History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c24.s1.17

c24.s1.17

Unlike the bodies (*kāya*) of Pakudha Kaccāyana the atoms in *Maṇimēkalai* do move and combine, at least on the lower level of truth. They may come together densely to form a diamond, or loosely, as in a hollow bamboo.¹ These combinations seem to have been thought of as mere juxtapositions of atoms of various types,² and not as the mingling of one atom with another.³ Thus the character of the atoms of Pakudha is in one particular maintained in Maṇimēkalai, although the latter text does not confirm their immobility.