History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c17.s5.23

c17.s5.23

We can only conclude that these verses do not contain exactly synonymous terms, but the names of various types, clothed and otherwise, who were not attached to any orthodox Hindu order, and had various characteristics in common. That the Ājīvikas shared many characteristics with the Jainas cannot reasonably be denied, but that at the time of Halāyudha they had wholly merged with the Digambaras is not established. Hoernle's theory rests on a very dubious interpretation of the relevant reference, and is quite untenable against much contrary evidence, such as that provided by the Southern Digambara sources found by K. B. Pathak,⁴ which show that, at about the same time as the lexicographers were, according to Hoernle, identifying the Ājīvikas with the Digambaras, the latter sect was confusing them with the Buddhists.