History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c17.s1.48

c17.s1.48

Dr. Barua⁶ cites references from the *Pañcatantra* and the *Mudrārākṣasa* to *kṣapaṇakas* whose characters and descriptions “combine the Jaina with the Ājīvika”. Those in the former reference do honour to Jinendra.⁷ In the latter⁸ one of the spies of Cāṇakya, the great minister of Candragupta, is a tonsured ascetic who respects the teaching of the Arhants, foretells the future, and uses the slogan: "There is no sin for the true believers" (*N' atthi pāvaṃ sāvagāṇaṃ*). The kṣapaṇakas in the former reference seem to be Jainas, and the ascetic of the latter also suggests a Jaina in most particulars. We can draw no inferences from the fact that he was a fortune-teller, for fortune-telling was the trade not only of Ājīvikas, but of ascetics of all orders, as Barua himself admits. The only hint of Ājīvikism in this figure is the antinomianism of his slogan, which suggests the doctrine ascribed by the Buddhists to Pūraṇa Kassapa and Pakudha Kaccāyana.¹ It is therefore possible that Viśākhadatta did introduce an Ājīvika trait into the character of his ascetic.