History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c23.s1.28

c23.s1.28

2. Blue (*nīla*), contains, according to the *Aṅguttara*, “monks who live as thieves” (*kaṇḍaka-vuttikā*), together with other believers in the efficiency of works. Hare ⁴ translates this phrase as “who live as though with a thorn in their side”, on the strength of Buddhaghosa, who apparently interprets *kaṇḍaka* or *kaṇṭaka* as “thorn”, gives it the secondary sense of “impediment”, and states in a very obscure manner that the four *paccayas* of the Buddhist *bhikkhu* are implied.⁵