________________
castes with Cosala ka4. That the subcastes are due to Cosalaka can be established from the text of the Jaina
Agama Bhagavati5. The most authoritative Buddhist text on this is Samaññjaphala Sutta 6. According to this, too,
the view is due to Gosalaka. The founders and followers of the Ajivakas top the list. According to Dr. Basham, Pūraṇa Kasyapa was the seniormost among the spiritual leaders of the age, while Gosalaka was young. When Pūraņa Kasyapa saw his view waning and that of Gosálaka waxing, he readily accepted the superiority of the latter7. If this view of Dr. Basham be accepted, then it tallies with the expression in the Tripitakas linking the six subcastes to Purana Kasyapa. There are some differences in the meaning of the subcastes. According to one text, Nigantha ekasataka have been placed under the third category of red. Dr. Herr's rendering of this is "Jaina and one with a loin (single) cloth "8. The rendering by Dr. Basham" Dr. Hornell10 and Buddhaghoṣall is "a nirgrantha in a single piece of cloth". The Buddhist literature is galore with references to the clad Niganthas 12.
2
The reading for the third yellow subcaste is gihiodata vasaña acelaka-sabaka. . Dr. Basham's rendering of this is "the followers of the Acelakas - white clad
disciples "1. According to him, the word Acelaka stands for the Ajivakas2. He is of the view that compared to the bhiksus of all sects, even the Ajivaka laymen have been considered superior3. In Buddhaghoşa's view, the reading stands for the nigantha savakas. His logic is that the nigantha householder s'ravakas make offer of food to the
4. Sumangala vilasini, Part I, p. 162.
5. S. 15, Sutra 550.
6. Dr. Basham, op cit., p. 23.
7. Ibid, p. 90.
8.
The Book of Gradual Sayings, Vol. III, p. 273.
9. Ibid, p. 243.
10. Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Vol I, p. 262, 11. The Book of Kindred Sayings, Vol. III, p. 17 fn. E. W. Burlinghame, Buddhist Legends, Vol. III, p.176.
12.
603
1. Op. cit., p. 139.
2. Op. cit., p. 243. 3. Op. cit., p. 243.
