History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c23.s1.48

c23.s1.48

The abhijātis have much in common with the Jaina leśyās. According to this classification the six colours are: (1) black (kaṇha), (2) blue (nīla), (3) grey (kāū), (4) red (teu), (5) yellow (pamha), and (6) white (sukka).¹ All have characteristic psychic tastes and smells, and give characteristic sensations of touch. In the black class is the man of blood and violence; in the blue among others, are the envious, the deceitful, and the luxurious; in the grey are the heretic and the thief; these three are evil leśyās. The three latter leśyās contain men of good karmic character; in the red category are the well-disciplined and studious; in the yellow those men who are calm, attentive, and subdued; while in the white are men who meditate on the law and the truth with their minds at ease, and are self-controlled, even though they may not be wholly free from passion. The leśyās are conceived as substances, which may adhere to the soul for a longer or shorter time, and all living beings are subject to them,² although men only are quoted as examples.