History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c24.s1.1

c24.s1.1

That the Ājīvikas of South India had a theory of elemental atoms is made clear by all the three chief Tamil sources. This atomic theory does not seem to be connected in origin with the doctrine of *Niyati* ascribed in the *Sāmañña-phala Sutta* to Makkhali Gosāla, but was probably derived from the primitive Eleatic atomism of Pakudha Kaccāyana in the same text. Pakudha must therefore be included with Makkhali Gosāla and Pūraṇa Kassapa among the founders of the community. We have already quoted the relevant passage,¹ which states that there exist seven elemental categories (*kāya*), namely earth (*pathavi-kāya*), water (*āpo-k.*), fire (*tejo-k.*), and air (*vāyo-k.*), with joy (*sukha*), sorrow (*dukkha*), and life (*jīva*) as the seventh. Although all seven are described as *kāya*, in their enumeration this word is not suffixed to the last three; this perhaps indicates that the three latter elements were thought of as different and less solid than the others. Linguistic evidence points to the possibility that they are an addition to the theory by another hand.²