Q.Read the given source carefully and answer the questions that follow: (1+1+2=4) Fatalists and materialists ? Here is an excerpt from the Sutta Pitaka, describing a conversation between King Ajatasattu, the ruler of Magadha, and the Buddha : On one occasion King Ajatasattu visited the Buddha and described what another teacher, named Makkhali Gosala, had told him : "Though the wise should hope, by this virtue … by this penance I will gain karma … and the fool should by the same means hope to gradually rid himself of his karma, neither of them can do it. Pleasure and pain, measured out as it were, cannot be altered in the course of samsara (transmigration). It can neither be lessened or increased … just as a ball of string will when thrown unwind to its full length, so fool and wise alike will take their course and make an end of sorrow." And this is what a philosopher named Ajita Kesakambalin taught : "There is no such thing, O king, as alms or sacrifice, or offerings … there is no such thing as this world or the next … A human being is made up of the four elements. When he dies the earthy in him returns to the earth, the fluid to water, the heat to fire, the windy to air, and his senses pass into space … The talk of gifts is a doctrine of fools, an empty lie … fools and wise alike are cut off and perish. They do not survive after death." The first teacher belonged to the tradition of the Ajivikas. They have often been described as fatalists : those who believe that everything is predetermined. The second teacher belonged to the tradition of the Lokayatas, usually described as materialists. Texts from these traditions have not survived, so we know about them only from the works of other traditions. (31.1) Analyse the views of Makkhali Gosala on karma.
You're viewing a preview — the full solution, concept, methods & PYQ mapping are locked.
Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Makkhali Gosala (fatalist) denied that karma can be altered — pleasure and pain are fixed, like a ball of string unwinding. Ajita Kesakambalin (materialist) denied any afterlife — humans are just the four elements that dissolve at death. The fatalist believes in a predetermined cycle; the materialist believes in total annihilation.
31.1 Analyse the views of Makkhali Gosala on karma. (1)
Makkhali Gosala’s view is a direct challenge to the mainstream Indian idea that karma is something you can change through effort, virtue, or penance. He says: no matter how wise or foolish you are, you cannot lessen or increase your karma. Pleasure and pain are “measured out” — fixed quantities — and they simply unwind over the course of samsara, like a ball of string that rolls out to its full length. There is no room for moral agency. The fool and the wise both “make an end of sorrow” only when the predetermined string has fully unwound. In short, karma is not a dynamic, improvable force — it is a rigid, inescapable destiny.
A common mistake is to think Makkhali Gosala denied karma entirely. He did not — he accepted it, but as a fixed, unalterable mechanism. He is a fatalist, not a nihilist.
31.2 How did Ajita Kesakambalin describe the relations of human beings with the four elements of nature? (1)
Ajita Kesakambalin said a human being is made up of the four elements — earth, water, fire, and air. At death, each element simply returns to its source: the earthy part goes back to earth, the fluid to water, the heat to fire, the windy to air, and the senses “pass into space.” There is no soul, no afterlife, no survival. The relation is purely material and temporary — we are a temporary arrangement of elements, and death is a complete dissolution.
This is a classic materialist position: consciousness is an emergent property of matter, and when the body breaks down, nothing remains. Compare this to modern scientific materialism — the idea is strikingly similar.
31.3 Differentiate between the views of a Fatalist and a Materialist in reference to this source. (2)
| Aspect | Fatalist (Makkhali Gosala) | Materialist (Ajita Kesakambalin) | …
Unlock everything free for 14 days
- Full step-by-step solutions
- Concept-first explanations
- Methods, shortcuts & mistakes
- PYQ mapping + timed mock tests
Full access for 14 days. No credit card required.