History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c21.s2.49

c21.s2.49

We do not believe that these four references are sufficient to indicate that there was a special "Ājīvika language". The language of the Sāmañña-phala Sutta passage attributed to Makkhali is, however, sufficient to indicate that some of the earliest Ājīvika religious literature, whether verbal or written, was composed in a Māgadhī dialect probably very like the language of the Jainas.⁵