History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c9.s1.13

c9.s1.13

The people of the time and region seem to have called themselves Āryans; Buddha knew the word well, and used it in the sense of “good” or “noble”. But the non-Āryan element, both in culture and race, must still have been strong. It has even been suggested that the whole development of religion and philosophy in this period, from Upaniṣadic gnosis to complete materialism, was but a reflection of the non-Āryan reaction to the Āryan sacrificial system and to the rigid Āryan social order of the four varṇas.⁵