History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c15.s6.15

c15.s6.15

The classification of the *abhijātis* indicates that the Ājīvika regarded the Jaina as second to himself in sanctity. The Buddhist bhikkhu was but a poor third, and the orthodox brāhmaṇa was presumably included with the wretched kurūra-kammanta in the black category, although, as has been shown,¹ there are certain indications that early Ājīvika practice and doctrine were closer to orthodoxy in some particulars than were the practices and doctrines of Buddhism and Jainism.