The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (95 page)

Ajita Kesakambala
.

One of the notorious six heretical teachers criticized by the Buddha for propounding false doctrines. The epithet ‘kesakambala’ derives from the hair garment worn by Ajita which the Buddhists described as foul-smelling and repellent. In spite of his austere garb Ajita was a materialist who denied the doctrine of the retribution of actions (
karma
) and the purpose of the religious life.

 
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(Skt. ‘not j
va’, i.e. ‘not living’). In Jainism the insentient constitution of the physical universe which forms one of the two major divisions of all existing things, the other being
j
va
(the sentient soul).

 
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(Skt., ‘one who practises a way’ (?)). A heterodox sect founded by Makkhali Gosala, a contemporary and opponent of the
Buddha
. According to Buddhist sources, Makkhali was a determinist who compared the course of a man's life to a ball of string which, when thrown down, rolls along unwinding in a preordained course until it reaches its end.

 
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(Skt.). In Hinduism, the opposite of
jñ
na
, but particularly ignorance of the identity of
tman
and
Brahman
, and thus in consequence equivalent to
avidy
.