History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c23.s1.65

c23.s1.65

If Buddhaghosa had not specified the eight *purisa-bhūmiyo* it would have been logical to interpret them in its literal sense as “worlds of men”, fewer in number than the purgatories and serpent-realms also mentioned in the list, through which the transmigrating soul must pass. We cannot avoid the suspicion that the eight stages of men were devised by Buddhaghosa himself, since there is no confirmation from other sources of this Ājīvika classification of the stages of life.