History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c17.s6.23

c17.s6.23

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.