An Obsolete Heretical Sect: Early History and Distribution in Eastern India

Summary

Pranabananda Jash’s article “An Obsolete Heretical Sect: Early History and Distribution in Eastern India” examines the Ajivika sect, an ascetic religious order that flourished alongside Buddhism and Jainism during the first millennium B.C. but later disappeared. The article begins by noting that Ajivika teachings, often labelled heretical by orthodox traditions, emerged as part of a broad reaction against Vedic ritualism and the rigid social order of the four varṇas. Jash etymologises the term Ajivika from ajīvīya (“one who follows rules concerning livelihood”) and surveys the definitions offered in Buddhist and Jain sources. B.M. Barua’s threefold connotation of Ajivikas—as wandering ascetics (Parivrajakas), as adherents of certain teachers (including Purana Kassapa, Makkhali Gosala and others), and as disciples of Mankhaliputta Gosala—is discussed to clarify the sect’s identity. The article traces the early history of the Ajivikas through literary references. Gosala, the son of a Mankhali potter who became an ascetic and later split from his companion Mahavira, is shown to have developed an organised monastic order with concepts like predestination (niyati). Jash examines accounts of Gosala’s debates with the Buddha and Mahavira and notes that Ajivika doctrines may have influenced Jain teachings such as the theory of leśyā (mental colourations). The article describes the Ajivika Sangha’s communal life, including rules inferred from scattered references in the Uvāsaga-dasāo and other texts, and enumerates successive teachers after Gosala. Later sections analyse Ajivika ascetic practices, which included extreme austerities, magical rites and penances such as standing with arms raised or living on minimal food. Jash surveys the sect’s geographical spread, arguing that its influence originated in the upper Gangetic valley and gradually extended toward eastern India. Evidence from the Ashokan edicts and the Barabar and Nagarjuni cave inscriptions shows that Ajivikas received royal patronage from the Nandas and Mauryas and were considered a significant religious community in the Mauryan period. However, by the Gupta era the sect was in decline, and by the time of Varāhamihira it survived mainly as a secret society. Occasional later references suggest that Ajivikas merged with other mendicant traditions such as the Nirgranthas (Jains) or Avadhutas. The article concludes with reflections on why a once influential sect vanished: lack of archaeological remains, assimilation into other traditions, and the inability to retain a distinct doctrinal identity contributed to its disappearance.