Gosalaka, Founder of Ajivika School of Philosophy and His Association with Lord Mahavira

 

 Gosalaka, Founder of Ajivika School of Philosophy

Gosalaka was an ascetic who formed the Ajivika Sect. Ajivika is one of the nastika or heterodox school of Indian philosophy. It was a Sramana movement and a major rival of Vedic religion, Buddhism and Jainism. Original scriptures of Ajivika philosophy may once have existed, but they may become lost with time. But the descriptions of the Ajivika fatalists and their founder Gosalaka can be found in both Buddhist and Jaina scriptures. The Ajivika school is known for its Niyati (fate) doctrine of absolute fatalism or determinism. The predetermined fate of living beings was the major distinctive doctrine of their school. They did not believe in the Jain school of thoughts, regarding attainment of liberation of soul (moksha) from the eternal cycle of birth and death. Further Ajivikas considered the karma doctrine of Jainism as fallacy. Ajivika metaphysics included a theory of atoms, which was later adapted in the Vaisesika school. Ajivikas were mostly considered as atheists. Ajivika philosophy survived for nearly 2000 years till 13^th and 14^th centuries CE in the Southern Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Ajivika philosophy, along with the Carvaka philosophy, appealed most to the warrior, industrial and mercantile classes of ancient Indian Society.

Association of Gosalaka with Lord Mahavira

Gosalaka was born about 523 BCE. He was named Gosalaka because he was born in a cowshed. He was known as Mankhali putra, because he was the illegitimate son of a monk. Perhaps, the cause of his strange dual nature, his strivings and his failure were due to his birth with tainted blood. According to Bhagavati Sutra, Gosalaka became associated with Mahavira three years after the start of Mahavira’s ascetism. He stayed with him for more than six years and travelled various places. During his first meeting with Mahavira at Nalanda, Gosalaka was impressed by the spiritual knowledge of Mahavira and became his first disciple. They stayed together in a weaver’s cottage near Nalanda and spent the rainy season. While Mahavira was usually on fast, Gosalaka made his living by begging alms from the householders. During his association with Mahavira, he often used to harass him in various ways, by asking difficult questions regarding the future events which Mahavira answered without delay, and all the future predictions turned out to be true. On the sixth year of Mahavira’s wandering as ascetic, Gosalaka left and rejoined after six months. Again, Gosalaka left in the tenth year and proclaimed himself to be the head of the Ajivika Sect.

A commentary to the Jain Avasyaka Sutra provides details of these six years of association. Several incidents in the narrative show Mahavira making predictions that then come true, despite Gosalaka’s repeated attempts to foil them. These incidents motivated Gosalaka to believe in the inevitability of fate. Mahavira’s association with Gosalaka was recorded in the Bhagavati Sutra. On coming to a plant by the roadside, Gosalaka asked Mahavira what the fate of the plant and its seeds would be. Mahavira said that the plant would grow to fruition and the seeds would grow into new plants. Determined to foil his master’s prediction, Gosalaka uprooted the plant. But sudden rainfall caused the plant to revive and re-root itself. When Gosalaka explained the fate of the plant to Mahavira, they both came near the tree and became surprised to see the tree with fruits and new saplings, as was predicted by Mahavira. Gosalaka became influenced by the reanimation of the plant and he became convinced that all living things can be reanimated. Mahavira disagreed with this theory. Mahavira once rescued Gosalaka from an attack by an enraged renunciant who was using magical powers acquired through the practice of austerities.

There seems no doubt that Mahavira and Gosalaka separated owing to some act of unchastity on Gosalaka’s part. This was probably the reason of adding vow of chastity (Sanyam) to the ascetic life besides the other four vows of non-violence (ahimsa), truthfulness (satya), non-stealing (achaurya) and non-possessiveness (aparigraha) established by Parsvanath, the 23th tirthankara. An added element of bitterness was caused due to Gosalaka, who hastily started preaching after six years while Mahavira waited twelve years and started teaching only after attaining omniscience. Gosalaka brought forward another doctrine, that of re-animation, by which he explained to Mahavira that the old Gosalaka who had been a disciple of Mahavira was dead, and with the help of re-animation, new Gosalaka had been formed. This concept of re-animation was not accepted by the people and Gosalaka became discredited and at last died as a fool. Just before the end, Gosalaka confessed his guilt and acknowledged that whatever Mahavira had said against him was true, and that he had preached a false theory. The discussion of Gosalaka is important for two reasons, the sin and shame of his life emphasized the need for stringent rules for the ascetics; and the doctrine of absolute fatalism became the cause of non-moral conduct.