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APPENDIX A
surmise he quotes from the Tamil poem Nilakesī. It is true that according to the malicious account,19 left by Buddhaghoṣa, Pūraṇa went about naked. But in the Samaññaphala Sutta20 of the Digha Nikaya, a clear distinction has been made between the doctrine of Gośāla and that of Kassapa. that Buddhaghoṣa was thoroughly biased is proved by the fact that he represents Pūraṇa as a slave, which is clearly wrong, as Kassapa is a Brāhmaṇa gotra. It is however, quite likely that Gośāla and Pūraṇa had some respect for one another as the latter is presented in the Anguttara Nikaya as praising the three important Ajivika teachers, a point which has already been noted.
Let us now attempt to take a close and hard look at the personality and career of Gośāla, probably the most controversial and enigmatic figure in the history of Indian philosophy. We should never forget that the texts, which deal with him, were all written by archenemies of the Ajivikas, namely the Jainas and Buddhists. Yet the life of this Ājivika teacher, as painted in the Bhagavati, the fifth Anga text of the Jainas, is the only available source regarding his career. The references to him and the Ājīvikas in the Pāli Tripitaka often help us, but they are only incidental notices. The Bhagavati11 represents Gośāla as the son of one Mankhali by his spouse Bhadra. This work further tells us that this Mankhali was a mankha which means a royal bard.22 It appears from the Bhagavati that Mankhali, the father of Gośāla, was a poor, wandering poet or bard who earned his livelihood by singing old, heroic ballads and exhibiting pictures (cittaphalaga) connected with his songs. The boy Gośāla was born in the cowshed (gośāla) of a rich Brāhmaṇa called Gobahula, who was a resident of a village called Saravana. That Makkhali was born in a cowshed is also attested to by Buddhaghoṣa23 in his Sumangalavilāsinī and Papañcasudanī. The latter also paints him as a servant of a rich man, and tells a ridiculous story to explain his name makkhali; howthe Jainas do not confirm this story and, as I have already pointed out, a similar story is told by Buddhaghosa, that diehard Buddhist, regarding Pūraṇa Kassapa.
ever,
It appears from the Bhagavati that Gośāla, after attaining manhood, accepted the professional life of his father. It further appears that from the very beginning of his career he developed some sort of repugnance against worldly life. When he met Mahāvīra at Nālandā near Rajagṛha for the first time, he was already a recluse. According to the writer of the Bhagavati, 24 Mahāvīra initially turned down Gośāla's request to make him his disciple. But later, in the second
