History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c14.s3.27

c14.s3.27

Two further points connected with entry into Ājīvika asceticism may here be noted. The story of Jambuka indicates that, as with the Buddhists and Jainas, novices were accepted by the Ājīvikas while still children. And the Ājīvika sixfold classification of men, as described in the *Aṅguttara Nikāya* and by Buddhaghosa, shows that women were permitted to enter the Ājīvika order, and that their status was not significantly lower than that of the male members of the sect.¹