History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c14.s2.13

c14.s2.13

An alternative explanation of the term is provided in the *Dīgha Nikāya*.⁵ It is said that the Buddha met at Vesāli a certain ascetic named Kandara-masuka, who maintained seven lifelong vows. The first of these is: “ As long as I live I will be naked, and will not put on a garment ” (*Yāvaj-jīvam acelako assaṃ, na vatthaṃ paridaheyaṃ*). The second vow is one of perpetual chastity; by the third, surprisingly enough, the ascetic undertakes to beg only spirits and meat, and not to eat gruel or broth; while the last four are vows of a Jaina type, delimiting the area in the four directions beyond which he undertakes not to travel. The ascetic Kandara-masuka is regularly referred to as acela, but nowhere as ājīvika, and we have no evidence that any of his vows, with the exception of the first, were taken by the organized Ājīvika community. Nevertheless the formula yāvajjīvam, which precedes each of the seven vows, may be significant. It suggests the possibility that the word ājīvika may be derived from some such phrase as ā jīvāt, “as long as life.” This view was put forward by Kern,¹ but seems not to have been noticed by later workers in the field, perhaps because the author gave little weight to his theory, and does not appear to have provided references to back it.