a patent fiction constructed, probably by Buddhaghosa himself, to provide an etymology for the names of the Ājīvika leader, to account for his nudity, and to pour scorn on his order by attributing to him a servile origin. It is even less credible than the Jaina account, especially if read in connection with a similar story told by Buddhaghosa about Pūraṇa Kassapa, to whom a servile origin is also attributed, and for whose name a similar fantastic etymology is devised.¹