History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c23.s5.19

c23.s5.19

*Nilakēci* states explicitly that the doctrine of *maṇḍala*, the return of souls from the highest bliss, was devised in face of the objections we have suggested above to the older Ājīvika cosmic theories. In a given place there is a limited number (of souls), and so by devising (the doctrine of) *maṇḍala* the Ājīvikas remove objections, bringing back (the saved souls).¹ The elliptical verse is much expanded by the commentator Vāmanamuni, who makes it clear that the Ājīvikas postulated the doctrine to allow for the continuity of the universe. But for that purpose, he continues, it is quite unnecessary, for the number of *jīvas* or living souls in the universe is infinitely infinite (*anantānantam*), and no subtraction from the total can make it less than infinity. The Jaina commentator’s logic is sound, but we have no confirmation that the Ājīvikas did actually believe that the number of souls in the universe was infinite. The sharply defined and classified nature of the Ājīvika cosmos, and the Ājīvika predilection for very high numbers, suggest that the total number of souls in the universe was considered to be finite, as the Jaina commentator’s insistence on the infinity of souls also indicates.