History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c25.s3.13

c25.s3.13

It is likely that former Ājīvikas would not at first find a spiritual home with the more reputable Vaiṣṇavite sects, but rather with a sect on the fringes of orthodoxy, such as the Pāñcarātras, and there are features of Pāñcarātra teaching which are very reminiscent of that of the Ājīvikas. The doctrine of avatāras or divine incarnations is one such feature; others, though less obvious, are equally significant. For instance the Pāñcarātra, like the Jaina and the Ājīvika, uses the term jīva for the soul,⁹ in preference to ātma. As with the Ājīvikas, the soul, according to Pāñcarātra theory, is in some sense atomic,¹ and liberated souls are of two classes, *nityas* and *muktas*, the former of which can incarnate themselves at will, just as Viṣṇu himself.² We recall the *maṇḍalas* and *sambodhakas* of *Civañāṇa-cittiyār*.³