Bharat Ki Kahani

  We do not know much about the life and philosophy of Ajit Keshkambal, except that he was a contemporary of Gautam Buddha and a founder of one of the leading ascetic sects of the time. The word, ‘ascetic’ may be a misnomer because he did not believe in the existence of God, Divinity, or any entity beyond the perceivable world. Unfortunately, not a single text from his sect has come down to us. The little we know about him is through references to him in contemporary Buddhist scriptures. In Sumyukta Nikaya we hear the king of Kosala, Prasenjit, mention Ajit Keshkambal’s name along with Purna Kassapa, Makkali Goshala, Nigantha Nathputta, Sanjaya Bellatiputta, and Prakruddha Katyayan as ‘the six revered Tirthankaras of the time’. It is remarkable that in 6th-century BC north India Ajit Keshkambal’s God-denying materialist philosophy was not just tolerated but counted among the six most revered sects of the time. There are no references to Ajit Keshkambal’s ever engaging Buddha in a debat