History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c13.s3.3

c13.s3.3

His doctrine, according to the Sāmañña-phala Sutta, was one of seven eternal and immutable elements, earth, water, fire, air, life, joy, and sorrow.² The Majjhima Nikāya³ incorporates with this doctrine part of Makkhali Gosāla's fatalist creed, and one of the Chinese versions of the Sāmañña-phala Sutta makes of Pakudha a determinist.⁴ His characteristic teaching is, however, a very primitive atomism, perhaps the earliest of Indian atomic theories.⁵