History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c23.s1.99

c23.s1.99

It seems probable that the seven *saññi-gabbhā* of the Pāli list are the same as those of the *Bhagavatī*; on the analogy of the latter text’s account of the heavenly births it is also probable that each of the “sentient births” was in a different state or condition. The *Bhagavatī* list makes no mention of the *asaññi-gabbhā* of the Pāli, but it is possible that the latter’s *nigaṇṭhi-gabbhā* represent the *Bhagavatī*’s seven *sañjūhe*. The latter term is also used with each of the *Māṇasas* and *Māṇusuttaras* in the second *Bhagavatī* list,⁵ and in this context is interpreted by Abhayadeva as "a god of a special class".¹ The wording of the first list (satta divve, satta sañjūhe, satta sannigabbhe), however, indicates that the seven sañjūhe were thought of as distinct from the divve, or divine births in the Mānasas and Māṇusuttaras.