The
Six Heretical Teachers,
Six Heretics,
Six Śramaṇa, or
Six Tirthikas (false teachers) were six sectarian contemporaries of
Gautama Buddha (Śākyamuni), each of whom held a view in opposition to
his teachings. Except for Nigantha Nataputta or
Mahavira, the twenty-fourth
Tirthankara Of
Jainism, the other five heretical teachers were regarded as the holders of some or other form of
Akiriyavada views. In Buddhist tradition, they were defeated by Buddha in the miracle contest known as
the Twin Miracle. The six heretics and their views on Indian philosophy are described in detail in the
Samaññaphala Sutta of the
Digha Nikaya in the
Pali Tipitaka. depicting five of the Six Heretical Teachers:
Purana Kassapa,
Makkhali Gosala,
Sanjaya Belatthiputta,
Ajita Kesakambali,
Pakudha Kaccāyana (left to right)
Background According to the
sutra, King
Ajātasattu visited Gautama Buddha, who, at the time, was living in the mango grove of
Jīvaka in
Rajagaha among 1250
bhikkhus. The king posed the Buddha the question of whether or not it was possible that the life of a
śramaṇa could bear fruit in the same way as the lives of craftsmen bear fruit, declaring that he had previously asked six teachers (
Pūraṇa Kassapa,
Makkhali Gosāla,
Ajita Kesakambala,
Pakudha Kaccāyana,
Nigaṇṭha Nāṭaputta and
Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta) the same question, yet had not found a satisfactory answer. At the Buddha's request, King Ajātasattu describes, the answers given to him by the six other teachers. The names below are provided in
Sanskrit, with the equivalent
Pali names given in parentheses.
Pūrṇa Kāśyapa (Pūraṇa Kassapa) The first spiritual teacher to whom Ajātasattu posed his question was Pūraṇa Kassapa. Kassapa posited the theory of akiriyāvāda (non-doing): actions considered good and evil carried no inherent morality and thus there exists
no future consequence from committing either "good" or "evil" deeds.
Maskarī Gośālīputra (Makkhali Gosāla) Makkhali Gosala, the second teacher visited by Ajātasattu, subscribed to the doctrine of non-causality; the attainment of any condition is dependent on circumstance, fate, or nature rather than human will and events lack in root cause. Like Kassapa, Gosāla denied the existence of
karma and
vipaka. This doctrine has been likened to
fatalism and
determinism. His theory is also called the theory of causelessness (
Ahetukavāda), the theory of natural purity (
Saṃsārasuddhivāda).
Ajita Keśakambala (Ajita Kesakambala) Ajita Kesakambala followed Gosāla as the third teacher mentioned by Ajātasattu. He is thought to be a materialist (
Bhautikavādi), nihilist (
Ucchedavādi) and an exponent of non-efficacy of kamma (
Akiriyavādi).
Kesakambala held that all in existence was merely the process of natural phenomena and vehemently denied the existence of any life after death; "A man is built up of the four elements', when he dies, earth returns to the aggregate of earth, water to water, fire to fire, air to air, and the senses vanish into space." == Icchantika ==