Ajivika is an unorthodox (nastika) philosophical and ascetic movement in ancient India , most likely preceding Buddhism and Jainism . The Agivics were an organization of wandering wanderers (parivrajakis - “tramp” or “wanderer” shramans ), who believed that human fate does not depend on human actions, but is determined by a strict impersonal cosmic law - niyati (restriction).
Content
Etymology
One of the explanations: agivika - “one who finds livelihoods (ajiva) in different places”, and could come from the expression a jivat (“as long as life”), pointing to one of the fundamental principles of ajivika - for final liberation you have to go through many lives. Quite possibly it was not a self-name.
History
About Adzhiviki very few sources have survived. Their scriptures were lost, and few fragments are preserved in Buddhist and Jain texts, as well as in inscriptions from the era of the Mauryev empire . It is difficult to determine to what extent these sources reflect the actual teachings of the Agivists, since in the surviving fragments they are criticized by the opponents and, quite possibly, deliberate distortions were used.
The founder of the sect is considered to be Maskarin Goshala ( Sanskrit ; Pali : Makkhali Gosala), but there are allegations that he was the head of a large community of Ajiviks, and not the founder. It is claimed that Goshala was a friend of Mahavira , the 24th Tirthankar of Jainism. The Bhagavati Sutra portrays Goshala as a disciple of Mahavira for six years, and then their worldviews diverged. The father of Emperor Ashoka , Bindusar , was a supporter of Adzhivika, which reached a peak in popularity during the Ashoka era, and then disappeared, but perhaps individual groups continued to exist in India even before the XIV century. In the Middle Ages, Ajiviki began to join the Digambara sangha, so that the Shvetambaras began to believe that Ajiviki and Digambaras have one school [1] .
Beliefs and Religious Practices
The teachings of the Agivists were distinguished from other Indian systems of that time by extreme fatalism ; any human efforts are inconclusive, since the inevitable rock niyati rules the world, karmic laws are invalid, there is no reason that the world is imperfect, creatures are corrupted for no reason or reason, everything changes under the influence of random coincidences, but salvation from suffering will come automatically, without the slightest personal effort on the part of the creature, after going through a cycle of 8.4 million mahacalp .
Agivics, like Jains, practiced ahimsa and vegetarianism . Both men and women were allowed to ascetic practice. Agivics refused food specially prepared for them, as well as offerings of pregnant women or those householders who have a dog that may also want to eat. Also practiced fasting , constant nudity , possibly disfiguring new members during initiation . The Agivists believed that initiation into their order is evidence of the last reincarnation before nirvana and with all their might sought to bring the desired end. Therefore, they practiced constant exhausting posts and considered a voluntary death to starvation a worthy end to life.
The Agivics introduced the doctrine of the color of souls (leśya): black - the souls of people living with violence (fishermen, hunters, etc.), blue - monks with a "life like thieves", red - monks, including Jains, green - Agiviki laymen, whites - agivivics monks, super-whites (parama-sukka) - teachers of adjivics (Gosala, Nanda Vachcha, Kisa Sankichcha) [1] .
In the classifications of souls (7 types), in cosmography, and in the field of logic, adjivism was so close to Jainism that some medieval Indian authors and some modern scholars consider adjivism to be one of the sects of Jainism. Agiviks were popular as predictors of the future at the rajas [2] .
Buddhism and Agivica
Buddha criticized adjivics for the destructive denial of human potential and responsibility for their actions. The teachings of Agivica are described as doing more harm than any other teaching.
Jains and Agivika
Since the founder of Adzhivika Gosala and the 24th tirthankara Mahavira were connected, a number of common features are related to the Adzhiviki and Jains, especially the Digambaras: the absence of bloody victims, ascetics go naked, do not use alms bowls, do not use root vegetables, garlic, onions, meat and wine, they don’t accept alms from a dog who has just eaten and from whose house a dog is standing in the doorway or flies circling around it.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Zheleznova, 2012 , p. 21.
- ↑ Lysenko V. G. Adzhivika // New Philosophical Encyclopedia / Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences ; Nat social science fund; Pres scientific ed. Council V. S. Styopin , alternate representatives: A. A. Huseynov , G. Yu. Semigin , school. sec. A.P. Ogurtsov . - 2nd ed., Rev. and extra. - M .: Thought , 2010 .-- ISBN 978-5-244-01115-9 .
Literature
- in Russian
- Zheleznova N. A. Digambara philosophy from Umasvati to Nemichaidra: historical and philosophical essays. - M .: Eastern literature , 2012 .-- 431 p. - 500 copies. - ISBN 978-5-02-036516-2 .
- Luchina V.P. Adzhivika // Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. Edition: L. F. Ilyichev , P. N. Fedoseev , S. M. Kovalev , V. G. Panov . - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1983. - S. 13. - 840 p. - 150,000 copies.
- Shokhin V.K. First philosophers of India. Textbook for universities and universities. - M .: Ladomir, 1997 .-- 301 p.
- in other languages
- Basham AL History and doktrines of the Ajivika. Delhi, India: Moltilal Banarsidass Publications , 2002. ISBN 81-208-1204-2 .
- Barua BA History of Prebuddhistic Indian Philosophy. Delhi etc., 1970.