History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c15.s2.25

c15.s2.25

Whether celibate or not, it would seem that the Ājīvika mendicant was by no means continuously engaged in austerities. Besides those describing his begging and ascetic practices, and the more reprehensible activities attributed to him, there are a number of references which show the Ājīvika monk playing a comparatively active part in everyday life. The *Majjhima*,³ for instance, tells of Pāṇḍuputta, the son of a wagon-maker,⁴ an Ājīvika ascetic of Rājagaha. This man was seen by the *bhikkhu* Mahāmoggalāna, standing in a wagon-maker's shop, and intently watching the making of a felloe. When the wheelwright had finished his work the Ājīvika is said to have cried out with joy at the excellence of the workmanship. His asceticism had by no means destroyed his interest in his hereditary trade, and he may be taken as a type of his fellow Ājīvikas.