Sanjaya Belatthiputta | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Flourished | 6th century BCE |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Ajñana |
| Views of the six heretical teachers | |
|---|---|
| The views of sixśramaṇa in the Pāli Canon, known as thesix heretical teachers, based on theSāmaññaphala Sutta.[1] | |
| Pūraṇa Kassapa | |
| Amoralism (akiriyavāda;natthikavāda) | There is no reward or punishment for either good or bad deeds. |
| Makkhali Gośāla (Ājīvika) | |
| Fatalism (ahetukavāda;niyativāda) | We are powerless; suffering is pre-destined. |
| Ajita Kesakambalī (Charvaka) | |
| Materialism (ucchedavāda;natthikavāda) | Live happily; with death, all is annihilated. |
| Pakudha Kaccāyana | |
| Eternalism and categoricalism(sassatavāda;sattakāyavāda) | Matter, pleasure, pain and the soul are eternal and do not interact. |
| Nigaṇṭha Ñāṭaputta (Jainism) | |
| Restraint (mahāvrata) | Be endowed with, cleansed by, and suffused with [merely] the avoidance of all evil.[2] |
| Sañjaya Belaṭṭhiputta (Ajñana) | |
| Agnosticism (amarāvikkhepavāda) | "I don't think so. I don't think in that way or otherwise. I don't think not or not not." Suspension of judgement. |
Sañjaya Belatthiputra (Pali:Sañjaya Belaṭṭhiputta;Sanskrit:Sañjaya Vairatiputra; literally, "Sañjaya of the Belattha clan"), was an Indianascetic philosopher who lived around the 7th-6th century BC in the region ofMagadha. He was contemporaneous withMahavira,Makkhali Gosala,Ajita Kesakambali andthe Buddha, and was a proponent of theajñana school of thought.[3]
Sanjaya is thought to be the first teacher of the future Buddha's future two greatdisciples,Maha-Moggallana andSariputta. Both of them were followers of a person named Sanjaya Paribajjaka (Sanjaya the wanderer). Historically, Sanjaya Paribajjaka is considered to be same as Sanjaya Belatthiputta by many scholars. These two future arahants ultimately left Sanjaya's tutelage as it did not address their unresolved desire to end ultimate suffering.[4] Sanjaya Paribajjaka also had a follower named Suppiya, and so was Tattvalabdha, a minister at the court of KingAjatashatru.
Hecker (1994) contextualizes Sanjaya's thought as "a kind ofdialecticalexistentialism" in juxtaposition to the popularmaterialist views of the day (for instance, typified by the ascetic teacherAjita Kesakambalī.)[5] Chakravarty (2021) expounds that Sanjaya navigated clashes of ideas and disputes by steadfastly withholding judgments, especially concerning metaphysical and ethical debates. He crafted a methodical five-fold response, as a means to abstain from adopting positions on any philosophical viewpoint. Chakravarty terms Sanjaya's systematic approach inSanskrit asamarakathananilambana.[6]
In theSamannaphala Sutta (DN 2), Sanjaya is recorded as saying:
In thePali literature, Sanjaya's teachings have been characterized as "evasive"[8] or"agnostic".[9] In theBrahmajala Sutta (DN 1), Sanjaya's views are deemed to beamaravikkhepavada, "endless equivocation" or "a theory ofeel-wrigglers."[10]
InJaina literature, Sanjaya is identified as a Jaina sage (Skt.,muni). It is believed that he was influenced by Jaina doctrine although Jaina philosophers were critical of Sanjaya.[9]