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The position of the Ajivikas in Indian history is a strange and fascinating one. The 5th and 6th centuries AD, saw the emergence of many heterodox schools of thought that didn’t align themselves with the conventional interpretation of Vedic scriptures. Among these, Buddhism and Jainism have found their place in Indian history. Their rise, beliefs and customs are well documented. There existed, however, a third sect known as the Ajivikas. Their ideas, unfortunately, are lost to time. Despite that, said ideas are fascinating and warrant further exploration. Such exploration is easier said than done, as Ajivika scholarship runs into a very specific issue.
The Problem with Ajivika Scholarship
The lack of any surviving record of Ajivika thought, means that the information regarding them must be inferred from Buddhist and Jain sources. These, being rival schools, are obviously inclined to be extremely biased in their presentation of the Ajivika philosophy. Hence, scholars tend to approach these sources with a certain degree of skepticism.(Barua 22)They do however write about the Ajivikas extensively, and much can be inferred about the Ajivikas from contemporary Buddhist and Jain sources. Specifically, we turn to a man named Makkhali Goshala.
Fig. Jains were contemporaries of the Ajivikas.
Makkhali Goshala: The Enigmatic Figurehead
The most prominent thinker of the Ajivika school was Makkhali Goshala, a contemporary of Buddha and Mahavira. The Ajivikas existed before Goshala, but they were disparate tribes and the word “Ajivika” was used far more loosely. Makkhali Goshala probably unified a bunch of tribes with similar philosophies and ways of life. His ideas then served as philosophical unification for the Ajivikas, and developed a concrete identity for the sect. (Basham 94)
Goshala appears as an enigmatic figure, full of mystique and intrigue. The imagination can run wild when trying to picture him. The Bagavathi Sutra, a Jain text, tells us that he was a close acquaintance of Mahavira, and that the two spent six years practicing asceticism together. The two eventually parted ways due to doctrinal differences (Barua 7). doctrine of Goshala is unique in the context of Indian philosophy as it proposes a wide range of ideas and practices chief among which, is a deterministic outlook towards life.
Fig. Depiction of an Ajivika ascetic.
Niyati: Deterministic Monism
The Ajivikas believed in a certain cosmic principle known as Niyati. Niyati supposedly dictates all past, present and future happenings in the universe, including past present and future lives. This includes human interaction. Events and happenings in the universe are all predetermined according to the dictates of Niyati. Scholars argue that this outlook on life leaves very little room for free will and agency on the part of the human being(Britannica par.2).This parallels the idea of determinism that states that all happenings in the universe are causally inevitable(Britannica par.1) This is in stark contrast to Vedic scripture, in which one can alter one’s fate by appealing to the gods or the idea of Karma which dictates that the ethical value of one’s action now, can determine one’s circumstances in future lives.
To put things into perspective, consider your own life. Ajivakism would dictate that every decision, from your choice of dessert at last night’s dinner to the job that you decide to apply for is predetermined by Niyati. These events are simply playing out as they ought to. In the exact way Niyati would have them play out. Despite this heterodox view, the Ajivikas still believed in the transmigration of souls. According to the Bagavathi sutra and Samannaphala Sutra, a central theme in Makkhali’s theory was a process of evolution through endless births and deaths(Barua 24).This process of evolution necessitates the division of time into units such as Mahakalpas, Kalpas, Arthakalpas,etc (Barua 25).
Fig.Ajivikas believed in a cosmic principle called Niyati.
Pointlessness of Human Effort
The Ajivikas believed that human effort was ultimately pointless in the grand scheme of things. Your actions, their consequences and their weight are all determined by factors outside your control according to the Ajivikas. This is best described in a text known as the Samannaphala Sutta(a Buddhist text), where in Makkhali Goshala is quoted to utter the the following lines when questioned on the benefits of ascetic life by the king, Ajathashatu,
“Great king, there is no cause, no requisite condition, for the defilement of beings. Beings are defiled without cause, without requisite condition. There is no cause, no requisite condition, for the purification of beings. Beings are purified without cause, without requisite condition. There is nothing self-caused, nothing other-caused, nothing human-caused. There is no strength, no effort, no human energy, no human endeavor. All living beings, all life, all beings, all souls are powerless, devoid of strength, devoid of effort. Subject to the changes of fate, serendipity, and nature, they are sensitive to pleasure and pain in the six great classes of birth.”
