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Gośāla also is accused of unchastity, more than once though in an exaggerated way.
Another significant fact is that the six leśya?? divsions of the Niganthas are just similar to the Ajivika division of mankind into six classes (chalābhijātis).28 Both are based on the same psychological principles and both of them seem to presuppose the older Nigantha division into six jīvanikāyas.29
The disciples of Makkhali Gośāla again, firmly believed him to be their last Tirthamkara." It appears that this Ajivika tendency to attribute the qualities of a Tīrthamkara (a word which especially belongs to the Jaina terminology) to Gośāla was due to the influence of the beliefs of the original Nigantha order. This is why they persisted in maintaining that their leader was the last Tīrthamkara whereas the followers of Mahāvīra maintained that Mahāvīra was the lat Tīrthamkara.
Thus it seems probable that Gośāla began his religious career in the order of Pārsvanātha and even worked with Mahāvīra as such. He later on left that community and joined the small Ājivika order of Nanda Vaccha and Kisa Saṁkiccha and raised that order to a status of recognition ere long. He probably could not be free from some of the Nīgantha predilections which became deep-rooted in the Ajivikism which took a new shape at the hands of Makkhali Gośāla. (8) Mahāvīra and the original Nīgantha order
Most of the features of Pārsvanātha's religion are conspicuously present in the later Jainism. They underwent only some minor changes at the hands of Mahāvīra. Thus Mahāvīra added the vow of chastity to the four great vows introduced by Pārsvanātha. "'The law as taught by the great sage Pārsva," records the Uttarādhyāyana sūtr, 31 “recognised but four great vows (cāuijama saṁvara)". It however cannot be believed that a great religious teacher like Pārsvanātha did ignore this important injunction. What seems to be possible is that he implicitly included it in one of the four vows, naturally that of abstinence from having any property (aparigraha).32 Mahāvīra simply emphasized this point. Another innovation which Mahāvīra introduced was his rule permitting the disciples to go about naked.
These minor changes cannot merely be applied as a test of Mahāvīra's attainments. His contribution to Jainism lay chiefly in the development of the metaphysical side of the Nigantha religion. The moral precepts of
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