History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c18.s2.30

c18.s2.30

The presence of such figures as Maudgalyāyana, Buddha, and Parāśara suggests that the anonymous author intended his poem to be historically plausible. He appears to have considered Pūraṇa, whom he thought of as the contemporary of Buddha, to be the founder of Ājīvikism. Thus we have independent confirmation of the historicity of Pūraṇa Kassapa of the Pāli canon.