History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c17.s1.12

c17.s1.12

The equivalence of the Ājīva here mentioned and the Ājīvika is attested by the lexicographers.² The *Vāyu*, which is mentioned by Bāṇa and refers to the Guptas, is probably an early specimen of its class.³ In it the habits of the Ājīvikas seem to have changed very considerably since the days of Makkhali Gosāla. The sect has developed a magical and sacrificial cult, and its members are typified not as naked ascetics but as workmen and craftsmen. We may conclude that this description represents the Ājīvikas at a later stage than do any of the Buddhist or Jaina references so far considered. It is perhaps a picture of the degenerate remnant of the Ājīvika lay community in North India during the Gupta period.