History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c22.s1.19

c22.s1.19

Śīlāṅka, still writing as a *niyativādin*, next dismisses the *svabhāvavādin*, who, as we have seen, held a doctrine very similar to that of the Ājīvika: "Moreover the causing of joy and sorrow cannot be ascribed to inherent character (*svabhāva*). For is this different from a man or the same as he? If it is different it is not capable of causing the joy and sorrow which befall him, on account of that difference. Nor (if it is) the same (as he). For, if it were, it would be a mere man, and it has been shown that man cannot be an effective agent." ¹