It’s story time: it’s the adventures of the Ajivika’s founder, Makkhali Gosala!

We read selected episodes from the Bhagavati Sutra, a text written by one of the Ajivika’s rival sects, the Jains. As you can imagine, it is not particularly friendly to Gosala. Hilarity ensures.

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co-hosts   Nick and Anna

time / place   India, 5th cen. BCE

dead idea   Reanimating dead corpses and living in them (a feature of the extinct religion called Ajivika)

Main Sources

Anguttara Nikaya.

Barua, B. M. (1920). The Ajivikas. University of Calcutta.

Basham, A. L. (1951). History and Doctrines of the Ajivika: A Vanished Indian Religion. London: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.

Bhagavati Sutra.

Hoernle, A. F. R. (1908) “Ajivikas.” Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. 1. James Hastings, Ed. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

McEvilley, T. (2002). The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Thought. New York: Allworth Press.

Rg Veda.

Samannaphala Sutta.

Music and graphic design by Rachel Westhoff.