History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c24.s6.17

c24.s6.17

The *Vāyu Purāṇa* shows us Ājīvikas worshipping *Piśācas* with costly ceremonies,⁷ while *Nilakēci* depicts Maṛkali as a sort of god, manifesting himself to his devotees in sudden and brilliant theophanies. Both Śīlāṅka and Malliṣeṇa, as well as the *Civañāṉa-cittiyār* suggest that, like Viṣṇu, he was thought of as occasionally performing *avatāras*.⁸ We have here evidence of a school of Ājīvikism which had developed a devotional cult, which may have had much in common with the less orthodox sects of Vaiṣṇavism, such as the Pāñcarātras.⁹