History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c14.s1.1

c14.s1.1

It is now generally agreed that the ground for the development of non-brāhmaṇic religious sects in India was prepared before the days of the great reforming leaders of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. In the case of the Ājīvikas there is evidence which points to the fact that Makkhali Gosāla found already in existence ascetic groups following a more or less common way of life and looking back to teachers of previous generations. By knitting these local groups together under his own leadership he established the Ājīvika sect. The tradition, preserved in the Buddhist scriptures, linking Makkhali Gosāla’s name with those of Nanda Vaccha and Kisa Saṅkicca,¹ and that of the *Bhagavatī Sūtra*, which seems to record a succession of religious teachers preceding Gosāla,² are evidence pointing strongly in that direction.