History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c12.s1.6

c12.s1.6

The story of the merchants is important in that it indicates that Gosāla, like the Buddha, was in the habit of employing folk-tales in his preaching. This story is repeated with but slight variation in the *Jātaka*,³ where, perhaps significantly, the merchants are said to have come from Sāvatthi.