History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c23.s1.122

c23.s1.122

¹ *Bh. Sū.*, loc. cit. The text used by Hoernle seems to have differed somewhat in its terminology from the Bombay edition. The commentator Abhayadeva appears to have confused the *sara* with the *māṇasa* heaven, and the *mahāmāṇasa* period with the heaven called *māṇusuttara* (v. supra, p. 250). He believed that the soul would spend *sara* and *mahāmāṇasa* periods in the *māṇasas* and *māṇusuttaras* respectively (to *Bh. Sū.*, fol. 676). The text of the *Bhagavatī* may thus be interpreted as meaning that the last births are excluded from the *mahākappa*, or that the *sara* are to be excluded, and the soul must pass through a number of types of deed outside the period of the *mahākappa*. It is clearly the intention of the text. The commentator's view, however, that the categories are of different types, and refer to the soul in their cosmic locations, all within the *mahākappa*, is probably correct.