History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c13.s1.2

c13.s1.2

A verse in the *Samyutta Nikāya* ¹ mentions four of the six heretics together. Of these the names *Pakudhako Kātiyāno* and *Nigaṇṭho* stand as separate singular nouns, but those of Makkhali and Pūraṇa are combined in the form *Makkhali-Pūraṇāse*. No doubt the exigencies of the metre must have had some influence in inspiring the poet to compound the names, but the fact that he did so suggests that he looked upon the two as closely connected. It is also perhaps significant that all four are mentioned as leaders of a single school (*gaṇassa satthāro*), and that the name of Makkhali precedes that of Pūraṇa. The conclusions we derive from this verse are strengthened by those passages in the Pāli canon in which Pūraṇa is said to have maintained the doctrine of the six classes of men, and other teachings elsewhere ascribed to Makkhali.² Conclusive evidence of Pūraṇa’s important status in Ājīvikism is provided by the two later references, the Jaina Tamil poem *Nīlakēci*, and Guṇaratna’s *Tarka-rahasya-dīpikā*.