History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c14.s5.17

c14.s5.17

The *Sthānāṅga Sūtra* gives a further list of Ājīvika ascetic practices, which are said to be severe penances, terrible penances, the abstention from liquids (*rasa*, which the commentator Abhayadeva interprets as ghee, etc.),¹ and indifference to the pleasures of the sense of taste.² Unfortunately we are given no detailed explanation of the distinction between the first and second forms of *tapas*, and the list is only of value as confirmation of the statements of other sources to the effect that, at least in public, the Ājīvikas were given to severe self-mortification.