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{{Short description|6th century BCE Indian materialist philosopher}}{{Infobox philosopher|region=[[Indian philosophy]]|birth_date=6th century BCE|era=[[Śramaṇa|Sramana Movement]]|notable_ideas=*Ucchedavada (the Doctrine of Annihilation after death)
*Tam-Jivam-tam-sariram-vada (the doctrine of identity of the soul and body)|school_tradition=[[Charvaka]]}}'''Ajita Kesakambali''' ({{langx|sa|अजित केशकंबली}}; {{zh|c=阿耆多翅舍欽婆羅|p=Āqíduō Chìshěqīnpóluó}}) was an ancient [[India]]n [[philosopher]] in the 6th century BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/govind-pansare-mm-kalburgi-gauri-lankesh-murder-5316465/|title=Indian rationalism, Charvaka to Narendra Dabholkar|date=21 August 2018 }}</ref> He is considered to be the first known proponent of [[Indian philosophy|Indian]] [[materialism]], and forerunner to the [[Charvaka]] school. He was probably a contemporary of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] and [[Mahavira]]. It has frequently been noted that the doctrines of the [[Lokayata]] school were considerably drawn from Ajita's teachings.{{Hedonism}}

==Philosophy==
{{PaliCanonSamanaViews}}

Like those of [[Lokayata|Lokayatins]], nothing survives of Ajita's teachings in script, except some scattered references made by his opponents for the sake of refutation. Thus, due to the nature of these references, the basic framework of his philosophy has to be derived by filtering out obscure legends associated with him.

===From Buddhist sources===
According to a Buddhist legend, Ajita wore a blanket of human hair (''Kesakambali'' in Sanskrit means "with the hair blanket"), "which is described as being the most miserable garment. It was cold in cold weather, and hot in the hot, foul smelling and uncouth".<ref name="Bhaskar 1972">Bhaskar (1972){{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref> ''Ajita'' means "unconquered", which implies that he was very argumentative.<ref name="ajita">{{cite book|author=David J. Kalupahana|title=Ethics in Early Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEN2-KyI4f4C&pg=PA18|accessdate=6 September 2013|date=January 1995|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-1702-2|page=18}}</ref>

According to early Buddhist sources, Ajita Kesakambali argued that:
<blockquote>
There is no such thing as alms or sacrifice or offering. There is neither fruit nor result of good or evil deeds. A human being is built up of four elements. When he dies the earthly in him returns and relapses to the earth, the fluid to the water, the heat to the fire, the wind to the air, and his faculties pass into space. The four bearers, on the bier as a fifth, take his dead body away; till they reach the burning ground, men utter forth eulogies, but there his bones are bleached, and his offerings end in ashes. It is a doctrine of fools, this talk of gifts. It is an empty lie, mere idle talk, when men say there is profit herein. Fools and wise alike, on the dissolution of the body, are cut off, annihilated, and after death they are not.<ref>See: [[Thomas William Rhys Davids|Rhys-Davids.T.W]]: ''Dialogues of the Buddha'', 1899 quoted in [[Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya|Chattopadhyaya]] (1964/1993) pp.194</ref>
</blockquote>

According to the ''[[Brahmajala Sutta (Theravada)|Brahmajala Sutta]]'', Ajita propounded ''[[Ucchedavada]]'' (the Doctrine of Annihilation after death) and ''Tam-Jivam-tam-sariram-vada'' (the doctrine of identity of the soul and body), which denied the separate existence of an eternal soul.<ref name="Bhaskar 1972" /> The extent to which these doctrines, which were evidently inherited by [[Lokayata]], were found contemptible and necessary to be refuted in the [[idealism|idealist]], [[theist]] and [[religious]] literature of the time is a possible evidence of their popularity and, perhaps also, their philosophical sophistication.

===Modern Marxist interpretations===
[[Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi|D. D. Kosambi]], who elsewhere<ref>[[Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi|DD Kosambi]] (1956){{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref> calls Ajita a proto-materialist, notes<ref>[[Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi|DD Kosambi]] (1965){{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref> that he "preached a thoroughgoing materialist doctrine: good deeds and charity gained a man nothing in the end. His body dissolved into the primary elements at death, no matter what he had or had not done. Nothing remained. Good and evil, charity and compassion were all irrelevant to a man's fate."

==See also==
* [[Ajivika]]
* [[Ajñana]]
* [[Makkhali Gosala]]
* [[Pakudha Kaccayana]]
* [[Purana Kassapa]]
* [[Shramana]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* Bhaskar, [[Bhagchandra Jain]], ''Jainism in Buddhist Literature'' (Alok Prakashan, Nagpur, 1972)
* [[Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya|Chattopadhyaya, Debiprasad]], ''Indian Philosophy'' (People's Publishing House, New Delhi, 1964, 7th Edition: 1993)
* [[Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi|Kosambi, DD]], ''An Introduction to the Study of Indian History'' (Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, India, 1956)
* [[Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi|Kosambi, DD]], ''The Culture and Civilisation of Ancient India in Historical Outline'' (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1965)
* Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) and [[Bhikkhu Bodhi|Bodhi, Bhikkhu]] (ed.), ''The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya'' (Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2001) {{ISBN|0-86171-072-X}}.
* [[Thanissaro Bhikkhu]] (trans.) ''Samaññaphala Sutta: The Fruits of the Contemplative Life'' (DN 2) (1997) Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html.
* Walshe, Maurice O'Connell (trans.), ''The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya'' (Wisdom Publications, Somerville, MA, 1995) {{ISBN|0-86171-103-3}}.

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[[Category:6th-century BC Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:Atheist philosophers]]
[[Category:Indian materialists]]

Ajita Kesakambali - Revision history

Mohit8811 at 02:14, 11 December 2025