ABSTRACT
Unfortunately, we have absolutely no reliable material to reconstruct these doctrines inasmuch as there is no single quotation or passage conventionally ascribed by Indian tradition to the Âjîvikas which could be positively verified as such. It was primarily BASHAM (1951) who collected a range of material which he thought was genuinely Âjîvikan. Unfortunately, under a closer analysis, all these apparent quotes and a number of other reports and alleged citations prove to be products of non-Âjîvika authors and in many cases derive either from works authored by Jaina thinkers or from fables and narrative literature.256 It is a matter of mystery in itself that such references to and purported quotations from the Âjîvikas, mostly in Sanskrit, are found almost exclusively in Jaina sources. Most probably no other system bothered to engage in any discussion with the Âjîvikas, and even the Jainas kept it to the absolute minimum. Consequently, the whole picture of the Âjîvikas’ tenets and worldview is based on second-hand sources strongly prejudiced against them which turns it into a distorting mirror image.
