History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c21.s1.6

c21.s1.6

These eight *Mahānimittas* are listed in the *Sthānāṅga Sūtra*,¹ with the variation *Suviṇe* (dreams) for *Divyam*; here the commentator Abhayadeva makes it quite clear that they are systems of prognostication. The *Uttarādhyayana Sūtra*² gives a similar list, and adds that the Jaina *bhikkhu* should not live by such means. The Jaina saint Kālaya, or Kālaka is said to have learnt the *Mahānimittas* from the Ājīvikas.³ We have seen that the Ājīvika mendicant often acted as an astrologer or reader of omens,⁴ and it may be that the early scriptures of the Ājīvikas did contain considerable sections on these topics.