Ajita Keshakambali

Ajita Keshakambali (6th-5th century BC), was an Indian philosopher. He was contemporary to Buddha and Mahavir. He was the first known proponent of Indian materialism, and forerunner to the Charvak school. He led a very simple and ascetic life. His teachings din not survive in script, except some scattered references made by his opponents for the sake of refutation. His followers were known Keshakambalina. He was called Kesakambali because he wore "the hair blanket". Buddhist legends describe the blanket as being "the most miserable garment" — foul-smelling, cold in winter, and hot in summer. King Ajātasattu (Ajatshatru) of Magadha spoke about him while recounting his views to the Buddha, the conversation of which is recorded in the Sāmaññaphala Sutta of the Buddhist Pāli Canon.

Wisdom & Quotes

"Man," He said, "is formed of the four elements. " When he dies Earth returns to the aggregate of earth; Water to water; Fire to fire, And Air to air; while his senses vanish in to space. For men with the bier take up the corpse; they gossip about the dead man as far as the burning ground, where his bones turn the color of a dove's wing and his sacrifices end in ashes. They are fools who preach almsgiving, and those who maintain the existence of immaterial categories speak vain and lying Nonsense. When the body dies both fool and wise alike are cut off and perish. They do not survive after death.
- Digha Nikaya

• 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.

- attributed by Buddhist sources

• Ajita Kesakambalin said to me, "Great king, there is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed. There is no fruit or result of good or bad actions. There is no this world, no other world, no mother, no father, no spontaneously reborn beings; no brahmans or contemplatives who, faring rightly and practicing rightly, proclaim this world and the other after having directly known and realized it for themselves. A person is a composite of four primary elements. At death, the earth (in the body) returns to and merges with the (external) earth-substance. The fire returns to and merges with the external fire-substance. The liquid returns to and merges with the external liquid-substance. The wind returns to and merges with the external wind-substance. The sense-faculties scatter into space. Four men, with the bier as the fifth, carry the corpse. Its eulogies are sounded only as far as the charnel ground. The bones turn pigeon-colored. The offerings end in ashes. Generosity is taught by idiots. The words of those who speak of existence after death are false, empty chatter. With the break-up of the body, the wise and the foolish alike are annihilated, destroyed. They do not exist after death."

- as quoted by Ajatshatru in Digha Nikay

Aeschylus