History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c17.s4: Nemicandra on the Ājīvikas

History and Doctrines of the Ājīvikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c17.s4

Language: English

Nemicandra on the Ājīvikas

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The non-canonical Jaina work Pravacana-sār’-oddhāra, composed by Nemicandra in the twelfth century,¹ contains interesting verses in which all ascetics are classified in five categories: Nirgranthas (Jainas), Śākyas (Buddhists), Tāpasas (Jaṭilas, or brāhmaṇical ascetics with matted locks), Gairukas (ascetics who bear a triple staff, and whose clothes are stained with red ochre), and Ājīvas (the followers of Gosāla).²

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¹ [Text of note missing in source image]

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² pañcahā samaṇā, muṇiṇo, 731. Sakkā ya Sugaya-sisā, je jaḍilā te u Tāvasā gīyā, Je dhāū-rattā-vatthā tidaṇḍiṇo Geruyā te u, 732. Je Gosālaga-mayam aṇusaranti bhaṇṇanti te u Ājīvā. Samaṇattaṇeṇa bhuvaṇe pañcavi pattā pasiddhim ime, 733. Pravacanasārōddhāra i, sect. 94, fol. 212. A Berlin MS. of this text (Weber, Verzeichniss, no. 1939), reads samaṇattaṇam in the last line of v. 733.

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Since Nemicandra was a Jaina philosopher, and his own sect occurs first on the list, it seems that the author intended his five groups of ascetics to be read in declining order of excellence. If so it is plain that he viewed the Ājīvikas with disfavour. Moreover, since Nemicandra was a Jaina of the Digambara sect,³ his reference to the Ājīvikas further disproves Hoernle’s contention that they and the Digambaras were the same.

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³ Guérinot, La Religion Djaïna, p. 82.

Linked texts (1)

Pavayaṇasāruddhāra — Nemicandrasūri (Pravacanasāroddhāra), Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit