Other Religious Sects and the Bhakti Roots

Ancient India produced many ideas about fate, effort and God. Three of them are easy to mix up in exams.

The Ajivikas said everything is fixed. The Charvakas said only what you can see is real. The early bhakti saints said you can reach God through love.

Think of three answers to one question. The question is: what decides your future?

2.1 Who founded the sect?

The Ajivikas were wandering ascetics. They lived in the same age as the Buddha and Mahavira. Their founder was Makkhali Gosala. He is also called Maskarin Gosala.

Gosala spent the first six years of Mahavira’s wandering with him. The two later parted ways. The Columbia Encyclopedia dates Gosala’s death to about 484 BC.

2.2 What was niyati?

The Ajivikas believed in niyati. It means a cosmic order that cannot be changed. Everything follows it, and no one can alter it.

Their idea of rebirth was a long, fixed journey. A soul passes through plants, insects, animals and humans. After eighty-four hundred thousand (8,400,000) existences, liberation comes on its own.

• Good deeds cannot speed this up.
• Bad deeds cannot slow it down.
• Liberation is automatic.

Where have you heard this number? The phrase “chaurasi lakh janam” is still used in India today. It means 84 lakh births.

2.3 How was this different from Jainism and Buddhism?

Jains, Buddhists and Hindus all say that good deeds bring good results. The Ajivikas said they do not. That is the key difference.

Common mistake: the Ajivikas did believe in a soul and in rebirth. They simply denied that your actions change the path.

2.4 Why do we know so little about them?

All Ajivika texts have been lost. We know them only from Buddhist and Jain books. These books were written by rivals, so they may be unfair.

The sect faded after the Mauryan age. It kept some local importance in south-east India. The Columbia Encyclopedia says it survived there until the 14th century.

Why does this matter? Be careful with vivid stories about Gosala. They come from people who disagreed with him.

3.1 What did Ashoka give the Ajivikas?

The Barabar hill in Bihar has four rock-cut caves. An inscription in the Sudama cave records that Ashoka gave them to Ajivika monks. The date is given as about 261 BCE, in the 12th year of his reign.

This is hard proof. A great emperor gave shelter to a rival ascetic sect.

3.2 What did Dasaratha add?

Ashoka’s grandson Dasaratha cut caves on the nearby Nagarjuni hill. There are three of them. Short inscriptions record that he gave them to the Ajivikas after his coronation.

One inscription says the cave is a monsoon home “as long as sun and moon shall endure”. So the Ajivikas kept royal support after Ashoka.

3.3 Why are these caves famous?

• They are among the earliest rock-cut caves in India. They date to the Mauryan age, the 3rd century BCE.
• Their walls have a lustrous polish.
• The Lomas Rishi cave shows the first known chaitya arch in stone. The arch copies a wooden building.
• The same arch form was repeated later at Ajanta and Kanheri.

Common mistake: the cave names (Lomas Rishi, Sudama) come from folk tradition. They are not the original names.

4.1 What did the Charvakas teach?

Charvaka is also called Lokayata. It is Indian materialism. It says matter is the only reality.

• Perception is the only valid way to know anything. Inference is not trusted.
• Only four elements exist: earth, water, fire and air.
• God, the soul, heaven and life after death are not real.
• Enjoyment is the aim of life.

Compare: the Ajivikas said effort changes nothing. The Charvakas said there is no unseen world at all.

4.2 Who founded it?

Brihaspati is the traditional founder. Another view names his chief disciple, a thinker called Charvaka. A third view says “Charvaka” is just a common label for materialists.

So the founder is uncertain. That is a good fact to remember.

4.3 What were its two camps?

Charvaka had two internal groups. The Dhurtta Charvakas were the harsh materialists. The Sushikshita (refined) Charvakas accepted some moral value in human life.

Common mistake: Nyaya and Vaisheshika are not Charvaka schools. They are separate orthodox schools.

5.1 What does the Heliodorus pillar show?

The Heliodorus pillar stands at Besnagar, near Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh. Heliodorus was an ambassador of the Indo-Greek ruler Antialcidas of Taxila. He came to the court of King Bhagabhadra of the Shunga dynasty.

The pillar is dedicated to Vasudeva. It is topped by a Garuda. The inscription is in Brahmi. It suggests that a Greek ambassador adopted Vaishnava devotion.

5.2 Who were the Alvars and Nayanars?

Between the 6th and 9th centuries, saints in Tamil Nadu sang of love for their god.

• The Alvars were 12 saints devoted to Vishnu.
• The Nayanars were 63 saints devoted to Shiva.
• They came from many backgrounds. Some were potters, peasants, hunters and soldiers.

Their songs spoke of the pain of separation from God and the joy of union.

5.3 Where are their songs kept?

The Alvars’ songs are collected as the Divya Prabandham. The Nayanars’ songs are collected as the Tirumurai. These collections were sung in temples later.

Common mistake: do not swap the pairs. Alvars go with Vishnu. Nayanars go with Shiva.

The table sorts the three ideas by their answer to one question: what decides your future?

6.1 What should you remember?

• Gosala founded the Ajivikas. Niyati means fixed fate. The cycle is 84 lakh births.
• Ashoka and Dasaratha gave caves at Barabar and Nagarjuni to Ajivika monks.
• Lomas Rishi has the first stone chaitya arch.
• Charvaka accepts only perception. Its two camps are Dhurtta and Sushikshita.
• The Heliodorus pillar shows early devotion to Vasudeva.
• Alvars (Vishnu, 12) and Nayanars (Shiva, 63) sang in Tamil.

Which questions asked about the Nayanars and Alvars?

CDS (II) 2019, General Knowledge, Q58.
Who were the Nayanars?
(a) Those who were immersed in devotion to Vishnu
(b) Those who were devotees of Buddha
(c) Leaders who were devotees of Shiva
(d) Leaders who were devotees of Basveshwara

The answer is (c). The INFLIBNET chapter on bhakti and NCERT Class 7 describe the Nayanars as saints devoted to Shiva. Option (a) describes the Alvars.

CDS (II) 2019, General Knowledge, Q111.
Who were Alvars?
(a) Those who immersed in devotion to Vishnu
(b) Devotees of Shiva
(c) Those who worshipped abstract form of God
(d) Devotees of Shakti

The answer is (a). The INFLIBNET chapter on bhakti and NCERT Class 7 say the Alvars were devoted to Vishnu. Option (b) describes the Nayanars.

Which question asked about Charvaka?

CDS (II) 2022, General Knowledge, Q93.
Which among the following are Charvaka Schools of Philosophy?
1. Dhurtta
2. Nyaya
3. Sushikshita
4. Vaisheshika
(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 4 only
(d) 1 and 3 only

The answer is (d). A paper from North Bengal University names the Dhurta and Sushikshita sub-groups of the Charvakas. Nyaya and Vaisheshika are separate, orthodox schools. The INFLIBNET chapter on the darshanas lists the schools that follow the Vedas.