The History of Buddhist Thought c14.9

c14.9

It is probable that all these names are real,¹ but hardly likely that the descriptions of the doctrines give us a fair picture of the state of thought in early Buddhist times. Two of the names are known from Jain works, Nātaputta and Gosāla, and the latter in those works is called an Ājīvika. This name is said to mean one who gets his livelihood from his profession of ascetic, and to be a name given by opponents. Hence it is not certain that the name was applied only to one peculiar sect. The Ājīvikas are mentioned by the Buddhists, but they never apply the name to Gosāla. According to the Jains, Gosāla joined the Jain leader, but quarrelled with him and they separated. For the Buddhists he is the representative teacher of fatalism. The best known of the six is the Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta, known to the Jains as Mahāvīra, their last leader. The obscurity of the present passage is the more remarkable as the Jains, known to the Buddhists as Nigaṇṭhas,² are mentioned frequently in the Scriptures, and one of their chief doctrines, kiriyavāda, the doctrine of action, is fairly discussed.