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History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c17.s6: The Last References to Ājīvikas

History and Doctrines of the Ājīvikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c17.s6

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The Last References to Ājīvikas

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The Jaina commentator Malliṣeṇa, whose *Syādvāda-mañjarī* was written as late as A.D. 1292,³ knew of the Ājīvikas. They are referred to by him as though still in existence; he understands an important point of their doctrine, and he even quotes what appears to be a verse from an Ājīvika religious poem.⁴ It is probable that he was in touch with the Ājīvikas of the Tamil country, who were still active at the time.

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³ *Syādvāda-mañjarī*, p. 197.

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⁴ V. infra, p. 222.

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The last reference known to us in Sanskrit literature occurs in the *Jātaka-pārijāta*, the work of the astrologer Vaidyanātha Dīkṣita, who was probably born *c.* 1425-50.⁵ He declares that the *Jīvaka*, according to the lexicographers a legitimate synonym of Ājīvika,⁶ is born in the same astrological conditions as those stated by Varāhamihira,⁷ under the influence of four or five planets, with that of Mercury dominant.⁸ Like Varāhamihira he gives a catalogue of seven types of ascetic: the *Vānaprastha*, an ascetic dwelling in forests and mountains; the *Vivāsas*, habitually naked; the *Bhikṣu*, an *ekadaṇḍin* and a great soul wise in Upaniṣadic lore; the *Caraka*, one who wanders to many lands; the *Śākya*, a *yogī* of evil habits; the *Guru*, honoured and of royal fortune; and the *Jīvaka*, fond of food and talkative.⁹

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⁵ *Jātaka-pārijāta*, ed. V. S. Sastri, vol. 1, introduction, p. vi.

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⁶ V. supra, pp. 182-83.

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⁷ V. supra, p. 169.

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⁸ *Jātaka-pārijāta*, xv, 15.

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⁹ *Vānaprasthas tapasvī vana-giri-nilayo, nagna-śīlo Vivāsā,* *Bhikṣuḥ syād ekadaṇḍī satatam upaniṣat-tattva-niṣṭho mahātmā,* *Nānā-deśa-pravāsī Caraka-pativaraḥ, Śākya-yogī kuśīlo,* *Rāja-śrīmān yaśasvī Gurur, aśana-paro jalpako Jīvakaḥ syāt.* *Jātaka-pārijāta* xv, 16.

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Vaidyanātha, unlike Utpala, does not identify the Ājīvika with the *ekadaṇḍin*, nor with the naked *Vivāsas*. His use of the word "talkative" (*jalpako*) suggests that he had some personal knowledge of the sect, for no such word is elsewhere to be found applied to the Ājīvikas. Chattering ascetics are certainly referred to in the Buddhist texts,¹ but the Ājīvikas are nowhere accused of being more loquacious than their rivals.

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¹ E.g. *Sandaka Sutta*, *Majjh.* i, pp. 513 ff.

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At about the same time, or perhaps a little earlier,² Guṇaratna, the Jaina commentator of Haribhadra’s *Ṣaddarśana-samuccaya*, although not using the term Ājīvika, shows a sound knowledge of the doctrines of the *niyativādins*, and names one of their founders, Pūraṇa.³ It is probable that he too obtained his knowledge from Dravidian sources.

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² Glasenapp, *Der Jainismus*, p. 108.

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³ V. supra, pp. 81–82.

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The decline of the Ājīvikas is indicated by the *Sarva-darśana-saṅgraha*, which, despite its claim to completeness, makes no mention of them whatever, although it contains a chapter on such an obscure sect as the *Raseśvara-darśana*, which taught that the use of mercury was necessary to salvation.⁴

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⁴ *Sarva-darśana-saṅgraha*, ch. ix, pp. 209–9.

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This chain of fleeting references, dating from Gupta times to the fifteenth century, is sufficient to indicate that the Ājīvikas survived over that period. In the Dravidian South, as will be shown in our next chapter, they maintained themselves against discriminatory taxation until the fourteenth century. There, with Hindu, Jaina, and Buddhist, they were a definite factor in the religious situation of Coḷamaṇḍalam, and their system was important enough to warrant detailed refutations from their chief rivals. In the North, on the other hand, Ājīvikism may have become insignificant even as early as the Śuṅga period; but the references leave little doubt that occasional Ājīvika mendicants were to be found there at a much later date. In Kashmīr they may even have risen for a short while to a position of great influence, under the mad king Harṣadeva, when strange naked ascetics destroyed the orthodox ikons of the capital.⁵

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⁵ *Rājatarangiṇī*, vii, 1090–9.

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No doubt the surviving Ājīvikas compromised with the doctrines and customs of the more popular faiths around them; as a little known minor community they would often be confused with the greater sects; thus Utpala declares that they were ekadaṇḍin Vaiṣṇavites¹; the commentator to the *Ācārasāra* believes them to be Buddhists²; and in the Jaina Tamil work *Nīlakēci* the Ājīvika leader declares that his followers are not Digambaras, although they might be mistaken for them.³

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¹ V. supra, pp. 169–70.

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² V. infra, pp. 203–4.

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³ V. infra, p. 202.

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We may suggest that the small Ājīvika communities of ascetics and laymen, most common in the region of the Palar River, above Kāñcī, slowly approached more and more closely to the more popular and influential faiths in their districts. An Ājīvika theism developed in the later period,⁴ and some Ājīvikas may, as Utpala suggests, have drifted towards Vaiṣṇavism. Magical ceremonies were not unknown to the Ājīvikas,⁵ and some Ājīvika communities may gradually have merged with the left-hand or tantric sects. While Hoernle’s theory as formulated is certainly incorrect, there is no doubt that it contains a partial truth. The latest surviving description of Ājīvika doctrine, that in the *Civañāṇa-cittiyār*,⁶ shows us a system not far removed from Jainism. The Ājīvikas rose side by side with the Jainas and some groups must ultimately have merged with them. We may conclude that the work of the great popular religious reformers of the late Middle Ages completely annihilated the scattered and degenerate remnants of what was once a vigorous and independent sect, enjoying the patronage of the greatest of India’s rulers.

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⁴ V. infra, p. 276.

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⁵ V. supra, pp. 112–13, 162 ff.

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⁶ V. infra, p. 203.

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Part of EASTERN DECCAN showing places connected with the Ājīvikas. 0 10 20 30 40 50 miles.

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