History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c21.s2.26

c21.s2.26

The Praśnavyākaraṇa Sūtra³ contains a passage which also suggests the text of the Sāmañña-phala Sutta. This purports to describe the doctrines of nāstikas, but some parts of it are perhaps derived from the same sources as Makkhali Gosāla’s doctrine in the Sutta. Thus, the first phase, n’atthi jīvo, na jāī iha pare vā loe, suggests the slogan of the materialist Ajita Kesakambalī, n’atthi ayaṃ loko, n’atthi paro loko.⁴ But the terms in which the Praśnavyākaraṇa speaks of the view that no merit accrues from religious activities, dāṇa-vaya-posahāṇaṃ tava-sañjama-bambha-cera-kallāṇaṃ āiyāṇaṃ n’atthi phalam, resemble Makkhali Gosāla’s na . . . sīlena vā vatena vā tapena vā brahmacariyeṇa vā in the Sāmañña-phala Sutta.⁵ The phrase in the Praśnavyākaraṇa, ammā-piyaro n’atthi na vi atthi purisakāro seems to look back to the sources which provided n’atthi mātā, n’atthi pitā⁴ in Ajita’s creed, and n’atthi purisakāre⁵ in that of Makkhali. The dialectical peculiarities of the two passages have already been noticed.⁶