Sramana

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sramana

Sramana (Sanskrit: श्रमण Śramaṇa; Pali: समण samaṇa) was a non-Vedic Indian religious movement parallel to but separate from the historical Vedic religion. The Śramaṇa traditions such as Jainism, Buddhism,^[1] Ājīvika arose in the same ascetic circles of India that also led to the development of Yogic practices,^[2] as well as the popular concepts in all major Indian religions such as saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death) and moksha (liberation from that cycle).

Philosophy

Though Śramaṇa traditions are associated with ascetism, some Śramaṇa traditions were, in fact, peculiar as materialists, in the sense they preached a worldly existence and carried denunciation of brahmanical orthodoxy to the extreme.^[21][26] The Shramana traditions included a range of beliefs, such as the Cārvākas, who on one end of the spectrum lived a luxurious life, to the Jainas, who on the other hand, developed a theory of extreme self-mortification. Some Śramaṇas were openly critical of the sacrificial traditions of the Brahmins and the concepts of Karma, claiming them to be simply a swindle --^[27]

'Don't believe in them - when you're dead, you're dead. All their talk of Karman is nonsense. One of the materialists said, 'If a man went north of the Ganges and murdered, and tortured, and stole, and plundered and set buildings on fire, he would make no bad Karman. If another man went south of the Ganges and gave in charity, and helped the weak and healed the sick, he would make no good Karman. You live as a combination of the four elements, but when you die, everything is finished. So borrow money and live as happily as you can, for when you're dead, they can't pursue you.'

The Cārvāka Lokayatas asserted a purely naturalist position, claiming the world consists of merely working out the elements.^[26]
Yet another conflict can be found in the works of Dharmakirti, the eminent 7th-century CE Buddhist logician from Nalanda:^[19]

vedapramanyam kasyacit kartrvadah/ snane dharmeccha jativadavalepah// santaparambhah papahanaya ceti/ dhvastaprajnanam pancalirigani jadye
The unquestioned authority of the vedas; the belief in a world-creator; the quest for purification through ritual bathings; the arrogant division into castes; the practice of mortification to atone for sin; - these five are the marks of the crass stupidity of witless men.

While authority of vedas, belief in a creator, path of ritualism and social system of heredity ranks, made up the cornerstones of brahminal schools, the path of asceticism was the main characteristic of all the heterodox schools collectively called the Shramanas.^[19]
It was in Śramaṇa traditions that concepts of Karma and Samsara became central themes of debate.,^[26] and it has been suggested that this may have been introduced into the mainstream by Kshatriyas.^[28] In Jainism, Karma is based on materialist element philosophy, where Karma is the fruit of one's action conceived as material particles which stick to a soul and keep it away from natural omniscience.^[26] The Buddha conceived Karma as a chain of causality leading to attachment of the material world and hence to rebirth.^[26] The Ajivikas of Makkhali Ghosa were a third successful movement during this time. They were fatalists and elevated Karma as inescapable fate, where a person's life goes through a chain of consequences and rebirths until it reaches its end.^[26] Some famous philosophers of that time, such as Pakkudha Kaccayana and Purana Kashyapa, denied the existence of Karma. It was indeed the creative Śramaṇa generations of the 500 to 400 BCE, in whom Karma doctrine became the centre of attention, who set far-reaching consequences for lifestyle and thought among Indians.^[26]
Śramaṇas held a view of samsara as full of suffering (or dukkha). They practiced Ahimsa and rigorous ascetism. They believed in Karma and Moksa and viewed rebirth as undesirable.^[29]
The Sramanas rejected the Vedas, the Vedics labelled their philosophy as "nastika darsana" (heterodox philosophy).
Beliefs and concepts of Śramaṇa philosophies:^{[citation needed]}-

• Denial of creator and omnipotent Gods
• Rejection of the Vedas as revealed texts
• Affirmation of Karma and rebirth, Samsara and transmigration of Soul.
• Affirmation of the attainment of moksa through Ahimsa, renunciation and austerities
• Denial of the efficacy of sacrifices and rituals for purification.
• Rejection of the caste system

Ultimately, the sramana philosophical concepts like ahimsa, karma, re-incarnation, renunciation, samsara and moksa were accepted and incorporated by the Brahmins in their beliefs and practices, e.g. by abandoning the sacrifice of animals.^{[30][note 8]} According to Gavin Flood, concepts like karmas and reincarnation entered mainstream brahaminical thought from the sramana or the renounciant traditions.^[31] According to D. R. Bhandarkar, the Ahimsa dharma of the sramanas made an impression on the followers of Brahamanism and their law books and practices.^[32]

Ajaivika

Ājīvika means "a place where solution exists" in Tamil language^{[citation needed]}, literally means "living" in Sanskrit) was a system of ancient Indian philosophy and an ascetic movement of the Mahajanapada period in the Indian subcontinent. Ājīvika was primarily a heterodox Indian (Nāstika) system. The Ājīvikas may simply have been a more loosely-organized group of wandering ascetics (shramanas or sannyasins). One of their prominent leaders was Makkhali Gosala.
Ājīvika is thought to be contemporaneous to other early Indian nāstika philosophical schools of thought, such as Cārvāka, Jainism and Buddhism. While the early nāstika systems such as Cārvāka and Ājīvika gradually became extinct or evolved into others, the Jain and Buddhist traditions spun off into what may be described today as separate religions, distinct from Hinduism (which is now restrictively meant to encompass only the six orthodox Āstika philosophical systems).
Ājīvika reached the height of its popularity during the rule of the Mauryan emperor Bindusara around the 4th century BC. Several rock-cut caves belonging to this sect, built during the times of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka (r. 273 BC to 232 BC) have been found at Barabar Caves, Jehanabad district, Bihar.^[25]