History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c23.s2.4

c23.s2.4

The ultimates or finalities are stated by the *Bhagavatī* to be connected with the last life on earth of the migrant soul, and to herald its final release.³ As Hoernle realized, they are based on the actions of Gosāla in his delirium and on events which occurred at about the time of his death. The *Sūtra* declares that they were laid down by Gosāla to excuse his own objectionable conduct, to which Abhayadeva adds that he declared that there was no sin in these actions since they were inevitable at the death of a *jina*.⁴ The first four items of the list, the last drink, song, dance, and greeting, are evidently related to the behaviour of the dying *tīrthaṅkara*; the following three, the storm cloud, the sprinkling elephant, and the battle with large stones, are portentous events which herald his *nirvāṇa*; while the eighth and last is the *tīrthaṅkara* himself. No information about these eight finalities, as part of the Ājīvika creed, occurs in other sources. They have no philosophical value, but are probably a mere list of omens, borrowed from the popular traditions of the less instructed members of the Ājīvika sect.