“‘Though one might think, “Through this morality, this practice, this austerity, or this holy life I will ripen unripened karma and eliminate ripened karma whenever touched by it” — that is impossible. Pleasure and pain are measured out, the wandering-on is fixed in its limits. There is no shortening or lengthening, no accelerating or decelerating. Just as a ball of string, when thrown, comes to its end simply by unwinding, in the same way, having transmigrated and wandered on, the wise and the foolish alike will put an end to pain.’ (Bhikkhu par.29-31)
In other words one could say “human effort is ineffectual”. Salvation occurs when it does. Not as a result of one’s efforts. This might seem unconvincing to some. Consider again, your own life. How much of it is under your control? That promotion you want? Who knows what mood your boss is in? Bored and opened Youtube? Chances are that you randomly clicked on a video determined by an algorithm completely outside your control.
One can argue however that you can work hard to get a promotion or willingly decide to click on a specific Youtube video. However an Ajivika could argue that the neurological impulses that led to that decision were not under your own control? Does free will then exist? I leave it to the reader to speculate.
Fig. Ajivikas denied free will.
Atomism and Ethics
The Samannaphala Sutta contains the answers of six scholars, to King Ajathashatu’s questionabout the point of austerities. These are Purana Kassapa, Makkhali Goshala, Ajita Kesambali,Pakhuda Kaccayana, Sanjaya Belatthiputha and Nigantha Nataputta (Basham 11).The scholar, A.L Basham argues that the answers of Purana and Pakhuda can be attributed to the Ajivikas as they flow logically from Makkhali’s ideas and/or are consistent with later Ajivika writings(Basham 17-18).
Pakhuda’s answer is as follows,
‘Great king, there are these seven substances — unmade, irreducible, uncreated, without a creator, barren, stable as a mountain-peak, standing firm like a pillar — that do not alter, do not change, do not interfere with one another, are incapable of causing one another pleasure, pain, or both pleasure and pain. Which seven? The earth-substance, the liquid-substance, the fire-substance, the wind-substance, pleasure, pain, and the soul as the seventh. These are the seven substances — unmade, irreducible, uncreated, without a creator, barren, stable as a mountain-peak, standing firm like a pillar — that do not alter, do not change, do not interfere with one another, and are incapable of causing one another pleasure, pain, or both pleasure and pain.
“‘And among them there is no killer nor one who causes killing, no hearer nor one who causes hearing, no cognizer nor one who causes cognition. When one cuts off [another person’s] head, there is no one taking anyone’s life. It is simply between the seven substances that the sword passes.’ (Bhikkhu par.37-38)
Basham equates this idea to a school of thought known as atomism.
Atomism understands that the natural world in the sense that it is composed of aggregates of fixed units as opposed to intrinsic wholes.(Britannica par.2). Though it is not as complex and nuanced as modern atomic theory, the answer attributed to Pakhuda indicates some degree of atomism in Classical Indian thought.
Fig. Ajivikas adopted a certain degree of atomism
The answer attributed to Purana however, presents an unusual view on ethics. It goes as follows,
‘Great king, in acting or getting others to act, in mutilating or getting others to mutilate, in torturing or getting others to torture, in inflicting sorrow or in getting others to inflict sorrow, in tormenting or getting others to torment, in intimidating or getting others to intimidate, in taking life, taking what is not given, breaking into houses, plundering wealth, committing burglary, ambushing highways, committing adultery, speaking falsehood — one does no evil. If with a razor-edged disk one were to turn all the living beings on this earth to a single heap of flesh, a single pile of flesh, there would be no evil from that cause, no coming of evil. Even if one were to go along the right bank of the Ganges, killing and getting others to kill, mutilating and getting others to mutilate, torturing and getting others to torture, there would be no evil from that cause, no coming of evil. Even if one were to go along the left bank of the Ganges, giving and getting others to give, making sacrifices and getting others to make sacrifices, there would be no merit from that cause, no coming of merit. Through generosity, self-control, restraint, and truthful speech there is no merit from that cause, no coming of merit.‘ (Bhikkhu par. 26)
This presents a bleak outlook, where ethical responsibility is denied. This is not a world, by my own admission, that I would like to live in. However, such conclusions on ethics are common in deterministic thought. Can ethical responsibility still be a thing in a deterministic world? To answer that question I would point the reader towards works of science fiction that ponder such questions, such as the novel Dune, the movie Minority report or the anime Psycho-pass.
