Ājīvika

The real questions for those who want to know the truth are questions about how to practice.

There was an Ajivaka who met the Buddha.

He asked, The Buddha replied, But his reply was incomprehensible to that wanderer.

It was too direct.

... infer this from what we see in the results.

Uh, and, uh, and like I said, the principal rivals for the Brahmin tradition were these other, uh, traditions seeking, uh, moksha of one kind or another, the Jains, the Buddhists, the Ajivikas also.

So there was a need to address that point.

There was a need to prove that Upanishadic wisdom is not only every bit as good as those kinds of wisdom, but even better.

the digambara detail is the one that stops people full renunciation including of clothing

Jainism and the now extinct Ajivikas practice the most severe austerities and self-mortification in pursuit of salvation.

That's the far end of the spectrum.

And then Islam, which is the fascinating middle case.

Mm.

And within the Nastika, you had the Ajivikas, the Shramanas, uh, you know, the Bauddha, Jaina, and Charvaka.

Now, there was constant interaction and debates among all of these people.

The biggest example is Adi Shankara, who later, you know, started the, the Advaita school-

So to me, these two are fundamental to be called a Hindu, to have belief in this, unless and until, of course, one says I'm a Charva, which is also fine.

We've also had a school of thought, which is very fatalistic, Ajivikas.

They'll say that, oh, everything is predetermined and we have no agency.

There are schools like that too.