History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c21.s3.1

c21.s3.1

Whatever the language of early Ājīvikism, it is probable that, like the Jainas and the Buddhists, the Ājīvikas in later times adopted Sanskrit for their religious writings. Several Sanskrit verses, quoted by Jaina commentators with reference to Ājīvikism or niyativāda seem to be borrowed from such Ājīvika literature. One such verse, indeed, seems to have been specially popular with the commentators as a brief statement of the fundamental doctrine of niyativāda, for it is quoted by no less than three of them, Śīlāṅka, Jñānavimala, and Abhayadeva: