History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c23.s1.121

c23.s1.121

The *Bhagavatī Sūtra* gives an estimate of the duration of a *mahākappa*, which shows that Ājīvika chronometric speculations were even wider in conception and more awe inspiring than those of other Indian schools, all of which seemed to delight in imagining fantastically long periods of time. After expounding his doctrine of transmigration Gosāla is purported to have said that according to his system the bed of the Ganges was 250 *yojanas* in length, half a *yojana* in width and 500 *dhanus* in depth. Seven *gaṅgās* equal one *mahāgaṅgā*; seven *mahāgaṅgās* equal one *sāḍīṇagaṅgā*; seven *sāḍīṇagaṅgās*, one *maccugaṅgā*; seven *maccugaṅgās*, one *lohiyagaṅgā*; seven *lohiyagaṅgās*, one *āvatīgaṅgā*; and seven *āvatīgaṅgās* equal one *paramāvatī*. The latter therefore equals seven to the seventh power or 117,649 *gaṅgās*. If one grain of sand were removed every hundred years from the bed of this imaginary river the total time required for the removal of all the sand would be one *sara*. 300,000 *saras* of this duration equal one *mahākappa*, and even here Ājīvika chronometry does not stop. Gosāla concludes by stating that 8,400,000 *mahākappas*, the period of the transmigration of a soul, are called one *mahāmāṇasa*.¹