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Vardhamâna and the Foundations of Jainism
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eventually he came to be regarded as the leader of this sect and as the chief spokesman of the "fatalist" doctrines to which it adhered.
According to the Vyakhyaprajnapti (also known as the Bhagavati-sutra), 54 a prominent Svetâmbara scripture, Gosala heard tales of Mahâvîra's miraculous powers, particularly his uncanny accuracy in prognostication; wishing to come into contact with such power7s himself, the Ajivika came to the future Jina and asked to become a disciple. It is further related that the two spent six years together. On one occasion Mahâvîra displayed his yogic prowess to his companion, when they came across a heretical brahman ascetic named Vesiyayana, who was doing penance by fasting and sitting with hands upraised to the sun for several days. He was covered with lice but was too compassionate to hurt them. Gosala taunted him, saying, "Are you a muni (sage), or a host for lice?” When this insult was uttered a second time Vesiyâyana became enraged; stepping back eight paces, he released in Gosala's direction the magical heat which he had accumulated through long yogic practice. But Mahâvîra quickly neutralized the effects of this deadly heat with a cooling emanation of his own. The brahman recognized that he was no match for Mahâvîra.
Gosâla begged to be given the secret of such power. Granting his request, Mahâvîra described the six-month per
hahâvîra described the six-month penance required for accomplishment of the goal. Gosâla then left his teacher and pursued his own career; eventually, through the practices that Mahâvîra had taught him, he attained great yogic powers and proclaimed himself a Jina. It is said that he made his headquarters in Srâsvasti at the workshop of the potter woman Hâlâhalâ, with whom he lived under compromising circumstances. There he spent his time codifying the Ajivika scriptures and mounting polemics against all rivals, even his former companion and instructor.
Makkhali Gosâla has one other important part to play in the life of Mahâvîra. To observe this we must go ahead of the story for a moment to a time long after Mahâvîra's enlightenment, when the Jina felt it necessary to make public the history of his relation with the Ajivika leader and to show the latter's claim to Jinahood for the sham it was. Gosala reacted to this “slander” with verbal threats against Mahâvîra's life. When this produced no effect beyond the refusal of Jainas to associate with Ajivikas,
