History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c16.s2.9

c16.s2.9

The two stories, while differing considerably in important details, including the name of the Ājīvika prophet, seem to have a basis of fact. The very discrepancies in the two accounts suggest that the authors drew their material independently from a widespread tradition which had developed with the passage of time. Such a story seems more probably dependent on a real occurrence than on a monkish fiction. We may therefore believe that Bindusāra kept at his court an Ājīvika fortune-teller who was persona grata to the chief queen. The Divyāvadāna's story of his flight is not altogether convincing; it fits too well into the framework of Vindusāra's hostility to Aśoka and the latter's usurpation of the throne of Magadha to give an impression of authenticity. The account of the conversion of Janasāna in the Mahāvaṃsa Commentary, with its strong flavour of pious edification, is even more suspect. But neither account is intrinsically impossible. Bindusāra's interest in unorthodox philosophy is strikingly attested by a classical reference.¹ We may conclude that, even before the introduction of Aśoka's policy of toleration, Ājīvikas were patronized by the court of Magadha.