Scientific Thought?
As we have seen above, the Ajivika thought was strongly governed by atomism and determinism. Both are philosophies that eventually became very important to the development of modern science as we know it today. It is commonly accepted that matter consists of aggregates of atoms called molecules. Many Physicists also argue that the interaction of said atoms results in a world where every happening, is ultimately inevitable and was always going to happen.
Obviously people in Classical India didn’t have the same degree of scientific knowledge we have today. However, the similarity of guiding philosophies leads one to speculate whether the Ajivikas were onto a proto version of the scientific method.
Fig. Were the Ajivikas onto a proto version of the scientific method?
Binary Divisions of the Organic World
Ajivika thought divides the organic world, as being composed of six phenomenon with three sets of opposed phenomenon:
-Gain and Loss.
-Pleasure and pain.
-Life and death (Barua 25).
Each of these consists of one positive phenomenon and its subsequent negative phenomenon. From this we can speculate that the Ajivikas, to an extent, saw the world in binaries with positives like gain and pleasure providing comfort and negatives like loss and pain providing discomfort. This is very similar to the modern notion that life is just a process of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain.
Austerities
Similar to the Buddhists and Jains, the Ajivikas observed asceticism and penance of the most severe kind.In the early days, Makkhali Goshala and Purana Kassapa are often described to be completely naked. (Basham 107).The Nanguttha Jataka describes penances such as resting in a squatted posture and sleeping on a bed of thorns for instance.(Basham 110).This indicates that being an Ajivika wasn’t simply about the thought processes. It also involved strict, and often painful adherence to doctrine.
Practical Lessons from Ajivakism
On the whole, Ajivika thought may not be applicable to our lives as it involves severe austerity and a pessimistic view of ethics. However, there are things that can be learned from Ajivakism.
Firstly, it teaches us not to worry about alternate possibilities in our lives. If everything is predetermined, the question “What if I had done this instead?” becomes moot. Things were always going to be the way that they are now. We don’t need to waste our time wondering about alternate possibilities.
Also, the deterministic outlook on causality leads us to consider actions as a product of circumstance. This includes human interaction. One can be more empathetic to people one disagrees with by considering the causal circumstances of their actions.
Considering the causes of one’s own action also increases one’s accountability. For example, if I knew that certain biological triggers made me more angry, I would be careful to watch my behavior when said biological trigger occurred.
Such lessons can be drawn from a deterministic outlook such as the one of the Ajivikas
Conclusion
The Ajivikas appear as a varied and enigmatic sect whose ideas have unfortunately been lost to time. Their beliefs appear to be extremely unique and distinguished, both in general and given the context of their time and place. One is left to wonder what would have happened in a world where their sect gained the popularity of its Buddhists and Jain contemporaries. However, the Ajivikas’ own beliefs would render such speculation moot. Would it not? We are left to ponder such intriguing questions.
Works Cited
Basham,A.L. “History and Doctrine of the Ajivikas”,
1951. pp.11, pp.17-18, pp.94, pp.107, pp.110
Barua, B.M “The Ajivikas”, 1920, pp.7 pp.22 pp.24-25
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. “determinism”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Jan. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/determinism. Accessed 9 February 2025.
Melsen, Andrew G.M. van. “atomism”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Nov. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/atomism. Accessed 9 February 2025.
Bhikku, Thanissaro “Samannaphala Sutta: The Fruits of Contemplative Life”, accesstonight.org, 1997, https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html, par.26, par.29-31, par.37-38
