Makkhali Gosala
Also called: Gosala · Topic: Buddhism, Jainism and Heterodox Traditions · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"
Meaning
Makkhali Gosāla was the leading teacher of the Ājīvikas. He lived at the same time as the Buddha and Mahāvīra. The Ājīvikas are often called "fatalists", people who believe everything is decided in advance. Gosāla taught that neither good deeds nor penance can change a person's fate in the cycle of rebirth. Their own texts are lost, so we know his ideas only from rival traditions.
Example
In the Sutta Pitaka, king Ajātasattu of Magadha quotes Gosāla: pleasure and pain are "measured out" and cannot be changed. Just as a ball of string thrown down unwinds to its full length, the fool and the wise both run their fixed course. Later, Asoka had the Barābar caves in Bihar (third century BCE) made for Ājīvika monks.
Don't confuse with
- Ajita Kesakambalin: Ajita was a Lokāyata, or "materialist". He denied rebirth altogether. Gosāla accepted rebirth but said its course was fixed.