History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c14.s2.18

c14.s2.18

The adjective yāvajjīvika meaning “lifelong” is to be found in the Āśvalāyana Śrauta Sūtra,³ composed at a very early period, perhaps before Gosāla’s ministry. It is significant that it is there used in reference to the duration of vows to be taken in penance for errors in sacrificial ritual. The same term, in its Prākrit form jāvajjīvāē, with the same connotation, is to be found in the Bhagavatī Sūtra.⁴ It is by no means impossible that the word ājīvika had a similar connotation with the religious community using it, and indicated the lifelong character of the vows taken by the followers of Makkhali Gosāla and by the free-lance Ājīvikas, in contrast to the temporary vows of the Buddhist saṅgha. In this case the derogatory etymology from ājīva must have been devised by the opponents of the sect, in the same manner as that in which Buddhaghosa devised derogatory etymologies for Makkhali and Pūraṇa.