History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c13.s1.11

c13.s1.11

The other two Tamil works containing outlines of Ājīvika teaching do not refer to Pūraṇa, although in *Maṇimēkalai* the anonymous teacher with whom the heroine discusses Ājīvika philosophy has the epithet of Pūraṇa, “the Elder.”⁵ This word is employed in place of the name Pūraṇa at least twice in the Pāli scriptures.⁶ The *Civañāṉa-cittiyār*, which is later than the two first-mentioned works, mentions neither Pūraṇa nor Maṅkali. These works, in so far as they give information about the Ājīvikas, will be considered more fully in due course.⁷