History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c25.s3.4

c25.s3.4

The second sub-sect had moved far from early Ājīvikism. It taught the existence of only five elements,³ and the theory of avicalita-nityatavam,⁴ which, in its collorary of the illusoriness of all phenomena, represents a step in the direction of monism. This school remembered the early teacher Pūraṇa,⁵ and believed that its founder, Maṛkali, was a divine being, manifesting visions of himself to his devotees and incarnating himself for the restoration of the Ājīvika faith.⁶ This is the Ājīvikism of Nīlakēci.